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By P Card

Some project managers accept unsatisfactory economic evaluation modelling because they are unaware of what constitutes good practice. They tend to leave it to the evaluation specialist or others to decide. The AusIMM has published on its website a draft set of guidelines for technical economic evaluation which will allow these project managers to take control and demand worldÆs best practices.The style of the guidelines is described and the source of a worked spreadsheet example in Excel is given.Economic evaluation in project management is described. A simple test for the acceptance or rejection of evaluation work is offered. The nature of modelling and evaluation in each of the three study phases of concept, prefeasibility and final feasibility are described. Suggestions on the selection of specialists for each phase are given. The three levels of evaluation thinking are described, namely, modelling, valuation and evaluation. Finally the meaning of æfinancial analysisÆ is explained.The conclusion is that æthe role of an economic evaluation specialist is to create models and evaluations for the whole project team to readily understand and use: it is not to create models for his/her own useÆ.CITATION:Card, P, 2012. What project managers must demand from an economic evaluation!, in Proceedings Project Evaluation 2012 , pp 173-176 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 24, 2012

The Curtin University Gold Technology Group has been involved in surveying, modelling and optimisation of batch centrifugal concentrator type gravity circuits and CIP/CIL circuits for nearly two decades. The most commonly asked question regarding gravity recovery is, “What is the benefit of a gravity circuit”, which can be hard, if not impossible, to quantify. With the help of the AMIRA P420 Project’s Integrated Liberation Leach Model (ILLM) it is now possible to evaluate the effect of gravity recovery on total gold recovery when changes are made to the grind size, gravity and/or leach/adsorption circuits. This paper demonstrates how the ILLM can be used to determine the net benefit of introducing or modifying a gravity circuit and assess the effect of operating conditions (grind size, coarse gold size distribution, leach residence time, carbon activity, etc.) on plant performance.

Jan 1, 2017

By L. E. Young

MUCH has been said and written on this subject and probably little new can be said. However, the point of view of the operating company changes from time to time, and more stress may be laid upon a subject today than was done some years ago, and it is with this changing point of view that the following observations are presented: The writer wishes to limit the discussion to views of a company mining bituminous coal, particularly to what the production department expects of the college grad¬uate. In an editorial in MINING AND METALLURGY for February, 1929, entitled "Is. Mining Engineering Passing?" it is stated that: It is not by accident that mining engineering courses have been general rather than special and form even today the only general engineering courses widely offered and followed by engineering students.'* * * even in this age of specialization, the mining engineers remain a body characterized particularly by broad knowledge.

Jan 1, 1929

By M A. Tuck

Atmospheric air on a moisture free volume basis consists of approximately 21 per cent oxygen. The current minimum threshold for oxygen in Australia is 19.5 per cent. Atmospheric air generally will also contain water vapour and will also pick up further moisture as it flows around a mine ventilation network. This paper details the results of a study to determine how much oxygen depletion can occur due to the sole impact of increasing the moisture content of air and the potential impacts of this on ventilation system design. The study shows that the moisture content can have a significant impact on the oxygen concentration in mine air. The main factors controlling the impact are the barometric pressure, dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the air.CITATION:Tuck, M A, 2015. What is the oxygen depletion potential of ?water vapour?, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, pp 173–176 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 31, 2015

By Oliver Bowles, Carl A. Gnam

THE construction industry normally contributes extensively to the general economic welfare of all sections of the country. Billions of dollars are spent for materials and labor, and the success or failure of many business enterprises depends upon the volume of construction. The steel, aluminum, copper, cement, brick and tile, lime, gypsum, stone, sand and gravel, and several of the less prominent mineral industries are vitally concerned. Of great interest, therefore, is the accumulation of needed construction following the relative inactivity of the past five years, the recent moderate revival in building, and the prospect of a broader and more definite upturn. One may judge the magnitude of possible expenditure for construction by what has occurred in the past. The peak years were 1925 to 1928, inclusive, when the annual values of con- tracts awarded amounted to over six billion dollars. In marked contrast was the 1933 total of about 1% billion, the lowest level shown in the Federal Reserve Board Index, which goes back to 1919, and the more favorable 1935 figure of about 1.7 billion. An increase of nearly four billion over the 1935 volume would be necessary to equal the peak year 1928.

Jan 1, 1936

By H. Lyn Bourne

This is the fourth annual tabulation that gives mineral royalty information. The table presents previous information plus about two dozen new entries. In addition to the royalty information, some entries show the cost of purchased reserves. Last year's tabulation appeared in two issues, to accommodate all of the information. This year the format has been changed slightly so the table can be printed in one issue. This year's table presents the commodities in the same sequence as last year. Sand and gravel information appears first, followed by: crushed stone for aggregate; other stone; industrial sand; other industrial minerals; energy minerals (coal, oil shale, uranium); and finally metals. As always, a caveat relates to factors that influence the reserve values. The data should serve only as a general reference. The table is not intended to present an absolute scale of reserve costs. Several factors influence the value of mineral commodities. These factors include: • location and transportation costs (especially significant for most industrial minerals); • market conditions for both the commodity and the company acquiring the right to mine it; • quality or grade of the deposit as it reflects the amount of processing and beneficiation necessary to produce the finished product; • and legislative restrictions and conditions for mining a given material at a given site. These and other factors will influence reserve costs of reserves. The table shows the range of royalties and the variations in the basis of computing the fees. In a few instances, it gives the cost of acquired reserves based on purchase price and quantitative estimates of the material in place. The table lists the commodity; the location (either by state, US geographic area, or Canadian province); the cost (R for royalty and P for purchased cost); and the year in which the lease or purchase agreement occurred. The last column offers either comments or gives a footnote number for more information. The cost column requires more explanation. The units may refer to cubic yards (/yd), cubic feet (/cuft), tons (/T) (2000 lbs) or acres (/A). 1 cu yd = 0.76m3 1 cu ft =0.28m3 1st = 0.9 t7 1 acre = 0.40 ha or m2 In several cases the royalty is a percentage of the finished products, sale price and is levied against either the amount produced or the amount sold. We thank those who contributed information for the table: J. Dunn, T. Eyde, K. Loda, L. Morgan, F. Nix, H. Sorenson, and L. Williams. Several people have said they would like this to be an annual tabulation. That can happen if new information comes to the writer. What appears in the table is only a very small fraction of the cost information relative to the various commodities and the geographic areas for which there is royalty information. If you find this column of interest and possess information write or call: H. L. Bourne, c/o Neyer, Tiseo & Hindo, Ltd., 38955 Hills Tech Dr., Farmington Hills, MI 48018, (313) 553-6300. Only with new information can this become an annual and current source of reserves costs.

Jan 8, 1986

By Stanley Dempsey

INTRODUCTION The mining industry has been under- going a significant restructuring for the past several years. Some firms have been liquidated. Some have been merged with other firms. A number of mining divisions of larger firms have been spun off, in some cases in leveraged buyouts by management. Recently, there have been a number of spin outs of gold subsidiaries. There are also a number of start-up situations where new firms are emerging as significant gold producers through mine development or acquisition. This restructuring has created an attractive market for specialized mining finance firms, and a number of firms have recently entered that field in the United States. These firms provide financial advisory and valuation services to mining firms and project developers, and access to venture capital. In some cases, they invest for clients or for their own account. I have been asked to describe how our firm works, and what kind of information we expect to receive when mine developers seek our assistance in financing a project. HOW WE OPERATE Denver Mining Finance works for both mine developers and investors. We also provide expert advice on mining issues to governments and to firms who are in litigation over mining issues. A lot of our work involves valuing mineral interests for various purposes. Our principal expertise is in the technical, commercial, and financial area. We help put mining deals into shape commercially so that they can be financed, and we help investors get into mining deals that are commercially sound. We work on projects, but we also advise mining firms on the structure of their business and how to make the most out of one or several mines that they might own. In addition to our work for clients, we are also prepared to invest in mining projects for our own account, and to recommend gold properties for acquisition by our parent company, Royal Gold, Inc. We are, to some extent, a venture capital firm, in that we sometimes work with projects that are not "bankablerV1 and are prepared to invest in attractive early-stage situations in mining. However, I want to emphasize that our principal focus is on development of commercially attractive mining projects that can be brought into production in the best possible financial terms. If we can make a project qualify for a project loan from a commercial bank, we will not advise the developer to use high cost venture capital. For the purpose of this paper, I will focus primarily upon our functions with respect to development of precious metal projects. In a typical case, a firm with an advanced-staged project approaches us for help with financing the final feasibility study, and construction and operation of a mine. In some cases, the developer has already developed a financing plan and wants only our access to investors. If we agree that the project is sound and that the financing scheme will be attractive to investors, we will help the developer reach investors on a commission basis. In such cases, we are particularly insistent that the financing plan and our participation meet all regulatory requirements, particularly compliance with state and federal securities laws. In most cases, however, the developer asks us for advise both on how to structure the financing, and how it can be implemented. Here we work for fees based on hourly rates for advisory work,

Jan 1, 1987

By Marianne Snedeker

In January we published a questionnaire asking about the content of MINING ENGINEERING and about your interests. At the same time we hired an outside firm, READEX Inc., of St. Paul, MN, to send the same questionnaire to a sampling of about 1000 US members, selected on an nth name basis, so that we could have some preliminary numbers for the Annual Meeting in February. READEX sent us the final results of its survey in March. At that time, 525 responses of the 992 surveys sent out had been returned, for a 52.9% response, an extraordinarily high return for a low-key (no incentive for return) random sampling. On May 7, we cut off on tabulating returns from the magazine so that we could report the results to you in this issue. At that time, we had 594 questionnaires returned. Our 594 and READEX's 525 (we have assumed that relatively few people returned both), represent a 1119 return, about 3.5% of the approximately 32,000 who received the January issue of ME. About ME Through responses to the questionnaire, we were hoping to learn more about you, your interests, and how the magazine could better serve you. Those of you who responded, told us something positive-you look at or read the magazine. Of the 1119 respondents, 1068 or 95.4% indicated that they had read or looked through the November and/or December issues. Those of you who refer to the magazine once are 466 or 42.6%. Those of you who refer to the magazine two or three times are 559 or 51.1%. Those of you who refer to the magazine four or more times are 68 or 6.2%. How much time do you spend reading the magazine? Of those responding to this question: 186 spent up to 1/2 hr 16.6% 590 spent up to 1 hr 52.7% 292 spent 1-2 hr 26.1% 51 spent more than 2 hr 4.6% In an informal survey among our staff, we determined that most people spend 1/2 to 1 hr reading magazines to which they subscribe at home. Does that match your experience? Many of you, 764 or 69.4%, clip your magazine for further reference. Also, many of you, 513 or 64.2%, do not pass your copy on to another reader, indicating perhaps that you are clipping it or receiving the magazine at home. Those magazines that are passed on reach: 2 people - 159 - 20.0% 3-5 people - 95 - 11.9% 5 or more - 31 - 3.9% Answers to what portions of the magazine you find useful indicated that the top three were Industry News, feature articles, and Technical Papers; see Table 1. The "other" category included advertising-display, classified, and employment-Coming Events, product information, Washington Survey, new books, the reader service card, and Engineering Fundamentals. Of those responding, 797 or 75.3% indicated a preference for dual notation of SI (metric) with English units; 228 or 21.5% preferred all SI units; while 34 or 3.2% preferred SI with dual notation of other metric units. Based on the preliminary numbers reported by READEX for this question, the MINING ENGINEERING Committee in February voted to return to a policy of dual notation. This decision has been implemented. We asked for your appraisal of the technical level of the magazine. Of those responding, 78 or 7.4% indicated it is too technical, 147 or 13.8% indicated it is not technical enough, and 836 or 78.8% judged it to have the correct tech¬nical level. In response to the question about whether you like to read an occasional feature that is not technically oriented, 32 said no, but an overwhelming 97% (1024) said yes. Of the specific topics, 785 like history, 558 political or socioeconomic articles, 440 career development, and 373 human interest. Other topics suggested included new disciplines, mineral resources of the world by

Jan 6, 1982

By Jodi Banta

Thanks to strong industry support and longstanding partnerships, the University of Arizona has provided extensive pre-college mining education and outreach for more than a decade. These efforts to promote mining-related degree programs and the wide variety of indemand career opportunities reach thousands of middle and high school students and hundreds of teachers every year. The School of Mining Engineering & Mineral Resources is constantly looking at ways to help students overcome barriers into degree programs. But competition among degree programs for talent is fierce, and outreach has not made a big enough difference in the number of students pursuing mining engineering degrees. With workforce shortages threatening to undermine the industry, more is needed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 500 new mining engineering jobs each year, and according to a study by Deloitte (2023) nearly 50 percent of skilled engineers will reach retirement age in the next decade. At the same time, the 14 accredited mining or mineral engineering degree programs in the United States are producing fewer than 200 graduates annually (Society of Mining Professors and Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 2021). To better understand mining’s competitive position, the School of Mining Engineering & Mineral Resources conducted a comprehensive study to determine (1) how prospective college students, parents and educators perceive the industry, related careers and the mining engineering degree, (2) factors affecting students’ choices of degrees and career plans and (3) the roles parents and educators play and how they influence students. This article is the first of two installments to discuss the results. This installment focuses on what students, parents and educators think about mining and where they get those impressions, as well as the role parents and educators play in influencing students’ choices of careers and degrees. The second installment, scheduled for publication in a later issue of Mining Engineering, looks at what students are seeking in their degrees and careers, and how mining compares with other degrees and industries.

Sep 1, 2025

By Jhon Silva

"Signature Hole and Waveform Superposition techniques used to predict and control mine blast ground vibrations require a clearly defined information collection configuration. The collection of this information determines the scope and success of the ground vibration prediction. Application of the Improved Signature Hole technique using the Silva-Lusk equation requires the collection of at least two informational elements from any specific production shot. The first required element is a signature waveform, and the second element is the overall production blast waveform. The signature waveform depends on detonated charge variables such as the amount of explosive in use, use of decking, the possible detonation of several holes at the same delay, and many others. The production blast waveform is beneficial to the Improved Signature Hole methodology when used to calibrate the model, and toobtain accurate vibration predictions for different timing configurations."

Jan 1, 2017

By S. D. Rosenthal

"This article will share my ‘shift in career direction’ journey from corporate mine engineer, with 31 years of mining various commodities with a wide range of responsibilities in a variety of countries, to the world of academia. There are times in one’s career that a change is required, albeit perhaps not as drastic of a change as moving to teaching. This paper will share how the transition arose, the decision to make the change, the challenges of the first year in academia and the journey within academia going into the second year.As a graduate of the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology (Montana Tech) with a B.S. mining engineering degree in May of 1982, my first job with Utah International in the Farmington, NM area took me back to my home state of New Mexico. Some of you will remember that the early 1980s was not a period of prolific opportunities for mining engineers, given low commodity prices, especially for copper (for example, Anaconda Co. had been taken over by Arco and was in the midst of closing down its Butte operations). Coal was good and the learning opportunities abounded with Utah (which became BHP and then BHP Billiton).Gold was taking off in the mid to late 1980s thanks to use of cyanide and heap leaching technology improvements, coupled with deregulation of the gold price, so I ventured off to work in the gold industry with a (then) junior Canadian company called Barrick at a new acquisition of theirs known as Goldstrike. That same gold surge was causing a shortage of iron ore mining engineers in Australia. So after a few years in Nevada, I uprooted the family and left for a little town in the Pilbara of West Australia, known as Newman, to work in the iron ore industry with BHP Iron Ore. An initial short overseas posting turned into six plus years before transferring to BHP’s Indonesian steam coal mines in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. BHP was going through a rough period following some ill-fated projects (Magma Copper purchase, Beanup and HBI) and was reviewing assets and staffing, so internal opportunities became scarce. Employees were encouraged to “leave the company and find work elsewhere.” So, off I went to Argentina to try copper mining in the Andes with Minera Alumbrera. This short stint in South America was followed by a move to another mining town, Morenci, AZ, and a posting with Phelps Dodge (now Freeport- McMoRan). After 12-plus years without living close to snow, we moved to the Denver, CO area in a new position with Newmont Mining Corp. Along the way I became a professional engineer (Nevada) and completed a masters in project engineering and management. After 11 years with Newmont, I moved to Butte, MT where I accepted a position as assistant professor of mining engineering."

Jan 1, 2015

By Robert H. Peters

How can employees be stopped from engaging in unsafe work practices? It is often easier to prevent employees from performing unsafe acts through manipulations of the work environment than through various training or motivational programs. Therefore, it is important that accident prevention programs seek to identify the reasons for the unsafe behavior and to redesign tasks and the work environment (e.g., tools, equipment, physical surroundings) in order to remove employees from sources of harm and to prevent situations from arising that would prompt them to perform unsafe acts. Unfortunately, in the mining industry the work environment is often innately hazardous, rapidly changing, and difficult to predict, making it very difficult, perhaps impossible, to fully protect the employee by environmental manipulations. Therefore, it is important that effective methods be identified for influencing mine employees to work safely. Various strategies have been used to convince employees to avoid unsafe acts and/or adopt self protective behaviors. The intent of this article is to provide guidance to mine operators concerning the use of four techniques for influencing mine employees to work safely: (1) employee surveys, (2) incentives, (3) fear communications, and (4) disciplinary actions.

By Moris Fresko, Julia Sun, Charles C. Golembewski, Vytas Svalbonas

"A history of mill strain gaging at Metso is presented. The output of these strain-gaging programs is compared with calculated stress ranges from different finite element solutions. These comparisons expose the amount of approximation that exists in the analytical solutions, starting from geometry, and material properties, and ending with different forms of internal load models. The influence of strain gaging results on mill design and analysis practices is also discussed. While these instrumentation programs are valuable in identifying areas of high stress in mills, and locations of stress concentration factors, they are by no means extensive or comprehensive enough to verify general internal load models. The vast majority of the programs were aimed at getting additional data about potential failure points, rather than describing overall mill stress behavior. This is especially true since the more recent gaging programs have not included the difficult task of gaging the mill rotating structure interior. This paper tries to avoid the novice path of leaping to general conclusions on the basis of insufficient data."

Jan 1, 2014

By Y Potvin

Underground mines in Australia are progressively operating at greater depth, sometimes in conditions where mine induced stresses are very high. In such conditions, the seismic activity often becomes intense and violent and in response, mines must develop and implement a sound rock burst risk management strategy to continue operating safely.This paper discusses the latest techniques successfully used in Australian mines to mitigate the risk of rock bursts. In particular, the paper describes how the analysis of data collected from seismic monitoring systems can provide an understanding of the seismicity and be used for quantifying seismic hazards in the mine. Once an adequate understanding and assessment of seismic hazard has been achieved, the associated risk can be mitigated using different layers of protection.Strategically, modifying the mining method, the extraction sequence and/or the mining layout can alleviate the seismic hazard, but these solutions generally cannot be implemented rapidly. In the short-term, seismic risk can be mitigated tactically using an energy absorbing support system or to remove personnel from being exposed to rock burst damage by implementing exclusion zones.

Mar 21, 2011

By Oscar E. Harder

THE TERM "physical metallurgy' is used in the title of this lecture in preference to "metallography ?because the former has a broader meaning with most audiences, some people thinking of the latter as being limited to work with the microscope. This distinction, how- ever, has not been held by the out- standing workers in the field of metallography, such as the late Professor Sauveur. In the broadest sense metallography is essentially the same as physical metallurgy. The American Society for Testing Materials has adopted-the following definition: "Metallography is that branch of science which relates to the constitution and structure, and their relation to the properties of metals and alloys." This definition might be improved by adding after "properties" -"and their industrial and scientific uses." Metallography has also been defined as the science of metals and alloys. Physical metallurgy is to be distinguished from process metallurgy in that the latter relates particularly to the production of metals from the ores.

Jan 1, 1940

By W. A. Eardley

FIFTEEN years ago the world's deepest oil well penetrated the earth about 7300 ft. That depth has now been more than doubled. Why has such deep drilling become necessary and how has it become possible? Three factors have had an important bearing: (1) Depletion of shallow zones, making it necessary to search for deeper producing measures. (2) The perfection of prospecting methods, which have been success- fully used to locate favorable buried structures, many at great depth. (3) Improvement in the quality of steels used for drilling.

Jan 1, 1940

By Robert Morgan

The mind-set that only blasters and their helpers need training in explosives can result in risk to other employees working at mine or construction sites where blasting is conducted. Misfires are not always immediately obvious during postblast examinations performed by the certified blaster in charge; the presence of undetonated explosives may not appear until well within the muckpile as was the case in the photo, right. To avoid accidents involving misfires, follow safety procedures specified in mine safety regulations, and the ISEE Blaster’s Handbook that include the following:

Jan 1, 2004

By Georgy Cherkashov, Livia Ermakova

Active development of the exploration and further exploitation of deep-sea minerals requires special emphasis on the protection of the marine environment. The complexity of this subject lies in the fact that potential impact and effects of future mining activity are not completely known. One of the main sources of potential impact near the seafloor, as it expected, would be a generation of sediment plumes, their dispersion and redeposition of sediment. Meanwhile, their dimensions, rates of dispersion and redeposition are a big issue. Other plumes are expected in the surface layer as a result of discharges of processing waters and particles after sorting on board of mining vessel, and their features are also not clear. At the same time, understanding of these aspects would be crucial for definition of environment impact area, delineation and designation of different types of protected areas (Areas of Particular Environmental Interest, Impact and Preservation Reference Zones) and future assessment of environmental impacts. Attempts to address these issues demonstrated wide variations between the data of field experiments on the one hand and the results of analytical and numerical models on the other. According to in situ measurements, plumes were detected at a distance vary from one to less than 20 km [e.g., Burns et al., 1980; Sharma et al., 2001; Nautilus Minerals, 2008 etc.], whilst some models show results up to 100 km [Rolinski S. et al., 2001] and more. It seemed that results of in-situ experiments are preferable, but they were not many indeed. However, these data were used in different investigations rather widely, but their focus, as far as we know, was not on the matters related directly with plumes.

Jan 1, 2018

By Gilbert E. Doan

WHEN metallurgists and other engineers meet their college classmates or former teachers, the conversation will frequently become reminiscent and finally turn to engineering education. These graduates have tested the value of their college training in the hurly-burly of the outside world so respectful attention is due their opinions, which, strangely enough, fall into two opposite categories. A member of one group expresses a deep-seated conviction that engineers should have a fuller foundation of physical chemistry, another asks for a more thorough training in mathematics, others wish a more thorough grounding in refractories, a series of courses in petroleum engineering, or in electric welding. Each alumnus of this group

Jan 1, 1937

By T. M. Klemetti, T. J. Batchler, T. J. Matthews

How representative are partial-panel screen tests of the in situ response of screen to roof and rib deterioration and displacements? Can a more representative procedure that tests up to two full screen panels improve the utilization and effectiveness of screen as a roof and rib support? This paper details a new full-panel screen test procedure and the initial results. The full-panel test frame was designed to test a 2.4 by 3.6-meter screened area with bolt spacing as small as 0.3-meter increments. The initial design included up to 6 screen pull points, but additional locations can be added to produce a more uniform loading. The test frame was developed to capitalize on the capabilities of the Mine Roof Simulator (MRS) at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The initial tests included a baseline test of a partial panel (1.22 by 1.22-m screen section) using the original 1.52 by 1.52-meter test frame, a 1.22 by 1.22-meter screen section test in the new full-panel test frame, and two tests of 2.4 by 3.6-meter screened area in the full-panel test frame. The 1.22 by 1.22-meter screen section tests in the full-panel test frame produced a peak load 6% higher and a yield load 30% lower than the partial-panel (original) test frame. The multiple pull points of the full-panel frame produced variable yield, peak, and intermediate loads, but on average were lower than the single pull-point tests. INTRODUCTION Roof and rib surface support has become a major component of the stability and safety of underground coal openings in the past 15 years. The use of screen, either metal or synthetic, has proven to decrease the injuries of underground coal miners. By 2005, there were 466 injuries in the United States caused by roof skin failures, with numerous mines not employing roof screen. In contrast, in 2015 there were 175 injuries caused by roof skin failures, with at least some of the reduction due to the increased use of roof screen. A continued effort to increase the utilization of screen in areas of underground coal mines where workers are traveling and working can reduce these injuries even further. To aid in this effort, the testing of various screen types under various loading and attachment conditions is required. Past testing efforts have primarily consisted of partial-panel testing in a laboratory setting. Laboratory testing of roof screen, both metal and composite, has been conducted in several ways by researchers, manufacturers, and other entities. The primary focus on the testing has been evaluating weld integrity of 1.22 by 1.22-meter screen section tests of various screen types utilized in mining (Dolinar, 2006; Dolinar, 2009; Tannant, 2001). There have also been several efforts at numerical simulation of the screen and screen/rock interactions (Murali et al., 2006; Shan et al., 2014). A few full-panel tests were performed with one pull or loading point in the center of the screen panel (Shan et al., 2014). As most previous efforts have mentioned, the only true way to evaluate the capabilities of screen is to conduct full-panel testing. Single wire strand, weld, and partial-panel (1.22 x 1.22-m) tests as well as numerical modeling only provide insight into the actual response of full-panel screen. A new test frame and procedure have been developed at PMRD to conduct various loading, anchoring, and material testing.

Jan 1, 2019