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By F. H. Gunnell, W. C. Dunham

"INTRODUCTION The Treasure Hill mines, situated in Dry Canyon, Ophir mining district, Tooele County, Utah, together with several other properties in the district, examined were examined by Frank L. Wideman, an engineer, the Bureau of Mines, in September 1942.In April 1945, development drilling was started on the Treasure Hill mines, which are operated under lease from the Madison Mines Co. The project was continued in 1946 and terminated in 1947.While the Bureau of Mines project was in progress, the Morgan and Fullion tunnel workings were surveyed by Bureau engineers.ACKNOWKEDGEMENTSIn its program of investigation of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy, It is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual investigative perk, and prepares the final report. The Branch, O. C. Ralston, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests. The work here described was under the direct supervision of Paul T. Allsman, chief, Salt Lake City Division, Mining Branch."

Jan 1, 1948

By J. U. Messenger

A technique is described whereby the resistance of an emudian to breaking can be quantitatively determined. Produced ailfield emulsions are usually the water-in-oil type and, accordingly, do not conduct an electrical current. However, there is a threshold of A-C voltage pressure above which an emulsion will break and current will flow. The more stable an emulsion, the higher the required voltage. A Fann Emulsion Tester, modified so that low voltages (0 to 10 v) can be accurately measured, is suitable. This technique has application in evaluating the effect of a demuksifier on the stability of an emulsion. Emulsions can, in essence, be titrated with demulsifiers by adding a quuntity of demulsifier, stirring, and measuring the voltage required to cause current to flow. Any synergistic effect of two or more materials added simultaneously can be followed accurately. A demulsifier that significantly lowers the threshold voltage (from 100 to 400 v to 0 to 10 v for the emulsions in this study) is effective and can cause the enlulsion to break. A demulsifier that will bring about this drop in the threshold voltage at low concentration ir very desirable. The technique is also well adapted for rapidly screening demulsifiers. INTRODUCTION Stable emulsions in produced reservoir fluids resulting from certain well stimulation and completion procedures are common problems. The use of suitable demulsifiers can often mitigate these difficulties. At the present time, a rapid and efficient method for selecting satisfactory demulsifiers is not available. It is badly needed. Reliance is now placed primarily on trial-and-error procedures. A new test method has been developed which permits a more rapid and precise selection of demulsifiers. It involves measuring the electrical stability potential of an emulsion before and after a demulsifier has been added. This paper describes this method and shows where it should have application in field emulsion problems. NATURE OF OILFIELD EMULSIONS Two immiscible components must be present for an emuhion to form; we are concerned here with crude oil and water. An emulsifier must be present for tin emulsion to be stable. J Emulsifiers can be substances which are soluble in oil and /or mter and which lower interfacial tension. They can be colloidal solids such as bentonite, carbon, graphite, or asphalt which collect at the interface and are preferentially wet by one of these phases. Unrefined crude oils can contain both types of emulsifiers, A popular theory is that, of the two phases in an emulsion, the dispersed phase will be the one contributing most to the interfacial tension.' Usually this phase contains the least amount of emulsifier. The stability of a water-in-oil emulsion is affected by the fol1owing: l) viscosity; (2) particle or droplet size; (3) interfacial tension between the phases; (4) phase-volume ratios; and (5) the difference in density between the phases. A stable emulsion is usually characterized by high-viscosity, small droplets, low interfacial tensions, small differences in density between its phases, and slow separatian of the phases. It also has low conductivity (high electrical stability potential). Water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions"' are both common; however, oil field emulsions are predominantly water-in-oil emulsions. The emulsions which commonly occur during oompletion and stimulation operations contain a combination of several of the following: acids, fracturing fluids (oil, water, acid), and formation water and oil. Produced emulsions usually contain formation water and oil. Emulsions form in oil wells because oil and water are mixed together at a high rate of shear in the presence of a naturally occurring or unavoidably produced emulsifier. During the completion and stimulation of productive zones, and while formation fluids are being produced, oil and water are very often commingled. These mixtures are formed into emulsions by agitation which occurs when the fluids are pumped from the surface into the matrix of the formation or produced through the formation to the surface. Restrictions to flow (such as perforations, pumps, and chokes)".'" increase the level of agitation; tight emulsions are more likely to form under these conditions. Often an emulsified droplet is an emulsion itself.'" Therefore, emulsion-breaking problems can be quite complex. The complexity can be even greater if a third phase (gas) is included. Demulsifiers operate by tending to reverse the form of the emulsion. During this process, droplets of water become bigger, viscosity is lowered, color becomes darker, separation of the phases faster and electrical stability potential approaches zero. Any of these effects could be followed as a means of determining emulsion stability. However, electrical stability potential is the most reproducible and most easily measured parameter for following the stability of a water-in-oil emulsion.

Jan 1, 1966

By G. M. Swinkels

It is generally accepted, that oxygen is a necessary reagent for the flotation of galena with xanthate. Recent measurements have shown (1) that under plant conditions oxygen may be in a short supply to the extent that it limits the rate of flotation. Thus, it becomes important to define the exact role of oxygen and establish a model for the rational design and control of flotation separations, involving oxygen as a reagent. All theories or, the flotation of galena assign oxygen the role of an oxidant. However, they disagree on a number of questions: 1) Is the galena or the xanthate being oxidized? 2) Is a lead dixanthate or dixanthogen the actual collector? 3) Is the oxidation process in which oxygen participates of a chemical or an electrochemical nature? The last question arises from the observation (2) that an anodic bias as well as oxygen will make a galena surface hydrophobic in the presence of xanthate. Theories which are based an the premise that the influence of oxygen is of an electrochemical nature offer elegant models of galena flotation. However, full advantage has not been taken of available electrochemical techniques to discriminate between theories and this is the area towards which this research has been directed (3).

Jan 1, 1970

By Andrew B. Pervis

With the ever increasing demand for Finer powders by industry there has been a continuing effort by air classifier manufacturers to improve and offer machinery capable of producing these fine powders. Common to these classifiers is the use of a multivaned rotor through which passes all of the air used to transport the particles to be classified. Rotor revolutions per minute and the amount of air passing through the rotor are the main variables in determining the particle sizes which will be able to pass through the spinning rotor. A simplified equation derived by setting the air drag force carrying a particle through the rotor equal to the centrifugal force due to the spinning rotor's action on the entering air and particle is: Diameter of Particle = [ ] Where K is a function of air viscosity, particle configuration, rotor and blade configuration; RPM is rotor revolutions per minute; M3/sec. is air quantity passing through the openings between the rotor blades.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. C. Sharpstone

THE Polaris-Taku mine is a new gold property, situated in the far north-west corner of British Columbia. Production was started in November, 1937, at the rate of 150 tons a day, and recently has been increased to 200 tons. The property, which promises to become one of British Columbia's important gold mines, was developed and brought into production in twenty-nine months after work was started on it as a virtual prospect in June, 1935, by Edward C. Congdon and associates. Inaccessibility, extraordinarily complicated geological problems, and difficult metallurgy retarded development of the property before acquisition by the present interests, an::l, in fact, discouraged two companies that had spent substantial sums upon it from continuing development. This paper is concerned with reviewing the development of the property and describing the principal features of the geology, the mining and metallurgical practices, and the equipment employed. Acknowledgments The writer is indebted to Mr. Edward C. Congdon, President of the Polaris-Taku Mining Company, and to various members of the mine staff for their assistance in assembling the data for this paper. Special thanks are due to Mr. George G. Griswold, Jr., of Butte, Montana, who generously and painstakingly prepared the section dealing with milling and power. Microscopic studies of ores were made by Professors Frank Grout an::l G. M. Schwartz, of the University of Minnesota, and by Mr. Griswold.

Jan 1, 1938

By Beatrice Pierre, Juan Carrasco

Altonorte began as a concentrate roasting operation in 1988 under the name of Refimet. In 1993, a copper smelter was built with a design capacity of 203,000 tonnes per annum of concentrate. Since 2001, many technological advances have been made in Altonorte, where the biggest Noranda Reactor in the world is installed being the first Noranda Reactor reaching above one million tonnes of copper concentrates processed per annum. In 2013, Altonorte was acquired by Glencore. Recently due to various new environmental regulations in Chile, Altonorte has evolved to new standards of operation in order to reach the vision of becoming a World Class Smelter. This paper describes the path followed to improve safety, environmental performance, process capacity, reliability, and productivity. The foundation for the growth and success in Altonorte is our People. Employee engagement and branding of our cultural journey is what allows Altonorte to face the future with the certainty of becoming a World Class Smelter. INTRODUCTION Altonorte is located in Antofagasta, the mining capital in the north of Chile and is the last smelter built in Chile practically completed with second hand equipment. The biggest technological change in Altonorte occurred during the phase 3 expansion in 2003, where the old Reverberatory furnace was shut down and replaced by the biggest Noranda Reactor installed in the world. The vessel measures 5.3 m × 26m. ºAdditionally, this project contemplated a new rotary dryer, three (3) new Peirce Smith converters, new anode furnaces and a new Acid plant. The nominal capacity was to treat 816.000 tons of new concentrate per year. In 2008, a new expansion phase was implemented where a new double absorption acid plant replaced the oldest acid plant. Bottlenecks such as blowing capacity and oxygen availability were solved installing a new air blower and a new contract was negotiated with our oxygen supplier to increase oxygen availability up to 683 tpd. This improvement defined the current nominal capacity of 1.100.000 ton of new concentrate per year. Current process description All concentrates are received by trucks directly from domestic mines or from the Antofagasta international port in cases of imported concentrates; the concentrate warehouse has a capacity of 25 kt where the blend is prepared to feed the smelter.

Jan 1, 2019

By Y. G. Zhu, G. B. Zheng, Z. B. Qian, X. R. Zhang, A. J. Ren

"Based on PMA polymer, two kinds of novel macromolecular depressants, PMTA and PMA-PDTC, were designed and synthesized. PMTA was used for desilication in hematite reverse flotation. PMA-PDTC was used in the separation of Cu-Pb concentrate as galena depressant. The micro-flotation results showed that PMTA exhibited a good depression performance compared to starch. We found that 98.29% of hematite was depressed with a grade of 65.24% at pH 11 with 12 mg/L dosage. The flotation separation results of Cu-Pb concentrate demonstrated that PMA-PDTC was an effective depressant for galena in separating galena from chalcopyrite. When IPETC was used as collector, at pH 8.5, the flotation separation tests demonstrated that Cu concentrate was obtained with a grade of 28.89% containing 12.12% Pb.INTRODUCTIONThe role of depressants is crucial in the separation of oxide or sulfide minerals, for example, the desilication in hematite concentrate and the separation of Cu-Pb concentrate.It is well known that, in current reverse flotation processing of hematite, starch is a traditional depressant for hematite. Most research focus on the modification of starch [1-3]. Although its depressing ability is enhanced in some extent, its own shortcomings is still existed. So, it is important to develop a new hematite depressant instead of starch.In the separation of chalcopyrite and galena, because of their extremely similar floatability, it is difficult to realize the separation of these two minerals. Traditionally, there are two methods widely used in the separation of Cu-Pb concentrate by depressing chalcopyrite with cyanide [4] or depressing galena with dichromate [5] in most cases. However, these two inorganic depressants are toxic and hazardous. Their use could cause heavy pollution problems and a large loss of precious metals. In order to adapt to the requirements of sustainable economic development and environmental protection, the research and development of green and environmental depressant has gained more and more significance."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. Horn

The financial performance of the mining industry, measured by return on equity and capital employed, has been inadequate for many years. Consequently, mining companies are not valued highly by stock markets. Among the more important causes for the decline in the sector are the conservative working practices and reluctance to adapt to change or to develop new technology, although some relatively recent developments such as SX-EW copper and heap leach gold have made a significant impact on the cost base of these metals. The subsidiary business of metals exploration suffers from the same problems as the rest of the industry. The rate of discovery of ore deposits has been falling over many years and since the late 1990s, there has been a sharp reduction in global exploration activity that, if it continues, will further reduce the global supply of new ore reserves. New technological developments, particularly in geophysics and different operational practices may help reverse this trend. Statistical methods for evaluating the risk of ore reserve estimates will also improve the economic return on new mining ventures. The science of ore geology has potential to reduce exploration risk, but modern ore genetic theory has not contributed greatly to recent discoveries. The junior exploration market has almost ceased, but a new style of technically specialized efficient small exploration company has emerged which, in alliances with major companies, may be the vehicle for future global exploration. Exploration in virgin terrains has a higher risk discounted potential for the discovery of very large orebodies than that in known mining districts but mining companies have little financial incentive for this high risk exploration because of the very long lead time to production. Alliances of two or more companies reduce the risk in both the exploration for and development of major new mining projects. If new orebodies are not found, then metal prices will inevitably rise in the long term. Governments of industrial countries, particularly those with a significant mining industry such as Canada, should therefore provide assistance to exploration in order to maintain their existing industry and prevent a metals shortage from developing in the future with its consequent impact on the world economy and increased environmental damage as large lowgrade orebodies are developed to supply an expanding market.

Jan 1, 2002

By Y. F. Hou

This paper reports the results of the study of the influences of concentration and modulus of sodium potassium silicate solution (Na-K activator) and curing mode on the phase composition, mi-crostructure and strength development in the geopolymers prepared using Class F fly ash. X-ray dif-fraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and MAS NMR are utilized in this study. It shows that the compressive strength increases while sodium potassium silicate solution modulus increases, but when modulus exceeds 1.7, the compressive strength decreases, and it decreases markedly while modulus is greater than 2.0. The compressive strength improves with increase of sodium potassium silicate solution concentration. When the concentration is 36%, the compressive strength reaches the maximum. Elevated temperature can increase the strength of samples synthesized using sodium potassium silicate solution with 32% concentration and modulus 1.2. Compared to the strength of the sample cured at 50?, the strength of the samples cured at 65? and 80? are higher at 1 day and 3 days, but when cured at 80?, strength is smaller than that cured at 50? for 7 days. When temperature is too high, too long curing time will decrease the strength. Long precuring at room temperature before application of heat is beneficial for strength development, and there is about 10%~50% increase in strength of the samples cured at 1 day precuring and 2 days elevated temperature as compared to the strengths of the samples cured for 3 days at elevated temperature or cured for 28 days at room temperature. The main product of reaction in the geopolymeric material is amorphous alkali aluminosilicate gel.

Jan 1, 2014

By H. C. Fuller

Depletion of iron ore in the Nation's large deposits has directed attention to other sources. One of these is the titaniferous iron ore of the Iron Mountain, Wyo., area. Tests were made to determine the feasibility of smelting this ore, which contains about 20 percent titanium dioxide (Ti02), in an electric-arc furnace to produce pig iron. Initial tests, which were made in a 30-pound-capacity induction furnace, demonstrated that the iron could be easily reduced to metal and that limestone was a suitable and effective flux. Larger scale tests then were made in a 50-pound-capacity electric-arc furnace to obtain the more detailed information necessary for the planned continuous operation of a still larger arc furnace. The principal facts determined by preliminary batch-smelting studies were that (1) 9 pounds of limestone flux was required for each 100 pounds of ore smelted, (2) expensive coke was not required because coal proved to be a satisfactory reductant (near stoichiometric carbon was optimum), and (3) overreduction, which produced a viscous slag, must be avoided.

Jan 1, 1961

By W. K. Chan, R. Lahaie

"The Suncor Oil Sands Mine located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, produces about 80000 m' per day of tailings waste which must be disposed of economically in an environmentally acceptable manner. To date, this has been accomplished by impounding the high water content tailings wastes behind large dykes, many of which approach 100 m in height .The dykes are constructed using suitable overburden material stripped prior to the mining of the oil sands feed and/ or the coarse sandy fraction of the tailings waste itself. Although the above is common practice at many mining operations, the large volumes handled and the resultant costs require designs to be meticulously fine-tuned toward the optimum. As a result, considerable effort is expended on planning, designing and construction, and performance monitoring. The lack of precedent experience (Suncor pioneered oil sands mining), coupled with the realities of long, harsh winters and a variety of troublesome site conditions and construction materials, has led to some very unique dyke construction.This paper overviews current tailings disposal plans as welt as some of the key issues related to the design, construction and performance of these large dykes."

Jan 1, 1988

By William P. Diamond

Production trends have been analyzed for 82 gob gas ventholes on 7 longwall panels in the Lower Kittanning Coalbed, Pennsylvania. Cumulative production from individual holes was found to vary considerably, ranging from 0.03 x 106 m' to 10.1 x 106 m3. Peak production rates were generally about 0.03 to 0.06 x 106 &/d, but rates over 0.10 x 106 m3/d were observed. The variability of gas production from individual holes can be attributed to several factors including: completion practices and problems, the extent of fracture development in the strata above the extracted panel, water production, and location on the panel. Of particular significance, is hole location. Holes on the ends of the panels, where overburden strata are in tension due to the support of the surrounding pillars, were generally the highest and longest producers. This observation led to the experimental placement of gob gas ventholes in the zone of tension along the margin of a panel, instead of in the traditional centerline location which is in compression. Analysis of gob gas production data indicates that the experimental near-margin holes produced 77 pct more gas than did centerline holes on the same panel.

Jan 1, 1995

By A. B. Coates

During the last three years the use of ethylene glycol dinitrate4 (E.G.D.) as at low-freeze (L.F.) agent in place of nitropolyglycerin has become common in the manufacture of explosives of the dynamite type. The usual proportion of D. G. D. in the explosive "oil" is 25 per cent; the remainder, 75 per cant, is regular nitroglycerin. These proportions were probably selected as a continuation of the practice of 25 per cent nitropolyglycerin and 75 per cent regular nitroglycerin.

Jan 1, 1929

By W. R. Hibbard

The term lineage was first introduced by Buergerl to denote dendritic branches, grown from a crystal nucleus during solidification from the liquid, with imper- fections in alignment of the order of 10 : to 10-4 cm. These imperfections are associated with distortions of the dendrites caused by the subsequent solidification of the inter-dendritic filling and are illustrated in Fig I. Buerger etched zinc single crystals made by the Bridgman3 method to develop this dendritic pattern and show lineage microscopically. Since maximum crystal growth in face-centered cubic metals occurs along the [IT] directions,2 lineage would appear in copper as small deviations of dendritic branches from these directions. Elam4 and others5"8 reported etching effects resulting from coring along the cube face traces of various copper alloy crystals. These traces were used by Samans8 to orient single crystals. Williamson9 noted a "lined structure (in alpha brass single crystals) consisting of an ordered arrangement of etch pits" which were probably traces of {IOO} planes but somewhat uncertain because they were never straight (that is, apparently lineage). Greningerl1 described the distortion and multiplicity of Laue spots in back reflection X ray photograms of copper single crystals showing lineage. The present investigation -includes metal-lographic, X ray, and property studies of lineage in large grain and single crystal specimens of copper. Preparation of Specimens specilnens 10 in. long 35 1/2 in. diam of oxygen-free copper (o.F.H.c.) (99.985 pet) were' melted vertically in graphite crucibles under an atmosphere of commercial nitrogen purified through a gas train including sulfuric acid, potassium chloride, magnesium chiorate, hot copper chips and phosphorus pentoxide. After a temperature of 1200°C had been maintained for 1/2 hr, the furnace was turned off and the specimens cooled at a rate of about 150°c an hour' This method of direct solidification was used by Greningerlo to produce single crystals with marked lineage and in this investigation produced a fair yield of single crystal specimens in

Jan 1, 1949

By W. R. Hibbard

The term lineage was first introduced by Buergerl to denote dendritic branches, grown from a crystal nucleus during solidification from the liquid, with imper- fections in alignment of the order of 10 : to 10-4 cm. These imperfections are associated with distortions of the dendrites caused by the subsequent solidification of the inter-dendritic filling and are illustrated in Fig I. Buerger etched zinc single crystals made by the Bridgman3 method to develop this dendritic pattern and show lineage microscopically. Since maximum crystal growth in face-centered cubic metals occurs along the [IT] directions,2 lineage would appear in copper as small deviations of dendritic branches from these directions. Elam4 and others5"8 reported etching effects resulting from coring along the cube face traces of various copper alloy crystals. These traces were used by Samans8 to orient single crystals. Williamson9 noted a "lined structure (in alpha brass single crystals) consisting of an ordered arrangement of etch pits" which were probably traces of {IOO} planes but somewhat uncertain because they were never straight (that is, apparently lineage). Greningerl1 described the distortion and multiplicity of Laue spots in back reflection X ray photograms of copper single crystals showing lineage. The present investigation -includes metal-lographic, X ray, and property studies of lineage in large grain and single crystal specimens of copper. Preparation of Specimens specilnens 10 in. long 35 1/2 in. diam of oxygen-free copper (o.F.H.c.) (99.985 pet) were' melted vertically in graphite crucibles under an atmosphere of commercial nitrogen purified through a gas train including sulfuric acid, potassium chloride, magnesium chiorate, hot copper chips and phosphorus pentoxide. After a temperature of 1200°C had been maintained for 1/2 hr, the furnace was turned off and the specimens cooled at a rate of about 150°c an hour' This method of direct solidification was used by Greningerlo to produce single crystals with marked lineage and in this investigation produced a fair yield of single crystal specimens in

Jan 1, 1949

By Paul D. Tavares, John Forbes, Eric R. Drooff

As the existing major U.S. - Canada rail tunnel was too small to accommodate double-stack container cars, Canadian National Railways is constructing a new parallel tunnel with a 50% greater diameter. Starting in Sarnia, Ontario, the new shallow-cover bored tunnel runs under a large research building and several other structures in an oil refinery before travelling under the St. Clair River. Maximum predicted settlements to be caused by the 9.2 meter diameter earth pressure balance TBM in the soft St. Clair till were in excess of 100 millimeters. As such, these settlements had the potential to cause severe damage and disruption to the existing refinery. In order to reinforce the soft clays below the refinery research building and other structures, and to compensate for settlement caused by the tunnelling, the ground improvement method of Soil Fracture grouting was successfully applied for the first time in North America. This paper will describe the details of both the soil fracture grouting application and the elaborate electrolevel remote monitoring system used.

Jan 1, 1995

By Donelson A. Robertson

Literature was searched and cases of alleged water well damage were investigated. Occurrence of ground water in Appalachia is primarily in low yield, fractured, water table aquifers. Four test sites were chosen based on geographic and geologic diversity. Test wells were drilled at each site and base line data on water quality, static water level, and drawdown characteristics were obtained before surface mining commenced. Blast induced ground vibrations were measured at the surface by the wells at levels up to 5.44 inches per second maximum resultant particle velocity. Measurements made at the bottom of wells indicated that vibrations were considerably attenuated at depths of 140 to 160 feet. No direct evidence of change in water quality or well performance was produced by blast vibrations, but removal of downslope support by excavation does cause lateral stress relief which permits the water-bearing fractures to become more open. This additional storage capacity causes the static water level to drop and for well-bore permeability to improve. Static water level recovers if sufficient recharge is available and well performance is

Jan 1, 1980

By H. J. Wasson

DEVELOPMENTS in Venezuela during the past few months have been obscured by the hap-penings in Seminole and, more recently, those in southwest Texas. The question has been asked whether or not the opening of these vast new, prolific areas in the United States may not have depressed prices to a point so low as to give the developments in the Caribbean countries a serious setback. Nothing of the kind, however, has taken place, and on the contrary, there has been demonstrated the fact that Venezuela can profitably produce great quantities of oil under existing market conditions, and at the same time finance the foundation for further large expan-sion in the future. The three big factors which contribute to place Venezuela in a unique position and tend to insure the steady expansion of its oil industry are, in the order of their importance: I. Reasonable oil laws backed by a sound govern-ment, which comprehends the all-important fact that the country's prosperity depends on the prosperity of its industries, in a word, perceiving that the goose which lays the golden egg merits considerate treatment. II. The low cost of placing Venezuela oil on our At-lantic seaboard; not over $0.60 per barrel. III. The uniformly high average production per well and the large area of some of the individual pools. Under these conditions Venezuelan producers may be expected to continue steady and profitable ex-pansion even in the face of further market slumps. Their position is analogous to that of the low-cost copper producers, and unless artificial barriers, such as tariffs, come into play, Venezuela will steadily grow in importance. Within less than five years it should be second only to the United States among the oil-producing countries of the world.

Jan 10, 1927

The energy supply in the 21st century is still secured by coal. According to estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal will have the same importance as oil for the world-wide supply of energy until 2030. Coal is also an important element of EU policy, its future use is closely linked to effectively addressing the environmental challenges it poses. Hard and brown coal represent approximately 80 per cent of European Union (EU) reserves of fossil fuels and coal utilisation can co-exist with the development of power generation based on renewables. Europe is the world's third largest consumer of coal behind China and the United States.The Czech Republic is poor in energy resources except for coal. Brown coal is relatively abundant (mineable reserves estimated at 1800 Mt, output 48 Mt/a) and significant quantities of hard coal (mineable reserves 900 Mt, 13 Mt/a), much of it suitable for coke production, are also present.Severoceske Doly (SD Company), the biggest Czech coal mining company (22 Mt/a, 48.6 per cent Czech market share) and one of the biggest in Europe, reinforces despite the last deep crisis in the Czech and European economies its long-standing stable and strong market and financial position. From 2009, the SD Company co-owns, with partners, a brown-coal mining company MIBRAG (21 Mt/a). SD Company invests in large mining equipment (eg new giant spreaders and bucket-wheel excavators, extension of overland belt conveyors), rebuilds and upgrades mining and processing installations, auxiliary and other machinery. We should see the investment we make today in tomorrow's mining and reclamation as an opportunity and not as a burden. They enable to make our position more resistant in the longer term. Projects focused on the environment and operational safety went hand in hand with these efforts.R&D activities relate to technical innovations, improvements of mining equipment, research and evaluation of conditions for extracting coal seam and/or overburden and mitigation of environmental impacts, utilisation of coal in new products. The company spends considerable amounts on reclaiming affected land and creating a new post-mining landscape.Our dialogue with influential stakeholders in the region where we operate contributes to the long-term improvement in the quality of life of local residents. Such dialogue with communities in the last ten years has been instrumental for confidence building. SD Company helps to develop many projects of towns and villages in its vicinity. The stable and transparent relations with our neighbours are in accordance with our basic principles of corporate social responsibility.

Dec 6, 2010

By John L. Edwards

The underground coal mines in the Lake Macquarie area of the Newcastle Coalfield, New South Wales, Australia are constrained by surface subsidence restrictions as low as 150 mm. The mining environment is shallow, generally between 100 m and 200 m, often multi-seam and commonly overlain by residential development or tidal waters. Most mines use partial or panel and pillar extraction techniques to meet the subsidence restrictions and allow maximum resource recovery. This paper gives an overview of the results of a recent two year government funded research project aimed at developing a mechanistic, geomechanically based mine design criteria for subsidence control. Three extraction layouts were monitored in detail to assess the relationship between mining geometry, pillar behaviour and surface subsidence. Pillars at each site were instrumented with stress cells, convergence monitors and extensometers. Field data was used to initially calibrate, and subsequently, verify stress and displacement predictions made by the three-dimensional displacement discontinuity code, SUBSOL. Back-analysis of the modelling results indicate SUBSOL's capability as a tool to satisfactorily predict surface subsidence magnitudes and pillar loads for alternative pillar and panel layouts.

Jan 1, 1993