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Using Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) to Investigate Industrial Systems

Sep 13, 2010

By K. G. Wheeland, J. E. Dutrizac, M. Wasserlauf, A. A. Condy

Numerous processes for the treatment of thiosalts in base metal milling effluents have been examined in the past decade. Flowsheets for thirteen processes are outlined, and cost estimates are presented for a base case of a 720 mi/h effluent flow containing 1400 mg/L thiosalts. The processes are ranked on the basis of Numerous processes for the treatment of thiosalts in base metal milling effluents have been examined in the past decade. Flowsheets for thirteen processes are outlined, and cost estimates are presented for a base case of a 720 mi/h effluent flow containing 1400 mg/L thiosalts. The processes are ranked on the basis of

Jan 1, 1988

By Steven K. Ruggieri

This report describes the use of the sprayfan auxiliary ventilation system for methane and dust control on continuous miner sections to potential users. The sprayfan auxiliary ventilation system is a modified water spray system which directs intake air to and across the front of a continuous miner to prevent build up of methane gas and dust concentrations. This user's manual contains practical information concerning sprayfan: a. Description and capabilities b. Design c. Installation d. Operation e. Maintenance. Underground tests, independent laboratory tests, tests by MSHA, and independent installations by coal producers have confirmed the performance of the sprayfan system. There are currently 150 sprayfan systems in operation in underground coal mines.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. Kunda

Silver nitrate solution is a very common product in hydrometallurgical processes involving the treatment of various silver bearing materials. Silver is recovered by electrolysis. The alternative method for the recovery of silver from aqueous solutions is the precipitation by hydrogen at elevated temperature and pressure. A previous study by the authors revealed the feasibility of this technique for the silver ammine sulfate system. Further study showed different behavior for silver in the silver ammine nitrate system and a systematic study was initiated to establish the optimum conditions for the process. The study showed that the process can be controlled by (1) composition of the feed solution, (2) temperature and (3) hydrogen pressure. The recovered silver product was in the form of very fine powder.

Jan 1, 1989

By D Hill

In the Ngakuru area zeolite deposits occur in late Quaternary lacustrine vitric tuffs of the Ngakuru Formation and two of the deposits are being mined. The Ngakuru Formation overlies the Ohakuri Ignimbrite dated at c. 240 ka, and is overlain by younger alluvial sands and gravels. Individual zeolite deposits contain 50 - 80 per cent zeolite over a thickness of up to 45 m in thinly stratified vitric tuffs and are localised along NE-trending normal faults. Glass shards in the tuffs are replaced by the silica-rich zeolites mordenite and clinoptilolite. Amorphous silica (opal A), opal-CT, Kfeldspar and smectite are also present. The zeolites and other minerals are very fine grained (<10 8m), with open meshes of crystals that result in high porosities (52 - 70 per cent) in mordenite-rich tuffs. Zeolitic tuff samples typically have cation exchange capacities of 80 to 110 meq/100 g and internal surface areas of 25 - 58 m2/g, which combine to give high liquid and odour absorption capacities. The first zeolite deposit (Mangatete) was found in 1992, and this and the Twist Road deposit are worked by quarry benching into the side of hills. The zeolitic tuffs are dried and crushed to produce a variety of products including adsorbents for soaking up oil/chemical spills and animal wastes, animal feed supplements, water treatment, and sports turf and slow release fertiliser. The Ngakuru zeolite deposits formed at shallow depth (<100 m) along fault zones from reaction of glass-rich tuff beds with groundwater-diluted geothermal water during the late Quaternary, and are as young as 8500 yr BP from 14C dating of plant material in sinter associated with the Mangatete deposit.

Jan 1, 2005

By Donald Christofferson

This report documents the program conducted to demonstrate the application of a flywheel-powered propulsion system to underground mining shuttle cars. Such application can replace the present electrical trailing cable common to most shuttle cars and thereby eliminate those safety hazards, maintenance problems, and haulage route limitations inherent in the trailing cable. Described are the activities undertaken to specify and design a flywheel of optimum size, shape, and material; to identify the best concepts of input and output systems; and to achieve installation of the power package into a shuttle car. The resultant Flywheel-Powered Shuttle Car is an FMC Model 6L shuttle car, 6-ton capacity, 20-ton gross vehicle weight, powered by a flywheel system with 4.5-kilowatt-hour usable energy. The completed vehicle was delivered to the Bureau of Mines in Bruceton, Pennsylvania, for testing and evaluation.

Jan 1, 1986

By E. J. Lintner

This paper is one of a series being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines describing clay mining and crushing methods and costs at various operations throughout the United States. These papers are designed to disseminate technical information regarding methods used. The cost tabulations represent local operating expenditures only and not total production costs. It is recognized that publication of total production costs might perhaps, in many instances, cause embarrassment to the individual operator as well as to the industry as a whole. On the other hand, operating costs are essential to the technical discussion and study of the methods employed. The attention of the reader is specifically called to this distinction in order that no misunderstanding of the scope of the cost tabulation shall ensue. The following report deals specifically with the methods employed by the Camp Brothers Company, Mogadore, Summit County, Ohio.

Jan 1, 1936

By Christopher Mark

"Many problems in rock mechanics are limited by our imperfect knowledge of the material properties and failure mechanics of rock masses. Mining problems are somewhat unique, however, in that plenty of real world experience is generally available and can be turned into valuable experimental data. Every pillar that is developed, or stope that is mined, represents a full-scale test of a rock mechanics design. By harvesting these data, and then using the appropriate statistical techniques to interpret them, mining engineers have developed powerful design techniques that are widely used around the world. Successful empirical methods are readily accepted because they are simple, transparent, practical, and firmly tethered to reality.The author has been intimately associated with empirical design for his entire career. But where his past papers have described the application of individual techniques to specific problems, the focus of this paper is the process used to develop a successful empirical method. A six-stage process is described:1. Identification of the problem, and of the end users of the final product2. Development of a conceptual rock mechanics model, and identification of the key parameters in that model3. Identification of measures for each of the key parameters, and the development of new measures (such as rating scales) where necessary4. Data sources and data collection5. Statistical analysis6. Packaging of the final productEach of these stages has its own potential rewards and pitfalls, which will be illustrated by incidents from the author’s own experience. The ultimate goal of this paper is to provide a new and deeper appreciation for empirical techniques, as well as some guidelines and opportunities for future developers."

Jan 1, 2015

By Kevin Malone

Mercury, or quicksilver as it is often called, has many applications in modern technology. Used principally in electrical apparatus, industrial contol instruments, insecticides and fungicides, electrolytic preparation of chlorine and caustic soda, chemical processes, pharmaceuticals, and dental preparations, the liquid metal has unusual properties that make it a preferred material for many industrial uses. United States consumption of mercury during the past 40 years shows a rising trend. In all except 4 years, U.S. production has been less than the domestic requirement, and imports, principally from Spain, Italy, and Mexico, have supplied most of the deficit. After World War II, domestic output decreased rapidly until 1950, when it was the lowest in the 100 years covered by production records. Higher mercury prices since 1950 have reversed the decline in domestic output and reduced the gap between U.S. production and consumption. Domestic output in 1958 was the highest in peacetime since 1883; however, the nation still imported 28 percent of its mercury requirements from 1950 to 1960 the price of mercury was high as a result of industrial applications of the mercury cell, the impact of the cold war and the Korean war, and the Government stockpiling program. The stockpiling program, in effect, put a floor under mercury prices even though only 9,428 flasks of domestic mercury went into the stockpile under the original program which ran from July 1954 to December 31, 1957. Under an extension of the program, an additional 17,463 flasks was purchased.

Jan 1, 1962

By Jos. Kalbhenn

PART of the plan of re-allocation evolved by the engineers of the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation in 1932 to retard the rapid advance of the submarine workings seawards was the opening of Dominion No. 20 Colliery, in the Harbour seam, by a pair of cross-measure tunnels from the workings of an older mine working the Phelan seam, which lies 430 feet below the Harbour seam. The tunnels, 8 ft. by 13 ft. in size, were started away from the old workings of Dominion No. 2 at a point 1.5 miles beyond the shore line and were driven on a rising grade of 1 per cent for a distance of 5,335 feet, tapping the Harbour seam at a point 2 ¼ miles off-shore. For transportation and ventilation, shafts and roadways already existing in the Phelan seam were made use of during the stages of development and up to the present time. One of the two tunnels served as a main haulage road and an intake airway, and the other as a return airway and travelling road. However, as the workings of this new colliery expanded, the need for additional airways arose as was anticipated when the plans for the development were formulated. To meet this need, work was started on October 1st, 1942, to establish a new opening between Nos. 2 and 20 Collieries in the form of a vertical shaft to provide a passageway for the ventilating air current of some 250,000 cubic feet per minute on its return to the upcast shafts in No. 2 Colliery, thus making both tunnels available for intake airways. In the interest of safety, speed, and economy, the shaft was raised from the Phelan to the Harbour seam. It is 20 ft. by 12 ft. in size and, with the exception of three timbered compartments across the narrow end, is untimbered. One of the three timbered compartments housed the ventilating tubing and pipe lines, the centre one served as a cage-way for hoisting men and material during the operation of raising, and the third one contained a ladder way. The rest of the shaft was filled with debris during the period of shaft raising.

Jan 1, 1944

By Bureau of Mines Staff

Coal research and related activities in 1964 by the Bureau of Mines resulted in many advances in the production, preparation, and utilization of this valuable natural resource. Mining research during the year was marked by work on hydraulic mining, coalbed degasification, mine drainage control, mine sealing, strip-mine rehabilitation, and quenching of mine-refuse fires. Bureau research continued to produce information leading to increased safety in underground mining. Such research included roof and rib control via bolting and bonding, pressure monitoring of coal and mine rock during mining operations, and development of safety devices for detecting conditions leading to roof falls. Other safety work was continued on methane detectors, coal-dust suppression, and mine venti lation equipment and techniques. Mine explosion and explosives research, mine equipment and materials, safety rule modernization, and safety education and training of mine workmen were continued. Coal storage and preparation work in 1964 ranged from freezeproofing of lignite for rail shipment, through washability studies of coals and washing equipment, to research on new ways to remove ash and sulfur from coal. Electric power production, which ,accounts for a major portion of the market for coal, received further study. Unique power generation systems, inc luding coal-burning gas turbine and megnetohydrodynamic generators, were intensively investigated. Conventional power systems were improved through continuation of work on furnace performance, powerplant stack gas purification, and engineering and boiler water service.

Jun 1, 1965

By D. O. Hamiltion

The ISMS program provided for the development and demonstration of equipment modifications in both conventional and continuous coal mining systems. This report describes activities during the demonstration of the conventional equipment and includes machine performance, results of data gathering, system evaluation, and recommendations for implementing improvements.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. Gotor, C. Frias, E. Delgado

The Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) is one of the world's largest reserves of primary sulphides containing base metals (Cu, Zn, Pb), precious metals and some special metals such as indium. Estimated resources are over 1,500 million tonnes of volcanogenic massive sulphide ores. From 1980´s Europe lives the decline in its mines mainly motivated by the low price of the metals. One aspect that contributed equally to this was the ecological disaster produced by the discharge of more than seven million tonnes from the tailings dam of Boliden-Apirsa (Aznalcollar) in 1998. Today the situation is different; the companies present in the IPB have given evidence that it is possible to reconcile mining projects and care on the environment, and the regional authorities are opening a public tender to re-start Aznalcollar mine. A new challenging era has been started at this Spanish/Portuguese mining area. This paper presents the results and preliminary economics of a project devoted to IPB primary sulphides processing through different technology approach, e.g. conventional selective flotation against bulk flotation or mixed metals flotation combined with hydrometallurgical processing.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. Geisler

When addressing Germany’s resource supplies, we need to distinguish between those domestically available and imported ones. Resource extraction ostensibly competes with the designation of protection areas. However, the parallel existence of wildlife and plant life, and operations in the areas used for resource extractions is continually underestimated. The European Commission has compiled guidance documents facilitating the extraction of resources from protected areas. With regard to resource productivity, the market appears to be the appropriate instrument for minimising resource consumption. Policy makers are now called upon to create a legal framework leading to a consensus accepted by society.

Jan 1, 2011

By Larissa Koroznikova, Steve Durkin, Patrick Bouwmeester, Michael Tuck

In currently used mining methods, blasting techniques often causes dilution of valuable ore and results in costly processing requirements. In the context of narrow vein mining of thin and highly concentrated orebodies there is a need of a mining method that can reduce dilution in order to remain economically viable. This research project explored the viability of a new mining technology, thermal fragmentation, in narrow vein mining. Thermal fragmentation technology uses a flame jet to produce extreme heat that spalls the surrounding rock to a strategically located drill hole, as an alternative to traditional blasting. This paper creates a net present value (NPV) model of a mining method using thermal fragmentation, as well as for an existing method used for narrow vein mining; comparisons and evaluations were made regarding the feasibility of the new technology. It was found that while overall costs for thermal fragmentation were relatively high, reductions in wages, haulage and processing costs, as well as increased productivity and ore recovery, meant that the new method would improve the financial performance of any operation. These results identify that there is an opportunity to introduce the thermal fragmentation technology to narrow vein mines within Australia, in order to lower costs and increase profit.

By L Lachance, F Flament, D Leroux, S GariTpy

"Considerable metal values are often locked in stockpiles (ore, concentrates, heap leach pads, slags, reverts, etc.) and process equipment (bins, holding tanks, thickeners, etc.). This is more than enough to justify accurate accounting of such in-process metal inventories from both financial accounting and operational perspective. However, accurately determining the metal inventory of an in-process unit is often a challenge in industrial practice. Audits have shown that available indirect or direct measurements often carry large inaccuracies. Sooner or later, ignoring these measurement errors lead to unexpected incoherencies in reported metal balances. In such situations, coherent metal balances are then achieved through subjective and sometimes significant adjustments of in-process inventory levels. While such metal accounting methods applied by mineral processing engineers used to be rarely challenged, they are now being increasingly scrutinised by various stakeholders. Hence, metal accounting procedures that mitigate subjectivity in adjustments while still coping with the unavoidable uncertainty are more relevant than ever.This paper reviews three different metal accounting methods for reporting in-process metal inventory values. Their individual application strongly depends on the available measurements i.e. The indirect method where the metal inventory of a given process unit is determined by subtracting the cumulative reclaim from the cumulative feed carries important flaws. The direct method also comes with challenging accuracy issues so that emptying a process unit is often the best available inventory measurement. This reality is recognised for by further analysing a previously proposed operating mode where two interchangeable process units are alternately used. The third investigated method is the redundant method which combines indirect and direct methods for a given process unit. This paper reveals that the dual process unit operating mode and the redundant method can both significantly improve the estimation quality of in-process metal inventories.CITATION:Lachance, L, GariTpy, S, Leroux, D and Flament, F, 2013. Review of metal accounting methods for in-process metal inventories, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013, pp 102-117 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 15, 2013

By Patterson B. G

The small party of mining men who formed the original Mount Morgan Syndicate in 1882, commenced operations on the top of the mountain with what were practically nothing more than small hillside quarries, It was not until 1891 that underground stoping began, and open-cut mining therefore commenced with the commencement of operations. This hillside quarrying, however, seems to have been quite haphazard and unsystematic ; there is no trace or sign of any properly devised mining scheme. This can be seen plainly enough from an examination of old mine plans; for in less than five years after stoping was; adopted, the open-cut was down into the stoped-out ground. The following table, prepared from these old plans, shows the downward trend of the excavation in the past fiftyseven years:-

Jan 1, 1939

WHEN the writer resided at Zeehan, qn the West Coast of Tasmania, some years ago, he took a keen interest in the geology of the district and availed himself of the opportunity to investigate occurrences, of the varied minerals in which the field abounds. The following notes were compiled as a result of one of his periodical visits to the outlying mining districts, when an examination was made of the bindsay Reward tin mining property, which has an area of 140 acres. This is most easily reached from Renison Bell, the centre of the North Dundas tin-fields, on the Emu Bay railway, 'about' eight miles north east of Zeehan. Thence a pack track some 14 -miles long connects with the mine, crossing the Piemah River by a fine suspension bridge.The mine itself is situated on the main south leading spot of the Parson's Hood Range, at an altitude of some 1600 ft. above sea level. The Parson's Hood Range is composed of granite and is an extension of the rugged Meredith Range. A remarkable feature is the uniform topography of the surrounding country when viewed from the peaks. Except where dissected by the rivers and creeks, the surface is practically level and, indeed, affords a striking illustration of an ancient uplifted peneplain.The mine has been opened by means of trenches and adits, and the ore-body proved to extend for a length of 30 chains, with an average width of about 100 ft. Its general trend is west-north-west, and its dip, which is steep, corresponds to that of the country-rocks. These latter, which are of sedimentary origin and generally regarded as of pre-Silurian age, have been tilted at high angles, consequent, no doubt, on the crustal movements produced by the intrusion of the huge granitic masses which now form the high ranges in the vicinity.It may be here remarked that it is not Within the scope of this paper to deal with the sequence of events leading to the geological structure...

Jan 1, 1923

By Bruno Deves Flores

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a influência da adição de carvão vegetal e do seu tamanho de partícula na reatividade do coque. Para isso, um carvão vegetal de eucalipto foi adicionado a um carvão médio volátil americano em três teores (3%, 5% e 8%) e em duas faixas granulométricas distintas (abaixo de 1 mm e entre 3 mm e 4 mm). O carvão individual e as misturas de carvão/carvão vegetal foram carbonizados em um forno de escala laboratorial (1 kg). A reatividade dos coques produzidos e do coque de referência foi avaliada e comparada usando análise termogravimétrica. Também foram realizadas análises morfológicas através de microscópio óptico e eletrônico, usando amostras antes e após os ensaios termogravimétricos. Baseado nos resultados, a influência da introdução de carvão vegetal na reatividade do coque foi analisada e discutida neste trabalho.

Aug 1, 2018

By Jay Nopola, Christopher Johnson, Matthew Minnick, Erik Hemstad, Erik Walega

Mining data collection, storage, and interpretation methods have progressively changed over time. Data collection, for the most part, has transitioned from handwritten notes and logs based on manual gauge readings to real-time data streaming through instrumentation capable of directly communicating with site-based data historians or cloud storage. Data collection and storage have had to adjust commensurately with the volume of data, leading to more complex database architecture. Geoscience interpretation methods have also changed; however, the first goals of modeling and understandings from first principles remain the same and are typically deeply rooted in historical academic work. Machine learning methods are becoming more common, available, and implemented by industry and practitioners. Despite the wide accessibility of machine learning methods, the population of geoscience subject matter experts in the underlying theory of this analysis type is limited. This form of analysis, therefore, must be conducted carefully and in conjunction with subject matter experts, on both machine learning theory and the field it is being applied to. This paper aims to provide background history on data analytics and machine learning, current methods and practices, and high-level geoscience case study examples, as well as take aways regarding the mining industry, potential pitfalls specific to geosciences, and possible perspectives on the direction of artificial intelligence in the future.

Jun 25, 2023