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By O. D. Christensen

The Carlin Trend is a 60 km (38 mi) long northwest alignment of epithermal, sediment-hosted, disseminated gold deposits. Collectively, these orebodies contained more than 620 t (20 million troy ounces) of gold. The Carlin deposit, located near the center of the Trend, has become the "type" deposit of this class. There are, however, significant differences between the individual deposits. Six subdistricts can be distinguished, based upon geographic, structural, lithologic, alteration, mineralization style, and geochemical characteristics. They are, from northwest to southeast, the Bootstrap, Bluestar-Goldstrike, Lynn, Maggie Creek, Rain and Bullion (Railroad) subdistricts. Regional Geologic Setting The Carlin District is located centrally within the Great Basin Geologic Province. Host rocks for the deposits include sedimentary units that range in age from Ordovician to Mississippian, as well as a Jurassic-Cretaceous granodiorite stock. During the Early Paleozoic, the area that is now Nevada lay along the western margin of the North American continent. A westward-thickening wedge of sedimentary units was deposited offshore in a eugeoclinal basin; these vary from continental shelf carbonates toward the east to fine-grained siliceous clastic and cherty units to the west. Tectonic activity associated with the Antler Orogeny in Late Devonian to Early Mississippian time resulted in the eugeoclinal Western Assemblage rocks being thrust as much as 140 km (90 mi) eastward over time-equivalent transitional to miogeoclinal Eastern Assemblage rocks along the Roberts Mountains Thrust fault system. The leading edge of the Roberts Mountains Thrust plate formed the emergent Antler highland from which siliceous clastic sediment, eroded from the overriding eugeoclinal rocks, was shed eastward into the adjacent foreland basin. Erosional products derived from the overthrust plate are termed the Overlap Assemblage.

Jan 1, 1987

By Oscar H. Lentz

During 1960, the controversy over percentage depletion reached the level of debate between presidential candidates. Nixon took the position that he would not tamper with the status quo in this matter. Kennedy took the position that he was willing to take a fresh look at the issues involved. Kennedy's position appears to have been based upon two premises: (1) new sources of federal revenue may be needed; and (2) current depletion rates, even if sound in principle, may be too high and, therefore, inequitable. The latter premise constitutes the basis for the claims that depletion allowances are simply "loopholes" of tax avoidance. Very probably the controversy over percentage depletion will remain in the political limelight during most of the coming decade. It is quite possible that the current depletion rates, at least those for oil and gas, will be reduced during this period. The aim of this paper is to isolate the complex causes of this mounting opposition to percentage depletion.

Jan 1, 1961

Several years ago, North American mining companies began to realize they needed to expand their spheres to remain viable. This strategy has been successful, according to Robert W. Schafer. Today, companies from other continents have also recognized the need for an international view for long-term growth and viability, he said. Schafer is vice president for exploration with Kinross Gold. He was the program chairman and moderator of the keynote session at the 1997 SME annual meeting, held in Denver, CO, Feb. 23-27. The theme of the meeting was "Minerals - Serving the Global Community." A record attendance of more than 6,000 people participated in the meeting, which featured 415 exhibitors occupying 582 booths. The title of the keynote session was "Corporate Perspectives on a Global Minerals Industry." Each of the three keynote speakers discussed a different perspective of a global minerals industry.

Jan 1, 1997

By Naohiro Kurokawa

Isa Limestone Quarry with an annual production capacity of 18 million metric tons is known as the largest limestone deposit in Japan located in the mountainous region about 20 mile northwest of Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan adjacent to Isa Cement Factory to which it belongs, and which constitutes a mainstay of Ube Industries? cement operating division. Isa Cement Factory is equipped with a N.S.P. kiln of capacity of 3 million metric tons per year, which is the largest of its type in the world. Geographically, it is situated in the south- western tip of the Mainland of Japan (Mid City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) and is bordered by the scenic Akiyoshi Karstic Plateau which is world famous for its huge stalactite grotto.

Jan 1, 1982

By Grant R. Brown

The purpose of this opening paper is to provide an overview of incentives strategies. This overview includes a discussion of the different types of incentives, their advantages and disadvantages and their potential application to the mining setting. Objective The primary objectives of incentive plans are to increase worker (including management) effectiveness and reduce unit labor costs. These plans can be grouped into two major categories: 1) non-financial plans 2) financial plans

Jan 1, 1983

By C. Arthur Lefler

The Smoky Valley Mine is jointly owned by Louisiana Land and Exploration Company, Felmont Oil Corporation and Case Pomeroy Company. Copper Range Company, a subsidiary of L.L. & E. is the operator of the mine. The mine is located about 60 miles (100 km) north of Tonopah, Nevada on Highway 376 (formerly 8A) in the Big Smoky Valley on the western flank of the Toquima Mountain Range In the shadow of Mount Jefferson. The mine is at an elevation of about 6100 ft. (1860m) and is situated on the southwestern flank of Round Mountain, the hill for which the town of Round Mountain is named. The ore is a rhyolitic iglmbrite with coarse gold occurring along fractures and with fine microscopic gold disseminated in the rock mass. Minor silver is associated nth gold. Annual mining is planned at 5.8 million tons (5.3 million tonnes) per year with 2.2 million tons (2 million tonnes) as ore (7,000 tons or 6,400 tonnes per day).

Jan 1, 1981

By James E. Jones

The coal mining industry is being called upon to vastly increase production in the coming years. Many mining operations will have to prepare an environmental impact report of some kind and all will have to comply with various types of environ- mental regulations. Therefore there is a great need within the industry for access to environmental data, information, and literature. This paper discusses the informational resources available, the current lack of access to these resources, and the Environmental Data, Information and Literature (EDIL) Bank of the Kentucky Institute for Mining and Minerals Research. The bank's major emphasis concerns the environmental, social and economic aspects of producing clean solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels from coal. The data bank promotes information interchange between other related governmental and private projects and the energy development community.

Jan 1, 1976

By M. R. Rosen

A technique is presented for simple characterization of the performance of flocculents in various mining applications. The method utilizes three key parameters obtained from raw settling data and combines them into a single athematical parameter called the desirability coefficient. The first two parameters are the timesrequired for the slurry-supernatant interface -to fall to two selected fractions of the starting height, and the third is the clarity of the supernatant liquid. The relative values of the three parameters may be assigned different weights in order to make them correspond with laboratory and field performance requirements of a particular industry. Provision is also made of an, internal comparison of test flocculant data with that of a control.

Jan 1, 1980

By N. Edmonson

Apart from its role as an essential input to a wide array of agricultural chemicals and industrial processes, sulfur is interesting in that its supply involves competition between primary product and by-product. This general production structure is found repeatedly among markets for metals and other industrial minerals, and research results from the sulfur market potentially carry over to other markets with similar structures. The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the recent and prospective market for sulfur. The analysis will rely heavily on simulation using a comprehensive model of the North American sulfur market developed by the author. A brief description of the model is offered by way of introduction

Jan 1, 1993

By Richard D. Nichols

A new method of slaking lime has been developed by DENVER EQUIPMENT DIVISION of Joy Industrial Equipment Company and patented under U. S. Patent 4,261,953. The new method utilizes an attrition machine, commonly used in mineral processing circuits as a sand scrubbing device, to slake lime. The scrubbing effect of the attrition slaker continuously produces a fresh reactive surface so that further slaking may occur. This process allows for utilization of slaking all grades of burnt lime and most grades of dolomite lime. Testing indicates that poor grades of water usually not considered for this service can now be tolerated using the attrition slaker. The slaked lime produced is of higher quality, faster reacting and much less apt to produce scaling problems than previously experienced. The attrition slaker can be combined with a spiral classifier and ball mill to eliminate any need for grit handling or grit removal. The attrition slaker can be designed for all burnt lime tonnages up to the limit of 175 tph and 1" pebble lime size. Control can be maintained easily with minimal operator assistance. The equipment, the principals of process metallurgy, and the above topics will be presented.

Jan 1, 1982

By Francois E. Heuze

Excavation of large rock caverns is a stepwise process. Whether one uses a heading and bench method or a multiple drift system, the use of excavation steps enables one to introduce the reinforcement, such as bolts or shotcrete, at the earliest possible stage. Knowing the spatial distribution and properties of rock materials and geological discontinuities, the cavern geometry and its reinforcement must be optimized. The finite element method of analysis is a powerful tool for such optimization. However, the models are only as good as their ability to account realistically for the physical attributes of the prototype and for the excavation sequence. They must include the following: - ability to model an incremental construction process. Thus requires the use of "Restart" procedures where displacements and stresses from a previous equilibrium are saved for the next step. - ability to model non-linear rock material behavior; in particular, the post-peak behavior of the rock which retains a residual strength when con-fined. The stability of many under-ground structures rests with the "broken" rock carrying significant loads. - ability to account for the non-linear behavior of geological discontinuities. These are two-fold. First, up to peak, non smooth rock joints will dilate. In a confined situation, dilation will increase joint strength by a consider-able amount (Obert, et al, Brady, 1971, Heuze,1978a), Then, beyond the peak, the joint also retains residual strength.

Jan 1, 1978

By M. W. Springett

During the 1970's geostatisticians were often accused of not paying sufficient attention to geologic features in the computerised generation of ore reserves. Unfortunately this charge was all -too-often justified and the results of such studies tended to be oversimplified and failed to reveal the full potential of computerised reserve estimation and geostatistical methods. There were some notable exceptions to this trend. Techniques were described that paid a great deal of respect to the geologic characteristics peculiar to certain deposits (Rendu J-M, 1984, Barnes T. E., 1982). At Gold Fields several techniques have been developed for handling the geologic characteristics of ore bodies for reserve estimation purposes. These have developed over time and the evolution of their adoption has been a reflection of our own learning experience from the practical application of computerised reserve estimation on many precious metal s deposits. Problems Typical problems that have been experienced by ourselves and which we have learned to guard against and watch for are: ? "smearing" at geologic contacts ? confusion caused by disparate "selective mining unit sizes" and block sizes ? conflicting estimates generated by field staff using various versions of the polygonal method ? problems in generating meaningful variograms

Jan 1, 1985

By Malcolm Roberts

Extensive personal experience in the USA and Australia has shown that Australians working in suitable work environments are capable of world class performance. To build such work environments, mining leaders need to ditch two common management approaches that have not succeeded. Firstly, stop relying on traditional methods of trying to change people's behaviour simply by using communication alone to change attitudes and then change behaviour. Analysis of human behaviour explains why this approach fails in all industries. Secondly, stop trying to improve productivity by just running harder and increasing capital investment. Understanding work processes explains why this approach has limited success. These two approaches underlie problems commonly mentioned by many Australian mining executives: • negative or inadequate attitudes prevailing among Australian miners and managers including the lack of ownership of business goals among people at many levels • inadequate development of managers and accountability • lack of a competitive advantage in an industry in which labour costs are around 50% of mine site cash costs at many mines, and, • logical, emotional and physical barriers to change.

Jan 1, 1995

By Ross W. Whipple

Applying geophysical techniques in potential geothermal areas has received: little attention in the United States, though it is widely used and accepted in New Zealand and Italy. In those countries it has been demonstrated that geophysical surveys can be useful in locating new geothermal areas and in directing test drilling programs. Geophysical studies in a thermal region can provide structural information and, if conditions are right directly; locate subsurface hot waters. They can give indications of sub-alluvial rock types and of the thickness of alluvial cover. In certain cases they can be used to estimate the power potential of a hydrothermal system.

Jan 1, 1963

By C. C. White

Although many notable scientific investigations relating to roof control have been made, roof control still must be considered one of the more baffling problems confronting the miner. Each year contributions are made to our understanding and techniques in dealing with various single phases of the overall problem, however, an equation considering all the variables involved in roof control, if formulated, would indeed be hopelessly complex. Among the factors to be considered is first, gravity which is always acting but which is sometimes less of a problem than lateral forces. There are lateral forces due to expansion, resulting from the weight of overlying rock; to these must be added lateral stresses of orogenic or tectonic orgin, which may be enormous. Stresses due to plastic flow of beds, water pressure, gas pressure, expansion due to absorption of water, faults, joints, fractures, pot heads, and the like may complicate the solution. Therefore, we must base decisions on roof control, and roof bolting in particular, largely on experience, and far too often on few "knowns" and many "unknowns", The development of "in situ" roof trusses may prove of benefit because, they unlike roof bolting, promise positive calculable roof support. These trusses require installation of steel tensioned rods in the roof, which rods are arranged to produce a stress pattern similar to a bridge truss, the roof rock acting to transmit the compression forces. The simplest form of truss (see figure 1) consists merely of two steel rods anchored at the back of holes drilled at an angle of approximately 45° over the pillars, collared near the the middle of the room, the lower ends of the rods being connected together by tierods and turnbuckles. Used in this way, a 3/4" diameter rod can offer greater support than a 10" x 5-3/4" wide flange steel beam. By tightening the turnbuckle, uplist on the roof can be produced,, the downward reaction being transmitted to the pillars by the rods. This simplest form of truss has been used in rooms up to 24' in width. Trusses of four panels, that is, consisting of a truss within a truss, as shown in figure 2, have been used successfully in rooms 30' wide. (figs 2 & 3) It appears a 6 panel truss could be used in a 40, wide room.

Jan 1, 1968

By Thomas P. Kwiatkowski, Len Cobb, Christopher D. Orlandi, Judith H. Jones

The Inland System supplies raw water to the industrial and domestic users in the City of Birmingham, Alabama. The Inland System, which is nearly 60 years old, consists of an approximately 57.9m (190 feet) high earthen dam across the Blackburn Fork of the Black Warrior River, a 39.6m (130 feet) high reinforced concrete intake structure, a 1524mm (60inch) diameter Dresser coupled steel transmission pipeline, and various distribution lines extending into Birmingham. The Inland System was owned, operated and maintained by the Industrial Water Board (IWB) of the City of Birmingham, an agency of the city government, from 1958 until 1994. In 1994, the City of Birmingham consolidated all water and distribution functions under the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). In 1988, the IWB determined that the Inland System had reached a point where its reliability could not be assured without an in-depth evaluation and renovation. The IWB engaged Christy/Cobb, Inc. (CCI) of Birmingham as its consultant for the renovation work. CCI evaluated the Inland System and submitted a report to the IWB in April, 1992. The report contained several recommendations for capital improvements to the system including increasing the emergency spillway capacity, reconstructing the fuse plug, relocating public access to the lake away from the dam area, constructing a new intake structure, and constructing a tunnel through the dam abutment to deliver the water from the proposed intake structure to the existing 1524mm (60 inch) diameter supply line. The new intake structure and tunnel would provide for a future maximum demand flow rate as well as provide bypass and level control capabilities. CCI was authorized in 1992 to proceed with the engineering design for the renovation of the Inland System with emphasis on the spillway and intake structure. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The major component of the renovation of the Inland System was the new intake structure and tunnel through the dam abutment. CCI engaged Jenny Engineering Corporation (JEC) of Springfield, New Jersey as a consultant for the tunnel design. JEC was responsible for the design of the tunnel, the connecting shaft between the intake structure and tunnel, and the steel pipe final lining, while CCI was responsible for the intake structure and the connection to the existing supply pipeline as well as overall project management. CCI and JEC evaluated the project site in order to select the location for the new intake structure and set the alignment for the tunnel. A factor in the evaluation process was that the level of the lake could not be lowered to construct the new intake structure since the supply of water from the Inland System had to maintained. Therefore, a location was required which was

Jan 1, 1997

By R. J. Pugh

The coagulation of dispersions of weakly magnetic oxide mineral ultrafines (such as natural hematite or chromite) in an external magnetic field can be described from inter-particle forces. Essentially, coagulation occurs when the short range London-van der Waals interactions and the long range magnetic forces outweigh the stabilizing electrical double layer repulsion. From the classical colloid chemistry theory, we have calculated the various components of the potential energy for different sized particles at a series of ionic strengths and magnetic field intensities. We have related this theoretical analysis to experimental studies where the magnetic field-induced coagulation of ultrafines of natural hematite and chromite in aqueous suspensions was investigated using a laboratory scale electromagnetic solenoid. The experimental results relate the coagulation process (as determined by magneto-sedimentation analysis) to the particle size, the slurry pH and the external magnetic field. In the magnetic fields, maximum coagulation occurred near the pH of zero point of charge (pHzpc) of the minerals (where the electrostatic double layer repulsion was reduced to a minimum) enabling the particles to enter the "primary minimum" energy sink. On the other hand, in cases where the electrostatic repulsion was not suppressed, then the long range magnetic forces enabled coagulation to occur in the "secondary minimum". This caused the formation of chains which appeared to be relatively stable during sedimentation.

Jan 1, 1993

By John A. Dunn

The history of underground coal mining has developed through the years from a manual digging and loading process to the highly mechanized pro- cess that it is today through the use of electric power. Mine power systems have closely followed the continued pattern of improvement and mechanization, through necessity and the application of technological advances, At the beginning electric power used in coal mines was confined to haulage. Since d-c power was better suited to traction drives, mine power systems naturally developed using direct current. During this development, a number of street railway systems were in service, using 550 volts, and it was natural that mine trolley systems went in at 550 volts. As machines for mining operations developed and the number of operating mines increased, a safety hazard developed through the use of 550 volts. Most regulating agencies opposed the use of 550 volts, and after a time the maximum voltage permitted was limited to 300 volts hot line to ground. Up until this time most mines had operated with one central generating station, which served utilization power to the whole mine. Power demands were not very great and transmission losses were within reasonable limits.

Jan 1, 1964

By Edward R. Mueller

As an alternative to a million dollar, sensor based, computer dispatching system, Cyprus Pima Mining Company has installed a home¬made analog computer. The device is used in conjunction with a standard radio-dispatching system; it is inexpensive and very simple to build and operate. It enables the dispatcher to make near opti¬mum dispatching decisions and to identify all off schedule haulage trucks. Since installation, Cyprus Pima has experienced significant increases in pit productivity.

Jan 1, 1977

By Keith Olson

In the heart of Appalachia, where coal mining has shaped communities and economies for generations, Bluefield State University (BSU) has made a landmark decision to reestablish its mining engineering technology program. This move comes at a critical juncture for both the university and the mining industry, which faces significant workforce challenges amid evolving technological demands and an aging professional demographic. The program’s revival represents an educational initiative and a strategic response to industry needs and regional economic development. Nestled in the mountains of southern West Virginia, BSU has a storied history intertwined with the region’s mining heritage. The institution’s decision to bring back this specialized program after a hiatus of several years signals a renewed commitment to serving both regional industry demands and providing career pathways for students in an area where the cyclical nature of resource extraction economies has often limited economic opportunities. “This program’s return reflects our deep understanding of this region’s needs and our commitment to preparing graduates for meaningful careers that support our local industries,” said Darrin Martin, president of Bluefield State University. “We’re bridging the gap between education and industry with a modernized curriculum that addresses today’s mining challenges while preparing for tomorrow’s innovations.”

Jun 1, 2025