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By P. Halbach

Hydrothermal activity is well known from many locations on most mid-ocean ridges, but no hydrothermally mineralized area had yet been found at the ultraslow spreading southwest Indian Ridge up to October 98 when the Japanese RV Yokosuka with the submersible Shinkai 6500 investigated this area. A massive sulfide field was discovered near 27°51S / 63°56E in the 11th segment west of the Rodriguez Triple Junction. The Free University of Berlin had joined this cruise and taken over the responsibility for the study of the respective sulfide mineralizations. Hydrothermal minerals were sampled during two dives at a water depth of 2940 m close to the summit of an axial volcanic ridge called Mount Jourdanne. Massive sulfides occur on the seafloor as small smooth mounds with an average area of about 5 m2. Their surfaces are weathered and have a reddish to brownish colour. In addition to these mound-like structures, small tube-like chimneys were observed; these chimneys rise approximately 30 to 40 cm above the floor and are less than 10 cm in diameter. No indications of hydrothermal fauna could be detected. All the hydrothermal features are spatially related to faults and smaller fissures controlled by an E-W trending graben system crossing the summit region of the submarine volcano. Such tectonized areas are generally considered to be ideal for hydrothermal activity because they may have both a magmatic heat source in the deeper underground as well as pathways for the fluid circulation.

Jan 1, 2002

By Michael J. Fiannnaca, Michael M. Easdon

Disseminated epithermal gold metallization occurs within a breccia unit interpreted to be a submarine debris flow. Gold is associated with oxidized pyrite, fluorite, and jasperoidal silica. A minimum of 8 Mt (9 million st) of open-pittable mining reserves will be cyanide heap leached as run-of-mine ore at a rate of 0.9 Mt (1.0 million stpy 1. Careful evaluation of the combined results of successive sampling projects has established the pit plan, minable reserves, and process metallurgy of the operation. The sampling procedure utilized for a given test depended upon geological interpretation as well as the procedures, successes, and failures of previous tests. This paper summarizes the sampling and testing procedures of the development effort in light of the project goals and attendant problems in achieving them.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. O. Burt

The Tanco pegmatite is located in the Bird River greenstone belt of south-eastern Manitoba approximately 160 km northeast of Winnipeg (Figure 1). The orebody was discovered in 1929 and subsequently attempts were made to exploit it for tin by Jack Nutt Mines Ltd. and later in the middle 1950's by Montgary Oil Ltd., who extensively developed but did not produce from its lithium deposits. In 1966 systematic investigation of the pegmatite as a potential source of tantalum led to the founding of Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada Ltd. (TANCO), and production of tantalum concentrates from the Bernie Lake mine commenced in 1969. Tanco's currently jointly owned by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Cabot Corporation, and the Province of Manitoba.

Jan 1, 1988

By Jorge Alberto Soares Tenório

Electronic components have precious metals like Au and Ag. These metals have a high performance in electric conductance. The recycling of the scrap, however is too difficult because of the presence of other metals like Fe, Al, Zn, Sn, ceramics and plastics, all together in electronic components. The aim of the present work was to define one way for physical separation to have metallic non-ferrous concentrates. It was used three kinds of scrap. I was used conventional equipment for mineral processing like hammer mill; screens, electrostatic and magnetic separation.

Jan 1, 1997

By Donald R. Sadoway

The viability of treating certain forms of hazardous waste by direct electrolysis in molten oxides is under investigation. Secondary residue or waste mud produced in the course of chromate chemical production is the focus of attention in this study. The goal is to reduce the water soluble hexavalent chromium either to insoluble trivalent chromium or to chromium metal. Electrolysis tests have been conducted in a high temperature cell containing chromate sludge dissolved in an electrolyte composed of Al2O3, SiO2, CaO, and MgO. Oxygen production on a carbon-free anode has been confirmed.

Jan 1, 1992

By M. L. Smith, G. Karunatillake

Lead-zinc production at MIM, Mount Isa includes three mines, a lead concentrator, zinc filter plant and lead refinery. Lead production is vertically integrated with lead-silver bullion shipped from Australia to London for refining. Zinc is sold as a concentrate. All three mines have reached varying states of maturity mining a multitude of orebodies having significant variation in grades and metallurgical recovery for three metals. Based on current levels of measured resources, the remaining project life is at least ten years. The objective is to schedule production over the life of all three mines so as to maximize the present value of the complex. Additional scheduling complexity arises out of the implementation of long-term schedules, capital expansion projects for both mining and processing, the presence of substantial inferred reserves and interactions with MIM copper production. A large-scale, time-dynamic, life-of-complex Mixed Integer Program (MIP) production schedule was formulated to optimize lead/zinc cash flow based on a detailed life of project production scheduling study. The requirements for such a study are detailed herein. The operational feasibility of the MIP solution is compared against a non-optimal approach to strategic life-of-mine scheduling. The strategic planning emphasis placed on the MIP is compared to the implementation of a life-of-mine schedules at Mount Isa using spreadsheets and other popular commercial mine schedulers.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. R. Klimpel

The use of froth flotation as a means of separating and upgrading sulfide mineral concentrates is standard industrial practice throughout the world. It is ap-parent from observing the industrial practice of sulfide mineral flotation over the last decade that progress is being made in optimizing the operating aspects of flotation. Examples of this are the availability of improved instrumentation and related computer control devices, the modification of mechanical flotation cell designs, the introduction of column cells, better reagent dosage control, blending of feed ores, increasing attention to coarse and fine particle separations, the successful introduction of new frother chemistries, etc.

Jan 1, 1989

By Marco Sonnenschein

As time is costly, engineering companies have developed methods, procedures and mechanical equipment to tunnel faster. But the best excavation method will not be able to cope with the time pressure if there is not a reliable backup system. Therefore, the application of belt conveyors for tunnel boring machine (TBM) drives as well as for drill-and-blast driven tunnels assure a quick and smooth removal of excavated soil in order to enhance the efficiency of the tunneling equipment. During the last 10 years, belt conveyor systems have achieved ?state-of-the-art? levels and have become the first choice for muck removal systems in both TBM and drill-and-blast driven tunnels. Because time has become such a key criterion in tunneling projects, it is essential that all equipment is operated so as to derive optimum efficiency and minimize costs. Efficiency also means to think about new tasks for existing technologies.

Jan 1, 2012

By Arthur Notman

YEAR ago, the Committee on Mineral Economics ventured to predict a more realistic attitude by the public toward the folly of seeking to have more by making less under the guidance of the Blue Eagle. A unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has now laid that embattled bird to rest. De rnortuis nil nisi bonum. In spite of dire predictions of disaster to follow its early demise, the metal industries and many others have improved substantially. One could name many indications of that improvement, and on the strength of stock-market activities might assume

Jan 1, 1936

By Leonard A. Duval

This concept employs a viable energy saving method that uses a solvent to separate oil from particle matter; it can be used in metal forming industries to deoil sludges, oxides, and particle matter that is presently committed to landfill. If oily particles are used in their oily state, severe consequences to environmental control systems such as explosions or filter blinding, occur in the air handling equipment. This is due to the presence of hydrocarbons in the stack gases resulting from the oily particles. After deoiling, the particles can be recycled and the separated oil can be used as a fuel. The process does not produce a waste of it's own and does not harm air or water. It demonstrates the dual benefits of being commercially viable and in the national interest of conserving resources.

Jan 1, 1994

By K. G. Thorne, M. J. McLeod, D. Hoy

"Throughout the Paleozoic, a variety of gold depositional environments were created in the New Brunswick segment of the northern Appalachians because of the complexity of arc and continental plate collisions and subsequent erosion of the orogen. In southwestern New Brunswick, recent exploration and research has focused on deposits and occurrences that can be broadly classified as intrusion-related, generated by late- to post-orogenic felsic to intermediate plutonic rocks emplaced during the Early to Middle Devonian. This work has led to the establishment of models for gold mineralization and guidelines for exploration in this area, which might also be applicable elsewhere in the southern part of the province and, perhaps, throughout the northern Appalachians. The deposits in the vicinity of Clarence Stream in southwestern New Brunswick exemplify this deposit type, and highlight the emergence of a possible major gold district in the region. Durant le Paléozoïque, une grande variété d’environnements aurifères ont été créés dans le segment néo-brunswickois des Appalaches du nord en raison de la complexité des collisions entre arcs et plaques continentales ainsi que durant l’érosion subséquente de l’orogène. Dans le sud-ouest du Nouveau Brunswick, les travaux d’exploration et de recherche récents se sont tournés vers les gisements et les indices appartenant à la classe des gîtes associés aux intrusions, générés par des roches plutoniques felsiques à intermédiaires tardi- à post-orogéniques mises en place au Dévonien précoce à moyen. Ces travaux ont permis d’établir des modèles de mise en place pour la minéralisation aurifère ainsi que des guides d’exploration pour ce secteur, lesquels pourraient aussi être appliqués ailleurs dans le sud de la province et, possiblement, dans l’ensemble des Appalaches du nord. Les gîtes aux environs de Clarence Stream dans le sud-ouest du Nouveau Brunswick sont un exemple de ce type de gisement, mettant en valeur ce qui pourrait devenir un district aurifère majeur dans la région."

Jan 1, 2008

By Robert Hopler

BH Note: This price list stresses the point that the number six strength cap should be used with all high explosives. It’s interesting that duPont chose to continue to supply the lesser strength caps – but lowered the price of the #5 or #6 to be closer to that of the #4 and #3. There were imports of the lower strength caps at the time that had to be competed against, hence the price reductions. Another interesting point on this price list is the noting on the “Red Cross Explosives” page that these explosives reduce the danger incurred during the operation of thawing. As noted many times in these articles, this problem was not to be solved for about another 16 years or so.

Jan 1, 2011

By I. W. Farmer

High horizontal stresses and high horizontal to vertical in-situ principal stress ratios in the plane of underground drifts and entries can damage weakly laminated roof rocks quite severely. Such stresses are difficult to measure accurately, as illustrated by case histories of in-situ stress measurement at Wistow and Lea Hall mines, in the UK. Their direction and relative magnitude can, however, be estimated from the absolute velocity vectors of continental plates. With the preliminary results from the World Stress Map project now available it is possible to indicate mining areas where regional horizontal stresses are low, such as Europe, and high, such as Australia and Asia

Jun 19, 1905

By R. H. Jacoby, V. J. Berry, R. C. Koeller

The experimental phase behavior of several field gas-condensate systems, one field volatile oil system, and a series of synthetic systems having gas-oil ratios from 2,000 to 20,000 scf/bbl stock tank oil was measured. The data were used to calculate the depletion performance of the field systems at their respective reservoir temperatures and of the synthetic systems at various temperatures. The results of the performance calculations were used to prepare correlations of total stock tank oil and separator gas in-place, and the amount of each recovered by primary depletion. Data needed to use the correlations are initial gas-oil ratio, initial tank oil gravity, reservoir temperature and reservoir pressure. The correlations presented should be useful for estiinating recovery from reservoirs producing volatile oils or rich gas condensates having gas-oil ratios from about 2,000 to 30,000 scf/bbl of stock tank oil. INTRODUCTION Prediction of depletion performance for gas-condensate reservoirs usually requires extensive laboratory work or lengthy phase-behavior calculations. For many small gas-condensate bearing zones the expense of such work is often not justified. Furthermore, where large holdings are involved, it is useful to have estimates of future oil and gas production in advance of the results of a laboratory analysis, even if such work is ultimately planned. For these reasons, it would be of value to have a method for rapidly estimating the depletion performance of gas-condensate reservoirs from the type of field data usually available. Few data on the reservoir depletion performance are available for the purpose of developing correlations. The increasing number of gas-condensate discoveries and the advent of high-speed computers have stimulated the development of methods for predicting performance. Such calculated performance data have been shown to be reliable and are becoming accepted as a basis for reserve estimates and for engineering studies. It therefore seems satisfactory to use results of performance predictions themselves for the purpose of developing the desired correlations. Such an approach is described in this paper. Several rich natural gas-condensate systems (gas-oil ratios of from about 3,600 to 60,000 scf/bbl) and one natural volatile oil system were studied (2,363 scf/bbl). In addition, to provide a more systematic basis for correlating purposes, a series of related, synthetic reservoir fluid mixtures was also studied (GOR's from about 2,000 to 25,000 scf/bbl). The purpose of this paper is to show how the recovery of oil and gas by primary depletion may be estimated from surface gas-oil ratio, reservoir temperature and pressure, and tank oil gravity. procedure Experiments Companion samples of gas and oil were collected from the high pressure separators in nine different fields at the time of their discovery. These samples were each recombined in accordance with the respective producing GOR to reproduce the reservoir fluids. Eight of these fluids, designated F-2 through F-9, were rich gas-condensate systems at the respective reser-

By Paul J. Barrett

The Bureau of Mines evaluated a sulfurous acid-sulfuric acid process for recovering alumina from clay, in which clay is leached. successively with sulfurous acid and sulfuric acid. The resulting aluminum sulfite and aluminum sulfate solutions are combined and heated to produce a basic aluminum sulfate and sulfur dioxide. Alumina is extracted from the basic aluminum sulfate as sodium aluminate by leaching with dilute sodium hydroxide. After desilication, sulfuric acid is used to precipitate alumina as alumina trihydrate, which is then calcined to alpha-alumina. The estimated fixed capital cost for a plant producing 1,000 tons per day of alumina is about $74 million on a 1971 basis. For comparison with previous alumina-from-clay evaluations, the estimated fixed capital cost for the plant is about $67 million on an M and S Chemical Equipment Index basis of 24.0.0, which is equivalent to a 1960 cost level. Because the operating cost is highly dependent on fuel and electric power costs, graphs are included to show the effect of these items on the operating cost. On a 1971 basis, with natural gas costing 35 cents per million Btu and operating labor costing $4 per hour, the estimated operating cost is about $100 per ton of alumina. On a 1960 basis, with labor costing $2.30 per hour and natural gas costing 25 cents per million Btu, the estimated operating cost is about $86 per ton of alumina.

Jan 1, 1973

By W. M. Corse

AT THE TURN of the century the nonferrous alloy industry was awakening to the value of scientific metallurgy, and brass foundries and rolling mills began to establish their own research laboratories for scientific research and control. As the industry grew and its scope broadened it became apparent that an organization was needed that would stand in the same relation to the nonferrous industry as the American Foundrymen's Association did to the iron foundry business. The brass founders' group of the foundrymen's association discussed the matter and it was finally decided to appoint a com- mittee to draw up a constitution for a new organization to be known as the American Brass Founders' Association. Charles J. Caley was chairman and Dr. Richard Moldenke secretary of this committee. The object of the organization as defined by the constitution was the study of the technological development of alloying and founding non- ferrous metals, and furthering the advance of nonferrous metallurgy and the standardization of materials and operations in cooperation with the Bureau of Standards and engineering societies.

Jan 1, 1932

By M Robotham

In April 2013, Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper’s (RTKC) Bingham Canyon mine experienced what is arguably the world’s largest ever in-pit slope failure. The failure initiated along a major, continuous, low-strength bedding fault, named the Manefay bed, and comprised approximately 145Mtonnes of rock and waste dump material. Initial East wall slope deformations were detected some months prior to catastrophic slope collapse by RTKC’s slope monitoring systems. However, the failure mechanism was different to that which had historically been experienced in the prior more-than-100 years of open pit mining. Failure occurred as two separate events, the initial one likely consisting of a frictional failure of rock materials along the Manefay bed itself, before a second phase of failure occurred, which included a large mass of old rail dump material. The combination of these events led to a much larger failure run-out than had been anticipated by the RTKC team which led to loss of, and damage to, mining equipment and infrastructure as well as significant interruption to mining activities. Due to the diligent monitoring of the slopes no safety impacts were experienced at the mine, and as such the details and learnings from this failure can readily be shared with the broader mining and geotechnical industries to avoid similar recurrences elsewhere. This is an extended abstract only. CITATION:Robotham, M, 2018. Bingham Canyon Mine – from adversity to excellence, in Proceedings The Fourth Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference (AusRock), pp 3–4 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 30, 2018

By Malcolm Scoble, Jean-Marc Robert, Luciano Piciacchia

"An approach to the in situ testing of mine backfills is outlined. It has been developed to provide a measure of the effective strength and stiffness of such materials after placement in stopes. This paper is based upon recent field studies undertaken at five Quebec mines. Details of the selected instrumentation, supporting equipment and testing procedures are reviewed. The mechanical behaviour of the backfills is reported and related to their physical properties. This approach represents an economical, simple and reliable means to assess the mechanical characteristics of backfill materials as an aid to both mine design and placement quality control. IntroductionDevelopments in backfill and mining method technology are creating a pressing need to develop effective techniques for characterizing the physical and mechanical properties of backfill in situ, rather than relying on traditional laboratory testing. The development of bulk mining methods is creating the requirement to more fully understand the nature of exposed fill faces to design for stability in pillar recovery operations. Other backfill technological developments currently receiving widespread attention are high density placement and the use of alternative additives to Portland cement. In Canada, U.S.A. and South Africa attention is also being placed on employing backfill to alleviate rockburst hazards(1,2.3l. In situ testing offers the potential to measure the geomechanical properties of backfill once placed in stopes , in order to assess its actual role in pillar recovery and ground support. Similarly, it offers the ability to provide some quality control during backfill placement. This role is seen as becoming increasingly important with the growing recognition of the need to pay greater attention to the mode of placement, which governs segregation and variation in the properties actually achieved by the backfill after placement."

Jan 1, 1987

By L. L. Handy

The most common method of identifying hydrocarbon-bearing strata in a well that penetrates many different formations involves measurement and interpretation of the electrical properties of the formations as determined by electrical logs. Even though this method is used extensively, and even though in a great many instances it is capable of indicating presence of oil or gas, situations arise for which it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to deduce the presence of hydrocarbons. These situations may involve the following. 1. A thin formation, bounded by highly resistive formations, in which it is impossible to obtain the actual resistivity of the uninvaded zone with existing logging devices. 2. A formation in which invasion has been so extensive that a value for the uninvaded zone resistivity cannot be obtained. 3. A very shaly formation in which the resistivity index, I, is lower than that usually associated with productive formations. 4. Laminated formations comprised of thin productive sands separated by thin shale streaks in which the individual sand and shale streaks are too thin to permit measurement of uninvaded-zone resistivity with existing logging devices. 5. Productive formations in which the water saturation is high. To extend the utility of electric log interpretation to identification of hydrocarbons in all types of formations, there is strong incentive to find a method not subject to these limitations. Some time ago, in connection with research on the wettability of reservoir rock, an investigation was conducted in which the resistivities of cores were measured shortly after they were removed from a core barrel, and again after they had been extracted and restored to their original oil and brine saturation.' The resistivities after extraction were generally lower. Other tests made on the cores indicated that they were more nearly water wet after they were extracted; thus, it was assumed that the observed changes in resistivities were due to a change in wettability of the cores. Other experiments'," have shown that resistivities of rock samples are sharply dependent on wettability. These experiments have shown that oil-wet samples are more resistive than water-wet samples. To obtain an understanding of how the wetting properties of the surfaces of core material affect electrical resistivity, a series of experiments was conducted. Two groups of core samples were prepared for testing. One group contained brine, but no residual oil. The other group was saturated with brine, flooded with oil to a low water saturation, then flooded with brine to a final residual oil saturation. Resistivity measurements were made on each group. Both groups were then flooded with the original brine to which a chemical had been added that renders sand and clay surfaces preferentially oil wet, a so-called reverse-wetting agent. very little change in resistivity was observed in cores containing only water. The group containing residual oil, however, showed resistivity increases of 100 to 200 per cent. These experiments showed that the resistivity of a core containing oil could be altered by changing wet-tability of the core. Moreover, the possibility was introduced that reverse-wetting agents might be employed as the basis for a logging method for identification of oil-bearing strata. Since behavior of a porous rock containing gas and water might be expected to be similar to that of a rock containing oil and water, such a method should also be applicable to identification of gas-bearing zones. In principle the wettability of the invaded zone could be reversed without altering conductivity of the interstitial water or the hydrocarbon saturation therein. Those strata showing significantly increased invaded-zone resistivities would, therefore, contain hydrocarbons; those with no significant change would be filled only with water. Addition of a reverse-wetting agent to a hydro carbon -bearing zone which is, by nature, already preferentially oil wet would not result in an enhancement of its resistivity. It is generally believed, however, that most hydrocarbon-bearing strata are preferentially water wet.

By Charles C. Mosher

An in-mine seismic technique for detecting faults has been tested in a Western U.S. coal mine. This technique has been used extensively in the U. K. to help guide longwall mining operations. Explosives detonated on the face of a seam generate sound waves which propagate into the seam. Reflections from faults are picked up by sensors on the same face. Computer processing is then used to determine the fault locations. A known fault was successfully located in this test. Modifications to the U. K. procedures were required for the relatively thicker roan and pillar mines common in the Western U. S.

Jan 1, 1983