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By Peter M. Fozzard

A review is made of the actual costs of recent foreign mineral exploration programmes in third world countries. Target identification leading to the selection of areas, or macro-targets, must follow a well planned and defined series of steps. Suggestions are made with respect to this inter-active project development work. Potential revenues in the broad sense will always determine the overall economics of exploration but clear objective philosophy, good planning and adequate financing are essential for exploration success. Considerable opportunities exist for making important foreign mineral discoveries and broad selected suggestions are made for the identification of exploration areas in relation to high-grade and precious metal mineralization.

Jan 1, 1984

By A Marton

Concerns with crest losses have seen changes to a number of design and operating parameters to retain the integrity of the wall and the berms of the Kidston Gold MinesÆ Eldridge Pit. Until trials began in 1999 most final wall designs utilised large diameter blastholes up to the presplit row to achieve the wall angle. The berm crests were being lost, wall support requirements were increasing and affecting mining schedules and several fault areas were putting pit access at risk. Standard designs had been determined during the early mining years and while periodic modifications had been made there was a need for major blast pattern revision. This paper traces the development of wall control blasting programs over the years, relating designs to the geology and the evidence in the walls with the theories of the day and includes the recent trials that were conducted in what is a most unforgiving geology. Trials and improvements to ensure the walls were safe were conducted even as the mine neared its economic life. Instrumented monitoring of trials blasts has greatly increased the understanding of the damage criteria and enabled rapid revision of designs. Recent changes included reduction in presplit energy, charge redistribution and use of smaller blast holes for the trim patterns. Determination of a minimum proximity-to-final wall limit for production blastholes, establishment of the correct standoff to berm crests and walls and selective use of presplitting techniques for protecting crests have resulted in cost effectiveness, improved bench crest retention and an overall reduction in visible wall damage.

Jan 1, 2001

By M. J. Scoble, H. L. Francis, D. F. Salter, G. R. Baiden

Intelligent ore delineation refers to the ability reliably to characterize the geological setting of a mineralized body and its grade distribution. This necessitates using all available geological information in a timely and efficient manner, such that effective geological control is achieved. The importance of geological control is paramount to improving the efficiency and competitiveness of underground mines. As a result, the development of new geosensing tools designed to provide more reliable and timely information should be a priority. However, as the sensing tools advance then so, too, must the decision support system in order to allow the full benefits of these tools to be achieved. One potential system considered able to provide this architecture is ’true 3D-GIS’ (Geographical Information System). GIS promises to provide a seamless data flow and to connect information currently unavailable to the underground mine operations by bringing together previously disparate and spatial data sets in a visually effective and timely way. This paper considers the potential revolution GIS offers over the flow and use of data in mining by focusing on the integration of geosensing data and GIS to facilitate intelligent ore delineation.

Jan 1, 2000

By G. Gerbeth, Y. Gelfgat, A. Cramer, A. Bojarevics

The production of highly porous metallic substrates requires an effective and well controlled production of metallic fibres with diameters in the range of 50 to 200 microns. The melt extraction, where a quickly rotating wheel extracts fibres directly out of the inductively heated melt, is a promising technology for that purpose. The main limitations of this process are due to turbulence within the melt and a wavy motion on the surface. Both effects give rise to strong and time dependent deformation of the melt surface which, in turn, causes non-stationary conditions of the contact zone between the extraction wheel and the melt. In the patent literature many examples can be found which try to overcome these problems by submersing mechanical parts directly into, or placing them at least in close vicinity to the melt, aiming at a stabilisation of that contact region. Even made of heat resistant ceramics they suffer from corrosion or cracks and do not work reliable at all. The present work describes a non invasive control mechanism by means of a magnetic field. Model experiments were carried out to study the calm down of the turbulent surface of a inductively stirred melt. The stabilisation of the melt surface has been demonstrated in practise by the installation of a solenoid at a working extraction facility under rough industrial conditions like a powerful induction heating and vacuum.

Jan 1, 1999

By M Bloss, B Roberts

BHP Billiton Olympic Dam required a well-tested software product suitable for strategic optimisation and scheduling of options for a potential underground mining project. The company has a standard software package called Blasor® that is used for open pit optimisation of complex deposits such as iron ore, copper-gold-uranium and silver-lead-zinc. It applies a mixed integer programming formulation (MIP) to produce conceptual pushback designs and an optimised pushback sequence. Schedules can then be run on the resulting mine designs. Existing pushback designs can also be imported into the model and an optimum schedule generated. One of the key advantages of Blasor is that multiple strategic mine schedules can be quickly generated according to the various scenarios, options and constraints that are being investigated.It was realised that Blasor, if carefully configured, could be adapted for use in underground planning. The concept of using Blasor as an optimiser for underground strategic scenarios is to represent the underground stope and development data in the form and structure of an open pit mine. In simple terms, underground stoping areas are modelled in the form of pushbacks (phases) with vertical walls. The phase dependency tools in Blasor are used to link mine blocks and their access development drives. These underground phases are imported into the optimiser. Artificial block models are constructed using stope design tonnage and grade data at various fixed cut-offs. A variable cut-off grade model has also been developed using a method of parcels to represent each cut-off grade increment.So far, this approach has been successfully used to investigate the optimum stope design cut-off for various strategic options, the economic potential of a series of mining and processing configurations and to provide guidance on the optimum sequence for developing and mining the various stoping blocks in the resource. Examination of the results has highlighted the most suitable development paths for more detailed study.CITATION:Roberts, B and Bloss, M, 2014. Adaptation of an open pit optimiser for underground strategic planning, in Proceedings Orebody Modelling and Strategic Mine Planning Symposium 2014 , pp 249–256 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 24, 2014

By Benoit DeBecker

Laboratory-scale experiments have shown that chromium metal could be recovered from chromate wastes by modifying slightly the chromium electrowinning flow-sheet. After reduction by sulhr dioxide and precipitation of chromic hydroxide, the solid residue is dissolved in the chrome alum solution and the metallic impurities are removed by cementation on manganese. The presence of dissolved manganese in the electrolyte does not affect the cathodic deposition of chromium and it eliminates the anodic production of Cr(V1).

Jan 1, 1994

By A. Saramak

"The paper focuses on problems of atmospheric pollution by the dusts, produced during the course of crushing and grinding processes, and the main objective of investigative programme is an assessment of emission of particulate pollutants for following crushing devices operated in plant scale: impactors, cone and jaw crushers. All crushers operate in aggregate production plants in Poland. In the first stage of investigations there were determined dust emission levels and supporting characteristics for all crushers under investigation. Then there were introduced indices that allow for comparative analysis in terms of dust emission, for devices with different energy consumptions and comminution ratio. It appeared that crushers with high the overall dust emission do not always achieved unfavorable dust emission per comminution ratio or energy consumption. The introduced indices proved their usefulness, because they helped to carry out a comparative analysis among crushers, operating under different technological conditions. It is also easier to assess environmental impact of individual crushing devices, under analysis. Results of investigations also show that environmental impact of different types of crushers is diverse and it is difficult to compare dust emissions of various types of crushers without taking into account technological aspects (like throughput, comminution ratio, energy consumption, and others) of their operations.INTRODUCTION Mineral processing of raw material is a complex process, involving in general operations of size reductions and separation. Depending on the type of specific raw material, the technological circuit may include operations of comminution and size classification. This is a typical circuit for aggregate production. In ore treatment industry the process in much more complicated and include also a metallurgical treatment of ore concentrate – the final product from processing plant stage.In general, regardless the type of raw material, operations of size reduction are present in each technological circuit of mineral processing. Operations of crushing and grinding are an integral part of processing technology, because they play a crucial role in effective treatment of mineral raw materials (Gawenda 2013). Their duty is to liberate the useful minerals from the gangue in ore treatment industry, or to produce the material with the required particle size in case of aggregate processing. Crushing and grinding operations are of a high negative impact on environment and humans. They consume great amounts of energy, what indirectly contributes to higher emission of carbon dioxide CO2. Apart from energy, crushing and grinding device consume significant amount of steel and other metals and alloys due to high wear of working parts and grinding media. This is also of negative environmental impact due to emissions of additional amounts of CO2 in production of steel and other metals required as spare parts for comminution devices."

Jan 1, 2018

By B. Blaschuk

The Freeport McMoRan Bagdad Solvent Extraction (SX) circuit is the oldest plant of its kind currently in operation. The plant was commissioned in 1969 and was the second SX-EW operation to be built following the Ranchers Bluebird solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) plant near Miami, Arizona. Over the years of operation, the configuration of the SX has gone through many changes to accommodate a variety of pregnant leach solution (PLS) grades and flows. Although modifications to the original plant configuration are numerous, the Bagdad SX circuit has maintained its general form consisting of multiple long and narrow settlers. The unique configuration of the Bagdad SX circuit presents a variety of operational advantages and challenges; however, it continues to operate at a level recognized in the industry as excellent.

Jan 1, 2010

By P J. Marsh, P J. Bartsch, N J. Semler

Iron Road Limited is currently studying the feasibility of producing 20 Mt/a of high-grade (67 per cent Fe) magnetite concentrate from a 2.6 Bt resource (JORC) located at Warramboo on the central Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Bulk concentrate has been tested at a relatively coarse grind size of -106 ¦m. The preliminary flow sheet has been confirmed based on initial mine plans and comprehensive metallurgical testing across the range of mineralisation. Extensive Davis tube testing to predict magnetite recoveries has been conducted over the resource, however this was completed at settings different to the optimised settings developed in the metallurgical test work program.This paper outlines the development of an ore treatment simulation in SysCAD which utilises the mine production plan, the Davis tube test data from the resource, data from metallurgical test work and process design criteria to predict magnetite concentrate deliveries. Mineralogical data, including QEMScan results and metallurgical assessments, were a fundamental basis of the process models which enable predictions of concentrate yield and quality. Power and water requirements are also calculated within the model. SysCAD dynamic simulation has been used to assist with the design of the process plant and downstream infrastructure. The simulation has been set-up to allow iterative integration and optimisation of the mine plan when it becomes available.CITATION:Semler, N J, Marsh, P J and Bartsch, P J, 2013. Iron RoadÆs prediction of magnetite concentrate production from the Central Eyre Iron Project, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2013 , pp 539-546 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 12, 2013

By S. Mason

Many organizations are realizing that continual improvement in health and safety relies on addressing the potential for various forms of human error. Of these, violations are often the most frequent form associated with accidents. These occur when an individual, or individuals, deliberately contravenes established and known safety rules. They have been associated with up to 90% of accidents and incidents in some industries and yet rarely receive the systematic attention they deserve in the promotion of safety. This paper presents underlying motives which cause violations. These can vary significantly from mine to mine and from job to job. Managers need some measure of attitudes to determine the underlying motives behind violations if they are to determine effective strategies for promoting safe behaviour. Questionnaires form the starting point to address attitudes and the motives behind rule violations. The choice of the most suitable questionnaire, however, will vary from organization to organization. Guidelines on the choice of questionnaire are offered.

Jan 1, 1998

By Juan M. Pestana, Jeremy M. Gasser, Cuneyt Gokmen, Paul J. Sabatini, William Tanner, Daniel J. Woeste

An access pathway and working platform were designed and constructed for equipment access for a Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) pilot study over a coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundment (SI). The DSM pilot study was conducted to evaluate slurry mix designs and construction techniques for installing DSM columns up to 95 feet deep. Two-dimensional (2-D) limit equilibrium and 2-D finite element analyses were used to evaluate multiple failure mechanisms including: (i) bearing capacity, (ii) punching shear of mixed ground and underlying CCR, (iii) effect of fluidized DSM columns on working platform stability, and (iv) liquefaction. The analysis results were used to design ground improvement required to increase bearing capacity and stability of the CCR under the proposed equipment access route. A long-reach excavator was used to perform shallow bucket mixing and walk onto the CCR SI atop previously mixed cells following a minimum cure time and acceptance of quality control test results. Prior to mobilizing the DSM rig, a static load test was conducted to evaluate performance of the working platform. Both the access pathway and working platform demonstrated acceptable performance under the design loads during the DSM pilot study. This case study emphasizes the economic and safety benefits that can be realized by appropriately designing critical temporary work items such as access pathways and working platforms in difficult ground conditions. INTRODUCTION A Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) pilot study was conducted at a coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundment (SI) to evaluate slurry mix designs and construction techniques for closure design of the SI (Site). Sluicing of CCR at the facility ceased and closure will be initiated based on requirements in the final United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Rule for Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities, 40 CFR 257, effective October 19, 2015. The proposed closure approach involves constructing a DSM containment structure (DSM Wall) to separate the SI into two areas: (i) a closure by removal area; and (ii) a consolidate and cap-in-place area. The proposed DSM Wall would retain the CCR within the consolidated closure footprint and provide a barrier between the two areas of the SI. The predominant CCR in the SI where the pilot study was conducted were fly ash and bottom ash. CCR materials in surface impoundments are generally soft and saturated as a result of being sluiced into place and can present stability and safety challenges when performing earthwork activities.

Jan 1, 2019

By Alistair James, James Alcorn, Chaitan S. Sandhu, Andy Small

The Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM) working group is a group of industry professionals formed under the joint initiative undertaken by United States Society of Dams (USSD), Tailings Dam Safety Committee and Canadian Dam Associations (CDA) Mining Dam Safety Committee (MDC). The working group was organized to develop a guideline on implementation of a RIDM process relating to the design of mining water dams and Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF). Since its formation in 2022, the group has completed a literature review of more than one hundred (100) cross industry publications on applications of RIDM in mining water dams and TSFs, has held two industry workshops in Niagara Falls, Ontario in 2024 and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2025 to capture industry input relating to the understanding and application of RIDM. The working group has subsequently formulated a process that constitutes good industry practice as it relates to application of RIDM in mining dams and TSFs. The authors, through their engagement and leadership in the working group and facilitating the two industry workshops in 2024 and 2025, are of the opinion that the successful application process of RIDM across Canada and United States (U.S.) is still not clear to many industry practitioners. There is confusion over terminology, good versus poor RIDM, and in some cases reluctance to use the RIDM terminology. This paper addresses critical knowledge gaps identified in the RIDM implementation for mining water dams and TSFs through three years of stakeholder engagement. It provides clarity of the process via a joint position statement and implementation roadmap, resolves terminology confusion, and documents contradicting industry opinions to promote adoption of good RIDM practices in Canada, U.S. and beyond.

Feb 22, 2026

By E. Maziar Sauber

In order to prepare a more desirable feedstock for a rare earth elements separation refinery, cerium, a penalty element in the refinery feedstock, should be removed from the mixed rare earth elements oxide or carbonate feedstock. In this study, cerium (III) to cerium (IV) oxidation by calcium hypochlorite and subsequent precipitation was used to remove cerium from a mixed rare earth elements chloride solution. A factorial design of experiments was used to determine the effect of process variables such as temperature, pH, and oxidizer addition on the oxidation of cerium (III) using synthetic solutions. Under certain test conditions, all of the cerium was successfully removed from the chloride solution, and some REE accompanied cerium and reported to the precipitate. This proposed technology can allow for low cost removal of cerium from mixed rare earth elements chlorides.

By K. Soldenhoff

The Bulong deposit, situated near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and owned by Resolute Limited, is a lateritic deposit containing on average 1.1% nickel and 0.09% cobalt. A process has been developed and tested at the mini-plant scale for direct solvent extraction and separation of Co and Ni from solutions derived by acid pressure leaching of Bulong ore. In this paper, two solvent extraction processes are described. The first process uses Cyanex 272 to extract cobalt and reject nickel to the raffinate. The second process uses Versatic 10 to extract and purify nickel. The loaded strip nickel solution is suitable for electrowinning. Results of both batch laboratory tests and continuous mini-plant trials are presented. The selectivity of the solvents with respect to the major impurities such as Mn, Mg, Ca, and Zn is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1998

By James R. Gingery, Byron Foster, Bret Lingwall

While microzonation and setbacks are the typical mitigation for structures exposed to surface fault rupture hazards, lifelines and lifeline facilities are not easily relocated to avoid faulting. In these cases, other remedial measures including ground improvement may be warranted. Deep soil mixing ground improvement was used in this case to mitigate surface fault rupture and liquefaction hazards for a pump station at a wastewater treatment plant with wet wells up to 36-feet (11-m) deep. Paleoseismic field investigations were performed to characterize the site, then deterministic and probabilistic fault rupture displacement estimates were made and used to develop design scenarios. The fault rupture mitigation design consisted of a solid block of DSM encompassing and protecting the pump station and its wet wells. Three dimensional soil-structure interaction numerical modeling of the fault rupture scenarios was performed as part of the design. The analyses showed the fault rupture displacements could be diverted by the DSM and that satisfactory structure performance could be achieved. The design required construction of a large 100 percent replacement ratio block of DSM with a compressive strength of 500 psi. Aspects of construction of this DSM block are discussed.

Sep 8, 2021

By T P. Medhurst

In many cases mine design is the most important driver of the profitability of a mining project, however to reach an æoptimumÆ mine plan many compromises have to be made. Some of the fundamental profit (and loss) drivers relate to stoping methods and stope design parameters. Inevitably trade-offs have to be made between the stability of underground openings, ground support costs and production efficiency. This paper looks at the role of geomechanics in the mine planning and design process. The concepts of æcontrollable lossesÆ and æuncontrollable lossesÆ are developed as a means of partitioning ground control costs. A stope design example is given which provides a method of examining mining costs, and includes a decision making element in order to quantify geotechnical impacts and select stope dimensions. The method also provides a general framework as a means of balancing ground control costs against maximising returns from an underground mining project.

Jan 1, 2000

Project delivery in our current market is not as efficient as it could be. Industry at large (both client and consultant), is diligently following the engineer, procure, construct, manage (EPCM) or engineer, procure, construct (EPC) delivery models and not necessarily appreciating the underlying principles that make them the effective tools they were to start with. We often misinterpret project management with EPCM and end up with a literal and superficial interpretation instead of the disciplined risk reduction and business value capture exercise it is intended to be. One of these underlying principles is the project team as resource or commodity depending on which perspective we follow. Some of us understand this principle only too well and succumb to the temptation to take advantage of the imbalance in the understanding of EPCM by selling bodies and hours. Value and return on investment do not always come into the equation. The latecomers and aspirants are struggling with this as a barrier of entry into this lucrative market, since as we all know - people as commodity was becoming and still is a scarce resource. Clients are also waking up and asking why 1000 engineers on the floor are better than 100, when engineering design in all aspects of industry, new technology aside, is mature. Why is it that we start with a clean sheet of paper with every project or that neighbours in the same industry segment and location just happen to have completely unique conditions and circumstances that require totally original design (Local conditions aside)? The answers to this question appear when we explore the role of the project team and how it is structured. We will need to investigate team culture and levers for success. Then we will formulate a business case for a team to be able to follow traditional project management practices with EPCM delivery models but yet end up with an alternative look, feel and result. An outcome where more input is not necessarily better and the client and consultant both are aligned with success measured in dollars and a win-win outcome for both parties.

Jan 1, 2009

By Herman Poole

WHEN finely divided ferrous sulphide, FeS, is roasted at a moderate, carefully regulated temperature, the iron and sulphur are oxidized, the first products being probably ferrous oxide and sulphurous acid. In the presence of oxygen of the air the ferrous oxide soon becomes ferric oxide and in the presence of oxygen and the ferric oxide the sulphurous acid oxidizes to sulphuric acid. These facts are well known, having been established by Plattner many years ago. As a further reaction, some of the sulphuric acid parts with a portion of its oxygen to oxidize more ferrous oxide to ferric oxide, and a portion of it escapes uncombined or else unites with the iron oxides to form sulphates. Ferrous sulphate is usually soon oxidized to ferric sulphate and if the heat becomes sufficient this is then decomposed into sulphuric acid and ferric oxide. As a result of these reactions a mass of more or less pure ferric oxide is formed which is generally made porous by the escaping gases and, if rabbled properly, practically all the sulphur is expelled. If ferric sulphide or ordinary pyrites, FeS2, is roasted, a portion of the sulphur sublimes and usually burns to form sulphurous or sulphuric acid, although at times and under favorable conditions some of the sulphur is driven off uncombined and can be collected as such. Under ordinary methods of roasting, however, only a small portion escapes combustion. By the combustion of the sulphur an increase of heat is de¬veloped and, as a consequence, the reactions mentioned take place more rapidly and actively-more sulphuric acid is formed and the oxidation is more complete-nearly all the iron being left as ferric oxide with practically no sulphate or ferrous oxide. When the iron sulphide is in lumps the roasting proceeds generally as with fines, but with some changes due to mass. The

Sep 1, 1905

By Madan M. Singh

This section is unique to the Handbook in that it is the only section that deals with underground excavations for nonmining purposes. The editors were of the opinion that the section should be incorporated because the subject matter covered by the chapters is closely related to mining, and many mining engineers are currently involved in these activities. As we enter the decade of the 1990s activities in this category will increase, enhancing the relevance and utility of the material discussed. As the population increases, especially in metropolitan areas, the necessity to go underground will be greater. At the present time, not only are subsurface shopping malls and pedways connecting buildings becoming commonplace, but structures as diverse as the Civil and Mining Engineering Building on the University of Minnesota campus, a road-and-fleet maintenance facility in Multnomah County, OR, and even an ice cream parlor (Dairy Queen) in northern Wisconsin have been constructed underground. Placing utilities below the surface has numerous advantages and is now customary. Rapid transit and highways through tunnels in urban areas have been the norm for many years, but subterranean stormwater reservoirs, power plants, industrial warehouses, and food storage silos are relatively new innovations. The philosophy of underground defense installations is ancient, but their requirements and designs have trans-formed radically as technology advances. The use of under-ground space for disposition of wastes is modern, since it is recently that environmental concerns and waste disposal costs have assumed increased significance.

Jan 1, 2008

By P. E. Churchward

The Bureau of Mines developed a process using amines for recovering tungsten as ammonium paratungstate from alkaline leach liquors without producing synthetic scheelite as an intermediate product. Over 90 pct of the tungsten in low-grade scheelite or ferberite concen-trate was recovered as ammonium paratungstate by (l) autoclave leaching the concentrate with Na2CO3, (2) solvent extraction of the acidified leach liquor with kerosine solutions of either a quaternary amine (Aliquat 336) or a primary amine (Primene JM-T), (3) stripping the tungsten values from the quaternary amine with ammoniacal NH4C1 or from the primary amine with NH4OH, and (4) crystallization of ammonium paratungstate from the strip liquor. Reagent consumption in pounds per pound of W03 recovered was, for the quater¬nary amine, 3 Na2CO3, 3.5 H2SO4 , 2.2 NH4Cl, 1 NH3, and 0.4 glacial acetic acid; for the primary amine, it was 3 Na2CO3, 3.5 H2SO4, .06 NH4Cl, and 0.9 NH3. Both reagents extract molybdenum along with tungsten. Silicate and phosphate are partly extracted and contaminate the product; leach liquors containing these impurities require preliminary purification.

Jan 1, 1966