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By Larissa Koroznikova, Steve Durkin, Bradley Drake, Michael Tuck

This paper presents the results from the investigation of the application of thermal fragmentation in Australian hard rock underground narrow-vein mining. Two geologically similar samples from an underground narrow-vein hard rock gold mine were collected to obtain a measure of the technology’s ability to recover ore by the creation of large thermal openings to assess the applicability of the thermal method. Particle size distribution showed a higher generation of fine product, − 2 mm, by thermal fragmentation compared with selective blasting by 31%. The Bond work index for thermal ore (12.62 kWh/t) is half to that of the blasted ore value (25.32 kWh/t). The average grindability obtained for the thermal ore sample was greater than the blasted sample by a factor of 2.44, a higher value indicating a decrease in the energy required to grind. The thermal fragmentation method generates product with higher dissolution of gold in cyanide, by 14% for the − 9.5 + 2 mm size fraction samples. Additionally, the thermal fragmentation results in higher production of − 9.5 + 2 mm material by 15 % compared with selective blasting.

By Jesús L. Valenzuela, José R. Parga, Salvador Aguayo, Héctor Moreno

The Merrill Crowe zinc-precipitation process has been applied worldwide on a large number of operations for the recovery of gold and silver resulting in a higher consumption of zinc dust from cyanide solutions. However, in some of plants this precipitate is of low quality, because lead, cadmium and especially copper are precipitated along with gold and silver. The low quality precipitate also requires more fluxes in smelting and shortens crucible life. In this study, a process is introduced to remove copper, silver, lead and cadmium from barren solutions following the Merrill-Crowe process. Copper and silver are removed by precipitation in a serpentine reactor, using sodium sulfide as the precipitator, and sulfuric acid for pH control. The recovery of lead and cadmium ions with natural hydroxyapatite using cow bone powder (CBP) as a new adsorbent material, is introduced. CBP is capable of removing lead and cadmium ions from aqueous cyanide solutions with 99% efficiency. It has the ability to compete with other existing commercial adsorbents for the removal of lead and cadmium. Results show that pH value has a significant effect on copper cyanide removal efficiency, and it was determined the optimal pH range to be 2 - 3. At this pH value, the copper cyanide removal efficiency achieved was up to 99 %; and for the cyanide associated with copper cyanide complexes, the recovery was 90%. Finally, the precipitate quality was improved 400% .This procedure was successfully run at three mines in México.

Jan 1, 2014

By Louis D. Murino

Compared to coal or many metals industries, talc must be considered a small, specialty market catering to niches and dependent primarily on the physical attributes of the mined and processed mineral rather than the chemical attributes with copper, lead or uranium concentrate, the primary objective is the percent metal that ultimately is refined by the smelter, as opposed to the brightness, particle size distribution, trace impurities or morphology. The latter constitute the important determinants of where, how and why talc and similar industrial minerals are used. This paper addresses the talc market-place: where it is, how much of a market there is, who the producers are, available capacity, market growth, and marketing techniques.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. Kandemir

An experimental study of the bacterial oxidation of naturally occurring high-purity sulphide minerals (FeS2, Fe1-xS, Cu5FeS4, ZnS) is presented using a mesophilic strain of T. ferrooxidans. As well as metal analyses and solution pH, partitioning of sulphide sulphur into elemental sulphur and sulphate has been monitored as a function of leach time. Partially oxidized sulphide substrates have been characterized, at regular time intervals, by X-ray diffraction methods and extracellular organic compounds reporting into leach solution .have been identified by thin layer -chromatography.

Jan 1, 1985

By Dwight R. Coles

The solving of complex metallurgical flowsheet calculations by hand is, at best, a tedious job which often proves that engineers, too, make mistakes. The high cost and long lead time associated with manual flowsheet solutions have led several organizations involved in research, development and construction of extractive metallurgical processes to search for computerized systems which will solve flowsheet calculations. Although design flowsheet programs have been developed by the chemical industry, the ability to solve flowsheets involving particulate solids is usually overlooked. A new computer applications system has been developed at Fluor Mining and Metals which has been designed to accommodate the type of design flowsheets required by the minerals industry. By employing the sequential modular computation technique, a library of metallurgical pro- cessing routines may' be accumulated which are used by a universal executive system. This technique enables rapid solution of new process) .flow- sheets with only a minimum of additional programming effort. The implementation of the FLEXMET flowsheet solution system is the subject of this paper. Some of the major features of the system which are examined include interactive input data handling, automated flowsheet calculation order arrangement, flexible accomodation of unit operations models and advanced management of recycle and specification control calculations.

Jan 1, 1982

With only one certain exception coal was never used by the Indians, before white men came to America, for any purpose except as an ornament or for paint. Within the past few years it has been discovered that the Hopi Indians in Navajo County, Arizona, used lignite for burning pottery, about 1000 A. D., as dated by tree rings. They were able to obtain a clear color in their ware that could not be obtained with brushwood fires. The coal was mined by hammers from outcrop openings, some of which can still be seen, and the tools used have been found in them.1 (See also p. 376.) Small figurines made of splint or cannel coal have been found at various localities in western New York, in Ohio and possibly other places, evidently made for ornaments. There is no reason to think they are of any greater age, if as old, as that mentioned above. Some crushed coal was used by the Indians as a black pigment in painting themselves, but apparently the eastern Indians never used coal for any other purposes. Some think that several tribes of Indians in the Northwest, along the Missouri, used coal as fuel, the basis being a statement attributed to Radisson about 1660. In the Jesuit Relations of 1659-1660 it was stated that Radisson anti Groseilliers had just returned from a visit to Lake Superior and beyond. "In the country of the Poualak, which means 'warriors' they say `as wood is scanty in supply and small in size in their country, nature has taught them to make fire with coal from the earth (charbon de terre) and to cover their cabins with skins.'"2 This statement was only hearsay with the good fathers, and the reputation for veracity of the two explorers is not of the best, and it is extremely probable that instead of coal they used turf, dry grass or buffalo chips. In fact in Radisson's Voyages' he does not mention coal at all in his account of the third voyage, when he was supposed to have seen it used. His accounts of his travels are badly mixed, and he and his companions were much better travellers than narrators. None of the early travellers up the Missouri River saw any evidence even then that the Indians were familiar with the use of coal. In the writer's opinion it is unlikely that coal was used as stated by the Jesuits.

Jan 1, 1942

By Paul Staples, Paul Messenger, Greg Lane

"Every project is different. While “conventional” SAG and ball mill circuits will suit many projects, for others there are alternatives, which may produce improved outcomes. This paper examines particular examples of recent front end designs which either went against conventional thinking or which employed “out of the box” thinking to realize the desired results.One such example is the design strategy employed for a small capacity gold plant in Victoria, Australia. The selection of HPGR technology for small capacity projects is not generally favoured, given the relatively high cost of small HPGR machines. However, the unusual size distribution of the gold and its liberation characteristics were expected to lead to improved gold recovery offsetting the higher capital cost.Another example is the first large scale application of milling in acid for copper recovery, at a project in south east Asia. The stainless steel, single stage SAG mill using ceramic grinding media was more expensive than a mill constructed of conventional materials. However, the steps of scrubbing, slurrying, grinding and leaching could all be achieved in a single unit operation and the need for thickening and repulping with acid after milling was eliminated.Rod mills were selected for both primary and secondary milling duties for another south east Asian project despite their somewhat outdated reputation. A review of previous industry experience confirmed that rod mills could outperform conventional rod/ball or SAG/ball circuits in cases where the size distribution of the ground product is critical to downstream recovery.These examples are discussed with particular focus on the key drivers in each case."

Jan 1, 2008

The green field discovery of a two million ounce high-grade refractory gold ore deposit in the Indonesian Province of Sulawesi Utara, led Newmont to utilise its proven technical expertise in dry grinding and whole ore roasting to develop a 2000 tonne per day, 160 000 ounce per year operation in this remote and picturesque location.Located at an elevation of 250 in above sea level and ten kilometres to a deep water natural harbour, the hard rock open pit mine, process plant and infrastructure facilities were built to budget at a capital cost of US$132 million. The plant was commissioned with oxide ore, with the first gold poured in March 1996 and with refractory ore in January 1997. The operation rapidly met its production targets because of extensive forward planning and training programs developed for the local workforce. The presence of steep topography, fertile coastal plains, high rainfall, high seismicity of this location led to the decision to dispose of neutralised tailings in deep water off the coast instead of impounding tailings in a dam. This paper describes the development of the project and the challenges in developing a gold operation in a remote location which lacked infrastructure, the steps taken to ensure a smooth commissioning, and the selection of the workforce to operate a technically sophisticated facility.

Jan 1, 1997

By Bjöm Böhle

Top-down construction (or cut and cover construction) is providing important advantages when comparing with conventional construction techniques for commercial developments with deep basements, underground car parks or near surface infrastructure and traffic tunnels. Main features are substantially reduced restrictions to surface usage, avoidance of intervention with adjacent property, provision of rigid substructures resulting in minimal deforma­tions and settlements and, last but not least, accelerated construction pro­gramme. The present contribution illustrates the construction method in general and elaborates in detail on the special foundation works for a major urban commercial high rise development requiring a six level basement structure.

Jan 1, 2006

By Niels Verbaan, Ralph Fitch, Charlotte Forstner, David Dreisinger

A process has been developed to extract gold, silver, indium, gallium, lead, copper, zinc, and other metals from a large resource using an oxidizing acid chloride heap leaching technology. The ore is crushed and/or ground to improve reactivity and then contacted with a solution containing NaCl-HCl-NaOCl. The value metals are leached into solution as chloro-complexes. The leachate is treated in a series of separation and recovery processes to produce separate saleable or disposable products. The paper will provide a summary of process development and application to a silver-indium ore from Bolivia. The possible application of the process to other ore types will be presented for discussion.

Jan 1, 2015

By A. Wright, P. Lacombe, R. del Villar, D. Hodouin, C. Sepulveda

"The data acquisition from industrial plants is a fundamental step for process modelling in process optimization, process analysis and automatic control.The introduction, some years ago, of modern distributed control and data acquisition systems in concentrators imposes a new approach in designing experimental schemes for data acquisition campaigns and new criteria for the treatment of the obtained discrete information.This paper presents the methodology applied to sample a zinc flotation circuit at Les Mines Selbaie, Joutel, PQ. Values of 85 process variables were obtained form the Distributed Control and Data Acquisition System (Bailey Network 90) and transferred to the DOS environment. Another 11 variables (flowrates and valve positions) were directly sampled using an IBM-PC compatible computer equipped with a data acquisition card and a signal processing circuit.All variables, under the vector form, were processed in the PC-MATLAB environment to either filter or eliminate the non-linear disturbances and noises, producing useful data for model development. The filtering algorithms are also presented.INTRODUCTIONProcess control does not need to be justified. Whether manual or automatic, any processing plant requires some form of control to accomplish its main objectives: a good quality product and a target throughput. Process control of mineral processing plants has steadily evolved from manual control, where the operator skills and/or experience play an important role, to some level of automatic control, usually considered better, as less human subjectivity is involved, at least when actions have to be taken.The design of these control systems requires the knowledge of the dynamics of the process it is deemed to control. Process modelling is therefore an essential step in the assessment and the design of a control strategy. The choice of model will depend on the available resources and manpower."

Jan 1, 1991

By B. S. Butler

AN understanding of mineralizing solutions and how they carry and deposit metals is of prime importance to students of ore deposits. Lindgren states: "The whole problem surely is very complicated. One difficulty is that we know so little about the stability field of ore minerals."1 Lindgren further states: It is believed that they [the solutions] were in small part oxidized to sulphates, for instance, but in large part they were composed of hydrogen sulphide, alkaline sulphides and various halogen compounds. Doubtless, however, free carbon dioxide was present. Becker's view of the double sulphides as important constituents of the solutions probably holds good. In the fourth edition of Mineral Deposits2 Lindgren had changed his views somewhat: From the work of Day, Allen, Shepard, and others, it would seem probable that many of the volcanic gases are acid when given off but are in unstable equilibrium, and could not have preserved this acid character after having been long in contact with the surrounding rocks. It is believed that they were in small part oxidized to sulphates, for instance, but in larger part they were composed of hydrogen sulphides, alkaline sulphide, and various halogen compounds. Doubtless, however, free carbon dioxide was present. Becker's view of double alkaline sulphides as important constituents of the solution probably holds good. The writer wonders if progress would not result from an attack on the problem in steps, the steps to contribute to the attack on the whole. The initial step would deal with the simpler bodies of supposed magmatic (hydrothermal) origin, that is, those composed essentially of silicates, oxides, sulfates, and sulfides. The following discussion attempts to develop one step of a method that was proposed on a more comprehensive scale in 1929 by the writer and W. S. Burbank.3 The accompanying partial table (Table I) of the electromotive series is from a table distributed by Merck & Co. Inc., manufacturing chemists, prepared in turn from Fundamental Chemistry.& The electromotive arrangement brings together elements that in hypogene ore deposits occur: 1) in oxygen combination only; 2) in combination with sulfur as well as with oxygen; and 3) as sulfides, arsenides etc., and as native metals, see Table 11. The writer clearly recognizes that he is not qualified to discuss the formation of ore deposits as a chemical problem, but he feel that some of the relations that are met by the geologist can well be stated with the hope that the chemical explanation will be forthcoming. By consideration of a group including mainly the elements oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur and iron, complications are avoided, especially with elements of the lower electromotive group. The results can only contribute to the solution of the problem, not to the completion of it. The pH and Eh of the solutions and also temperature probably determine what minerals form. The mineral groups that contain elements high in the electromotive series are alumino-silicates, titanites, simple silicates, spinels, oxides, carbonates and sulfates, in all of which the elements are combined with oxygen. These groups are also recognized as the general order of temperature at which the minerals start to form, see Table 11. At low temperature are sulfides, arsenides, antimonides, sulfo-salts, and native metals, in all of which the elements are characteristically not combined with oxygen. The intermediate temperature group contains elements that form both oxygen compounds and sulfur compounds.

Jan 1, 1957

By Anne Kvithyld

Silicon solar cells, that convert the energy of sunlight into electric energy, are attractive sources of energy. In the production line wafers of solar cells are sliced from a multicrystaline ingot solidified unidirectionally. Recycling scrap from top and sides of such ingots is addressed. SiC and Si3N4 inclusions are a major problem. Scrap from Scan Wafer ASA is melted in a high vacuum furnace at around 1500ºC. The filters, from commercial producers, are C and SiC with 10, 20 and 30 ppi. Characterisation of inclusions before and after filtration, and in the filter itself, is performed by microscopy. Dissolution of silicon in acid and counting of the un-dissolved inclusions is also carried out. In the filter Si3N4 needles and SiC inclusions were identified. The amount of these inclusions in the filtered silicon is much less than in the input. In conclusion, filtration using SiC and C filters in vacuum system in argon atmosphere removes SiC and Si3N4 inclusions from solar cell scrap. Flow of metal through the filters is not a problem. These results are promising with scale-up to industrial application in mind.

Jan 1, 2006

By C. A. Anderson, C. A. Young, H-H. Huang, L. G. Twidwell

An equilibrium calculational computer program (STABCAL) can be used for titration simulation. The program can handle various forms of titrants: solid, aqueous, gaseous or another solution, and various type of reactions: reductive, oxidative and adsorption. Background chemistry, mathematical considerations, and program development will be illustrated. Also, simple titration applications such as how to determine the acidity of aqueous solutions and alkaline sulfide leaching of gold are presented. Processing of an acid mine water from the Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana has been used for illustration purposes. The treatment studies included: cementation, sulfidization, and neutralization. The calculational results for the neutralization treatment using various alkaline reagents are compared to actual experimental data and potentially appropriate processes are discussed. Computational

Jan 1, 2005

By Forest Mintz

Many oil and gas producers find it advantageous to borrow against the value of their hydrocarbon re- serves. This paper considers the requirements for a reserve based loan and the calculations that a bank would perform to arrive at a loan amount. Three of the most common loan structures, i.e. a term loan, a production payment, and a revolving credit/term loan will be discussed. A typical outline for each type of loan is presented. Finally, a comparison of major considerations in the three financing techniques is shown.

Jan 1, 1982

By Werner Klein

The Production Management solution (Level 3) covers TYASA’s existing steel making plant, billet caster and new Castrip based coil production line in Ixtaczoquitlan, Mexico. It steers the order based production utilizing product routing information and corresponding process instructions for the individual processing units. A seamless material tracking along the entire production route from heat creation in the electric arc furnace down to the final coil product provides TYASA with the genealogy information customers require for flat products. At each important process step the Level 3 compares actual quality related production results with order requirements. In case of deviations from ordered quality the plant staff is guided by rule based dispositions. The highly configurable solution supports customer to operate its production plant as a smart factory in the sense of industry 4.0.

Oct 30, 2017

By R. A. Greenkorn, R. C. Smith

Hele-Shaw cells are used to model creeping flow through porous media (where Darcy&apos;s law is valid). The effects of inertia on flow about obstructions in a Hele-Shaw cell can be calculated by a perturbation method if one can determine a solution to Laplace&apos;s equation. Results of a computer solution for flow about circular, square and elliptical obstructions are presented. These results show that or a modified Reynolds number of less than I, the inertia terms are small; and for values of less than 3, the average streamline predicts the ideal flow. Therefore, the analogy might be used for studying flow in porous media up to a modified Reynolds number of at least 3. INTRODUCTION The nature of fluid flow in porous media is of interest in the fields of soil mechanics, ground water flow, petroleum production, filtration and flow in packed beds. Because it is very difficult to study the phenomenological behavior of flow in porous media, homologs and analogs are used to study flow characteristics. A Hele-Shaw model, made of two closely spaced plates - usually glass — is often used as an analogy to two-dimensional flow in porous media. Hele-Shaw2 showed experimentally that the streamline configuration for creeping flow around an obstacle located between two closely spaced parallel plates is the same as for two-dimensional, ideal flow about the same obstacle. Stokes7 verified these observations mathematically. The usual equation of motion for flow in porous media is Darcy&apos;s law. The form of the mathematical statement of Darcy&apos;s law is identical, within a multiplicative constant, to the expression for the average velocity over the plate gap in the plane of a Hele-Shaw model. These models may be used to describe flow in both homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. In the mathematical proof of the Hele-Shaw analogy it is assumed that the convective terms in the Navier-Stokes equations are negligible and that the equations of motion degenerate to Laplace&apos;s equation, with pressure the dependent variable. Whenever a Hele-Shaw model is used as an analogy to flow in porous media, .the validity of this assumption is in question. Riegels5 showed that if convection is not neglected, the velocity distribution around a cylindrical obstruction in the flow field depends on a Reynolds number, the plate spacing, and a dimension characteristic of the obstacle. Riegels&apos; solution, a perturbation solution, uses the boundary condition that the flow rate into the obstacle averaged over the plate gap at any point on the obstacle is zero. The method requires that a solution to Poisson&apos;s equation for the perturbation pressure be found. Riegels evaluated this solution for the case of the cylindrical obstruction. His method may be simplified by eliminating the need for solving Poisson&apos;s equation for the perturbation pressure. Instead, an analytic expression for the perturbation pressure gradient is obtained (valid for arbitrary shapes) and used to eliminate pressure from the equations for the perturbation velocities. The results show, for symmetrical shapes, that if NRe < 1, the convective acceleration terms are small, and that the average velocities represent ideal flow up to at least NRe = 3, where: L is a characteristic dimension of the obstacle perpendicular to flow, b is the plate spacing, u is viscosity, v, is velocity of approach and p is density. THEORY* Incompressible fluid flow through a Hele-Shaw model and a porous medium are analogous because the equations for the average velocity components in two-dimensional flow are identical if:

Jan 1, 1970

By M. Rezaee

Push backs used in the production planning of open pit mines play an integral role in generating annual cash flow. Although several algorithms for push back designs have been proposed, none have studied the optimum number of push backs. In this paper, different algorithms have been implemented for the push back design of a cross section of a copper deposit and the results discussed. Moreover, the optimum number of push backs has been determined using analytical and multiple attribute decision making (MADM) methods based on minimizing the risk associated with grade uncertainty, and minimizing stripping ratio, while maximizing net present value (NPV). According to the findings, the optimum number of push backs has been proposed to be between three and six, as lower quantities of push backs are more likely to achieve the calculated net present value, and have smoother stripping ratios for different pushbacks. This approach was examined in an operating mine and the optimum number of push backs determined to be four.

Jan 1, 2012

By Jim Sadowski, Steve Stewart, Bob McMurdy, Martin Nevens

"Mohawk Garnet has been operating a small pilot plant near Sudbury, Ontario for several years attempting to produce commercially viable garnet. The challenges of operating a pilot scale mining, processing, and product handling operation as a full time plant have led Mohawk Garnet to seek a better way. In co-operation with Mohawk Garnet, Outotec (USA) Inc. has taken on the technical and design challenges of increasing garnet product from twenty tonnes per day to two hundred tonnes per day.Outotec performed a comprehensive test and flowsheet development program applying Outotec’s density separators, spirals, flotation, and other technologies to design a successful process for the separation and recovery of the valuable garnet for Mohawk.This paper explores the test program, the process flowsheet development work, plant design and preliminary engineering of a new garnet processing. The various technical challenges, process technologies involved, and design concepts will be discussed.INTRODUCTIONMohawk garnet has been operating a small-scale garnet mine and process plant in Wahnapitae, Ontario near Sudbury.The current operation was intended to be a pilot plant and so only produces 20-25 tonnes of garnet concentrate per day. The garnet is bagged and sold for use as abrasive. The process is inefficient with low yields, poor material handling and very high cost per tonne. Mohawk garnet approached Outotec to help them improve their garnet process and transform themselves into a larger scale and more efficient operation."

Jan 1, 2010

By Sandip K. Mukherjee, Anthony W. Laurito, Madan M. Singh, Jon C. Volkwein

In the past, little attention has been paid to the costs of ventilation, since it seldom represented a significant portion of the total mining cost. However, in recent years adverse mining conditions and increases in power charges have caused ventilation costs to rise. The federal regulations have set minimum standards for volumetric airflow rates in underground coal mines. As a mine develops, the air volume and pressure requirements increase. There are several methods by which the quantity of airflow to the mine and working faces can be increased. Some of the methods include (1) increasing main fan output or replacing the main fan by a new higher capacity fan, (2) reducing leakage across stoppings and overcasts, (3) adding a new ventilation shaft or borehole, (4) reducing resistance to airflow by reducing the resistance factor of the individual airways, increasing the number of airways (especially the parallel airways), or re- arranging the air courses by using the available entries, and (5) using auxiliary ventilation systems. This paper addresses the cost-benefit analysis of several of these alternatives as applied to a large operating coal mine located in southern Illinois. Pressure and quantity surveys were conducted under-ground, and measurements were taken at the main exhaust fans on the surface. The existing ventilation network was modeled by using the Penn State ventilation simulator. The input data included the configuration of branches, resistance of each branch (including a component for shock losses), and changes in pressure and volume. The results of the simulation were compared with the survey data to check the merits and accuracy of the model network. The net- work was designed to take into account shafts, major entries, overcasts, regulators, gob areas, working faces, and major leakage paths. The model network served as the basis for the cost analyses of networks designed for increased airflow. The applicable alternatives for increasing airflow were simulated. Performance data obtained from these simulation runs were utilized to conduct the cost-effectiveness analysis. The costs for each f the alternatives included capital, operating and maintenance costs. These costs were expressed as annual costs in terms of dollars per cfm of circulating air, taking into account the economic life associated with each of the alternatives. The benefits were expressed as increased airflow quantity in the critical sections. The result of these analyses show that for the short-range plans evaluated, the most cost-effective way of increasing airflow at this mine would be to reduce leakage through stoppings and overcasts.

Jan 1, 1982