Search Documents

The Bureau of Mines has studied 260 underground coal mine fires which occurred from 1970 through 1989. Every fire had the capacity to be hazardous to life and property, however upon closer examination some were found to be inherently more dangerous than others. Our research involved reviewing and recording specific information contained in published Mine Safety and Health Administration fire accident reports. The objective was to determine if degrees of hazard relative to fire source or location could be construed from information contained in the reports. We specifically looked at the propensity for fires to cause injuries and fatalities as well as the need to seal the area in order to extinguish the fire. Relative to all underground locations, this review found that fires occurring in main haulage-ways were most likely to cause injuries and fatalities as well as require sealing of at least the immediate area to extinguish.

Jan 1, 1993

By C. Beul, R. Schipper, L. Santisteban

The Garfield Mine is a legacy vanadium mine in western Colorado with multiple mine openings, waste rock piles, and adit seepages that Cyprus Climax Metals Company (a Freeport-McMoRan Inc. subsidiary) voluntarily remediated through the Colorado Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCUP). The process to obtain a No Further Action determination from the VCUP is presented. Water treatment of the adit discharge, which is not part of the VCUP, is also presented. The remedial action objectives (RAOs) included preventing direct human or biotic exposure to the waste rock and radiation emitting from the waste rock; reducing metal concentrations and radionuclide activities in adit discharge and keeping the discharge from leaving the site; maintaining the existing undeveloped character of the surrounding landscape; and eliminating the need for a stormwater permit. The design included regrading, installation of an infiltration barrier and rock cover, a diversion channel, and a biologically based passive remediation water treatment system. An initial lab-scale evaluation provided design criteria for the full-scale system, which consists of a sulfate-reducing biochemical reactor and post-treatment aerobic polishing cells. The system has been operational since construction was completed in late 2016. Results indicate that the treatment objective of 90% bulk removal of constituents of potential concern (COPCs) is largely being met. The system also provides year-round operation and non-point discharge of effluent. After 20 plus years of site investigations, the remedial action was completed in 2016 with all RAOs met and a No Further Action determination granted in 2018. INTRODUCTION The Garfield Mine is a legacy vanadium mine located approximately 11 miles north-northeast of Rifle, in Garfield County, Colorado. It was leased and operated intermittently from 1929 to 1975 but was never operated by Cyprus Climax Metals Company (Cyprus) (a Freeport-McMoRan Inc. subsidiary). Prior to reclamation, site features included: • six mine openings—five adits and a vertical opening; • two adits discharging mining-influenced water (MIW)— Adit 1 at less than 4 liters per minute (L/min) and Adit 2 at 7 to 10 L/min; • main waste rock pile (13,500 m3) and small waste rock pile (minimal volume); • debris (small structure, mattress, bottles, shells, etc.) indicating site used for recreational purposes; and, • unimproved road, which has been used to access forest fires.

Jan 1, 2019

By Donald D. Murphy

My first contact with underground, bolt conveyors came when I was hired as a draftsman by the La-Del Conveyor & Manufacturing Company in 1935. At that tine relatively few nines were using haulage belt conveyors. Wore they were in use, they were usually loaded by chain or shaker type room conveyors which in turn were hand loaded at the working face. Duo to the low room tonnage, a gathering belt might receive who output of from six to eight rooms. For several years belts 26 and 30" in width were the favorites for coal mine use. Belt speeds very seldom exceeded 200 ft. per mm. at that time. Conveyor lengths for the majority of units lay between 1.000 and 2000 ft. For a number of years 25 H.P. drives were adequate for those conveyors. From 1940 until about 1950 loads and speeds went up slightly and 40 H.P. drives became the standard. Since the majority of mines were then using direct current power systems, we were able to use controllers with 3 or more steps of starting resistance. The slow belt speeds coupled with relatively long starting cycles kept the rate of acceleration low and gave us smooth, easy starts.

Jan 1, 1963

By C. Geier

Previous mine incidents show weaknesses in mine rescue preparedness from poor training in decision making, leadership and incident command center (ICC) protocols. Computer simulations offer a larger range of training opportunities for mine rescue teams focusing on exploration and communications. The mine rescue simulator developed by the Colorado School of Mines and Rite Solutions Inc. utilizes four computers for the instructor and team, with the instructor monitoring the team?s progress. As the team explores, it relays information back to the Fresh Air Base, which then reports to the ICC. This forces a three-step communication procedure, enhancing the team?s overall communication skills and developing ICC protocols. The simulator is decision-based, demanding team decisions be made quickly. Upon completion, teams commented positively. Generally, participants said that the simulator is useful for learning how to communicate and make decisions during mine rescue emergencies. This mine rescue simulator improves team training, providing effective communications practice with an easy setup and no production interruption.

Feb 1, 2014

By H. Yen, D. E. Walsh, H. K. Lin

"Comminution circuits are widely used in nonferrous and precious metals milling. Steel crushers, grinding mills and grinding media are typically used in comminution circuits. Comminution circuit wear products, in the form of metallic iron (steel) fines, are unavoidably produced and report to undersize products in the classification circuit, i.e., flotation or leach feed, while tramp grinding steel (TGS) reports to classification oversize products and returns to the grinding mill, building up in the circulating load. In laboratory studies, TGS reduced grinding efficiency significantly, the impact being dependent upon the size of the TGS present in the mill. Because iron fines adsorb flotation reagents effectively, iron fines increase reagent consumption and reduce flotation recovery. Iron fines are also capable of reducing gold recovery in cyanidation circuits via a cementation reaction. When using filtered gold solution from the cyanidation circuit of an Alaskan gold mine, the gold concentration in solution was reduced by 0.2 to 2.6% over various reaction periods when iron fines were present in the solution.IntroductionComminution circuits are widely used in copper, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum and precious metal mills. Flotation and leaching processes are usually preceded by comminution (crushing and grinding) circuits in order to liberate valuable minerals for effective separation, concentration or dissolution by the subsequent flotation or leaching processes.Steel crushers, grinding mills and grinding media are typically used in comminution circuits. Comminution circuit wear products, in the form of metallic iron (steel) powder, are unavoidably produced and report to undersize products in the classification circuit (flotation or leach feed), while tramp grinding steel (TGS) reports to oversize productions during classification and returns to the grinding mill, building up in the circulating load. Variables affecting the amount of metallic iron powder and TGS produced in a comminution circuit include ore hardness, grinding mill operating conditions, comminution circuit design and the metallurgy of the steel used for manufacturing crusher liners, mill liners and grinding media. As one example, a comminution circuit product of 80% passing 200 mesh at the Pogo Mine, AK is estimated to contain approximately 2 kg/t of metallic iron. A finer grind will generally produce a comminution circuit product with higher metallic iron fines content."

Jan 1, 2015

By John G. Kuhm

INTRODUCTION The goal of any development drilling program is the drilling of the exact number of holes necessary to adequately determine grade and dimensions of an orebody, no more and no less. This cost of development drilling represents a large part of the total development budget. Any technique which eliminates unnecessary drilling costs produces beneficial results, both to the company and to the person who can claim the savings. This high development cost factor has produced a quantity of research to develop techniques, for efficient control of drilling programs. Recent mining literature is full of articles describing methods for measuring and increasing the effectiveness of these expensive projects. The method described in this paper was developed during the latter part of a major development drilling project at the Christmas Mine of Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company in Gila County, Arizona. It was used to test the need for drilling individual holes but could be expanded to control an entire project. This technique was used at Christmas as a practical means for evaluating adequacy of drilling on an individual hole basis, and it was possible to eliminate several previously approved holes. Application of this method involves an evaluation of geological conditions present and a good bit of common sense. Projects involving large disseminated, rather homogeneous orebodies of the porphyry-copper type would be the most likely candidate for application of the technique. Discontinuous orebodies would not be amenable to this technique. The method is based on the measurement of the linear correlation between the spatial distribution of two sets of data. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is used. This is a standard statistic commonly used to measure linear correlation between two sets of data. The statistical significance of the correlation coefficient at a 95% confidence level is the main criterion for controlling the project. For purposes of reference we will call our technique the "correlation method" in this paper.

Jan 1, 1971

By B. J. Timmons

An initial point that I would like to make very emphatically?and as our title might erroneously suggest for those of you old enough to remember . . . Peter Harben and myself do not intend to shoot ourselves in the foot. We derive our livelihood from a number of aggregate, industrial and other minerals producers, both here in the United States and outside. This paper, therefore, is a fence-straddler or for information purposes (we hope) only, rather than any "fur or agin" stances. In essence, some of you may consider it a U.S.G.S. publication! In fact, we hope that it serves to inspire aggregates producers to do some radical thinking, to promote introspection, and to that end it would benefit both domestic and foreign producers. The title could be shortened into a brief question of "Aggregates Travel?" with an emphatic no for the answer. In the past, the success of a construction materials venture depended upon your ability, through siting, to provide the customer f.o.b. the job site, a product at the lowest possible cost.

Jan 1, 1987

By Karin Bäppler

"When considering large-scale infrastructure projects worldwide special attention has to be paid to the large diameter tunnel construction projects that were successfully completed in the Southern Hemisphere. The projects that are highlighted in this paper are large-scale infrastructure projects in the sector of transport. In focus are four road tunnel projects that were constructed in Australia and New Zealand using mechanized tunnelling technology. The tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that were reliably applied to these four major projects all exceed the bore diameter of 12 meters. These TBMs are therefore in the range of large to very large diameter TBMs. The technology used demonstrates state of the art technology with tailored tunnelling technology adapted to the specific project demands. Two Double Shielded Hard Rock TBMs (Ø 12.35 meters) were used for the construction of the Clem Jones Tunnel in Brisbane crossing beneath the Brisbane River and these two machines have been reused for the excavation of a 4.3km long two-lane highway tunnel for Legacy Way in Brisbane creating a new traffic artery towards the city centre. Two EPB Shields (Ø 12.48 meters) excavated and lined the twin-tube road tunnel for the Brisbane Airport Link. Excavation diameters in excess of 14 meters, such as the Earth Pressure Balance Shield (Ø 14.41 meters) involved in the Waterview Connection Project in New Zealand, are understood in the tunnelling industry as very large diameters. The machine is customized to the requirements and subsurface conditions of Auckland. The paper spotlights the large to very large diameter TBMs that were used and focuses on the comprehensive solutions developed by the machine manufacturer to provide a system with benefits for the contractor especially for the Waterview Project. INTRODUCTION Extensive large-scale road infrastructure projects like the ones implemented in Brisbane (Australia) and currently under construction in Auckland (New Zealand) show the tendency of today’s infrastructure construction projects. Functional infrastructures need to be put in place to cope with the demand of mobility and flexibility of people living in cities and metropolises. Impact during construction work to people or environment has to be kept as low as possible to ensure the quality of life is not disrupted."

Jan 1, 2016

By Dexter C. Hatch

At MacIntyre Development of the National Lead Company, Taha s, New York,, the flotation plant was set up to recover ilmenite from the finer size fraction of the ore that cannot be efficiently treated in the main gravity-magnetic separa¬tion process. It was later expanded to handle the reground middlings from the tables wetherill magnetic separators. The ilmenite-magnetite ore is ground to minus 20 mesh in five 6 x 12 ft. rod mills in closed circuit with DSM screens. The minus 20 mesh screen undersize is pumped to four parallel sections each consisting of two rougher wet-magnetic separators and one cleaner separator for magnatite removal. The screen undersize from the fifth section is distributed to all four sections. The magnetite removed in the roughers is pumped back to the cleaners and the cleaner magnetite is dewatered in rake classifiers and carried by belt to the winter plant or the stockpile area. The nonmagnetic sands from rougher and cleaner magnetic separator are sized for table feed in eight pocket hydraulic sizers. The slime overflows from the Crocketts, the sizers, and the magnetite rakes are collected and pumped to three-inch cyclones for thickening and desliming. The cyclone underflow is the principal flotation plant feed.

Jan 1, 1962

By Gordon Clark, Basar Arioglu, Nasri Munfah, Sanja Zlatanic, Tolga Togan

"The 13.2 m (43 ft) external diameter, double deck Istanbul Strait Road Tube Crossing is one of the most challenging underwater tunnel projects in the world. Subjected to 11 bars of hydrostatic pressure, variable geology, and being in a very active seismic area, the execution of the project required innovative solutions, sophisticated construction techniques and prudent risk management approach. The 5 km (3.1 mile) tunnel consists of a 3.4-km (2.2-mile) tunnel boring machine- (TBM) bored tunnel, 1 km (0.62 mile) twin NATM tunnels and cut-and-cover sections. The project is being delivered in a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract in a public-private partnership. The technical challenges, coupled with financial and commercial risks required the implementation of sophisticated risk management tactics including the provision of independent design verification. The project was opened to traffic on December 20, 2016, four months ahead of schedule.. This article presents the technical challenges of the project from the design, construction, and risk management aspects..Project backgroundThe $1.245 billion Istanbul Strait Road Tunnel Crossing project, dubbed the Eurasia Tunnel, is one of several major infrastructure projects being implemented in the Republic of Turkey in a public-private partnership approach. The project provides a direct and easy connection between the Anatolian (Asian) side of Istanbul and the heart of its historical district on the European side across the Bosphorus Strait which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. The project improves connections to a wide network of motorways on both sides, increase capacity across the Bosphorus by 100,000 vehicles a day, reduces congestion and saves motorists an average of 45 minutes of commuting time in each direction bringing significant economic benefits to the city and the region. It eases traffic across the strait, reduces congestion, decreases pollutants and emission while maintaining Bosphorus. It is the most complex part of the project with the greatest challenges and risks. Part 2 is 5.4 km (3.6 miles) long consisting of 3.4 km (2.2 miles) of 13.2 m ( 43.3 ft) external diameter TBM bored tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait, 1-km (0.62-miles) of twin NATM tunnels on the Asian side, cut-and-cover transition boxes in the Asian and the European sides and depressed approaches on both sides. In addition, this segment includes the toll plazas, ventilation buildings, and the tunnel control and maintenance facilities."

Mar 1, 2017

By F. L. Pierson

Since the discovery of 'potash in the Carlsbad area in 1926 and the start of mining operations in 1931, "first mining," operations have been carried on. This is a room and pillar system in which approximately 62% of the total ore is removed. Or the basis of ore reserves and rates of extraction, the life of the mine in the early; days was estimated to be well over 50 years, however, even with an increase by additional ore reserves, it became increasingly apparent that the life of the mine was being shortened considerably by increased production. Further cause for the shortening of mine life was due to the exceptionally weak back over the northeast quadrant of the main orebody which had .caved in on first mining up to a height of 8 feet. Thus, in 1953 the decision was' made to begin pillar pulling, also called, second mining or final mining, and in December of 1953 this program was started after much discussion.

Jan 1, 1965

By John W. Crawford

The title of the paper which I have been asked to present is somewhat misleading it infers in fact that there is a definite coalbed height below which raps or canopies cannot be applied to electric face equipment. Although this may be so with regard to certain pieces of existing equipment under certain conditions, to date we do not have enough experience to determine this magic number. Therefore MESA is continuing to hold the line on the time frames stipulated in Section 75.1710-1 of the Mandatory Safety Standards - Underground Coal Mines, which at this point in time requires these protective structures in mining heights of 60 inches or more. In order to give you an idea why we are taking such a firm stand on this matter, I believe it is necessary to describe some of the background work that was done prior to promulgation of the regulations and to give a resume of our experience since the requirements have become effective. Initially MESA made field investigations of all underground mines to determine what the state of the art was in the use of cabs and canopies for protecting equip¬ment operators from falls of roof. These studies revealed that the application was basically in its infancy and what progress had been made was due to the impetus of the mine operators themselves. Manufacturers of electric face equip¬ment provided these structures only on the direct order from the mining company and built them to their specifications. In talking to the operators and the miners in mines where cabs or canopies were in use, it was the consensus that these structures did improve safety and that although originally there was some reluctance on the part; of the miners to work in the confines of a cab or canopy, mast would not work without them once they had been adapted to the equipment.

Jan 1, 1975

By A. S. Ibrado, D. W. Fuerstenau

"Gold, silver and copper form various complexes with cyanide, of which only the singly charged dicyano form adsorbs appreciably on activated carbon. The adsorption of the dicyano complexes appears to be controlled predominantly by chemical reaction at the surface of a shrinking unreacted core. Metal uptake over time is non-linear, which eliminates control by boundary layer diffusion. The rate of adsorption is not enhanced by a reaction interruption, which suggests the absence of concentration gradients in the pores. Finally, the rate of adsorption increases with decreasing activated carbon size in a manner consistent with the shrinking core model. The results of this investigation accentuate the importance of efficient acid washing of carbon and removing carbon fines from the barren carbon stream. INTRODUCTION With the dwindling reserves of high-grade ores, most of the world’s gold is produced from low-grade ores by cyanide leaching. In the past, leaching was followed by the Merrill-Crowe process, in which gold is precipitated from clarified pregnant solutions by zinc cementation. This process is still being used for high-silver ores, where the cost of carbon stripping becomes prohibitive. For deposits with silver-to-gold ratios of about 4 or less, adsorption on activated carbon would be the usual solution purification step taken. The process simplifies solid-liquid separation and offers a viable solution to preg-robbing organic carbon in some ores. The modern industrial application of carbon adsorption started with the carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process, where carbon adsorption was used mainly as a solution purification step. In 1973, Homestake Mining Company commissioned the first large-scale CIP plant in the U.S.A.1 Later, carbon was added earlier in the circuit to control preg-robbing by adsorbing gold cyanide onto activated carbon as soon as it is dissolved. The scheme is successful because activated carbon is a stronger adsorber than the organic carbon found in preg-robbing ores. This process came to be known as the carbon-in-leach (CIL) process. Numerous research investigations have been performed on the chemistry involved in the CIP process, which at the time of its introduction was not clearly understood. Of these, research on the kinetics of adsorption probably bears the most immediate impact on industrial practice,2,3 where adsorption systems rarely reach equilibrium, if at all, and slight slowdowns in the adsorption rate can translate into significant decreases in revenue. To illustrate this, organic compounds, like flotation reagents, have been known to impair CIP circuits. However, laboratory tests showed that the organic compounds do not significantly affect the adsorption capacity of activated carbon. Rather, the harmful effect may be attributed to a lowered adsorption rate.4,5 Also well known is the faster rate at which fine activated carbon powders reach equilibrium compared to coarse activated carbon, even though the final (equilibrium) amount of material adsorbed per unit weight is the same."

Jan 1, 2015

By D. R. Nagaraj

Adsorption of sulfide collectors such as xanthate on pyrite has been studied extensively over several decades using a wide variety of techniques. In spite of this, there are unanswered questions as to the identity of adsorbed species on pyrite surfaces -dixanthogen vs. iron xanthate complexes. Far less is known in non-xanthate collector systems. We have used Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) successfully in the past to obtain direct evidence for the identity of the adsorbed collector species on copper sulfides, galena and Cu-activated quartz. The present study is an extension of the SIMS analysis to investigate the adsorption of xanthate, dithiovhosphate, dithiocarbamate, and modified thionocarbamates and thioureas on pyrite. Adsorption of these collectors on chalcocite was also studied for comparison. An attempt was also made to obtain SIMS spectra for pure dixanthogens at room temperature. Only in the case of dithiocarbamate (DTC) was there direct evidence for the presence of not only the collector dimer, but also iron-DTC complexes. On chalcocite, only the copper-DTC complexes were detected (no dimer). In the case of xanthate, the collector molecular ion and its S adduct -which are possible fragments from dixanthogen -were detected on pyrite, along with a fragment peak: suggesting Fe2X. For dithiophosphate, the collector molecular ion and Fe(DTP)(OH) complex were detected (no dimer). For modified thionocarbamate and thiourea, adsorption on pyrite was negligible.

Jan 1, 1997

By J. W. Cash

The mineralogy and textures of cyclone dust, sludge, and occasional build-ups in the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) direct iron making pilot plant at Universal, Pennsylvania have been studied by reflected light, transmitted light, and cathodoluminescence microscopy, and phase compositions have been determined by SEM-EDS. The cyclone dust consists of particles of carbon, metallic iron, sulfur-bearing iron, and wustite. Measurements of particles in the sludge indicate that 69% are less than 2.5 µm across, 21 % are 2.5-5 µm, and 10% are larger than 5 µm. Mineralogically the sludge particles are mainly carbon and metallic iron, with minor wustite and sulfur-bearing iron. Build-ups that sporadically develop in the furnace consist of olivine, hercynite spinel, metallic iron, wustite, pyrrhotite, pseudobrookite, akermanite-ferroakermanite and gehlenite. The microtextures shown by the build-ups indicate that much of that material has precipitated at the build-up loci. This study has been supported by AISI and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Jan 1, 1995

By George W. Heunisch

The properties of Neutra-Fix® and Neutra-Ment® , two new lime substitutes for the treatment of acid mine drainage (Arm), have been compared with lime and Alkament®, two products presently in use for AMD treatment. The two new products are basically dolomitic byproducts and produce sludges that are more compact than those from lime. Sludge settling rates are faster than lime with iron concentrations after 24 hours that comply with EPA regulations. Material utilization and optimum pit are reported.

Jan 1, 1984

By Akira Ishikuro, Masamichi Shintaku, Futoshi Kusumoto, Takeshi Kudo

"The Bankei-Kitanosawa tunnel that is located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan includes a 450m long section near the arrival point where mudstone which can liquate out natural hazardous materials such as arsenic and selenium exceeding the tolerance stipulated by country as well as weathered mudstone and unconsolidated sedimentary rocks with small overburden and the competence factor less than 1.0 are present. The mucks containing hazardous materials were disposed into the waterproof branch tunnels created from the inside of the main tunnel. The full face early ring closure method was employed to ensure the stability of the tunnel in the low strength rock masses having no stand-up time. As a result, the waterproof tunnels branching off the main tunnel can manage water tightness so as to ensure safety and relief against environmental risks of the hazardous materials. It is also demonstrated that the full face early ring closure method enable construction of the tunnel with a small overburden in the low strength rock masses. INTRODUCTION The Bankei-Kitanosawa tunnel includes a 450m long section near the arrival point where mudstone which can liquate out natural hazardous materials such as arsenic and selenium exceeding the tolerance stipulated by country as well as weathered mudstone and unconsolidated sedimentary rocks with small overburden and the competence factor less than 1.0 are present. In order to overcome the restrictions, the hazardous materials were designed to be disposed into large cross section waterproof tunnels which were newly designed and constructed in high strength and hazardous material free Andesite. The lining for the tunnels was composed of with shotcrete. In addition, full face early ring closure (Sato et al., 2013) was employed to stabilize the tunnel so as to enable safe tunnel excavation in low strength rock masses where a ground arch is deemed unachievable. This paper presents the safe disposal method of mucks which are likely to liquate out natural hazardous materials as well as the full face early ring closure method and its mechanical characteristics."

Jan 1, 2016

By P. Clifford

FIPR-sponsored research will playa critical role in enhancing the competitiveness of the Florida phosphate industry as ore grade declines and environmental restrictions tighten. FIPR's program seeks to improve surface mining and pipeline transportation while reducing the energy cost for pumping phosphate matrix. The development of a reliable on-line analyzer and a modern process control strategy will result in improved processing efficiency. Significant improvement in overall efficiency will also be realized as the industry adopts column flotation technology. Economic acidulation of high-Insol rock will allow the industry to adopt simplified flotation flowsheets thereby reducing operating costs. Various applications of phosphogypsum would save the industry millions of dollars in constructing and closing gypsum stacks.

Jan 1, 1998

By I. H. Gundiler

A pilot-plant flotation concentrate containing 21.6 g/t gold and 2 kg/t silver was used for this study. Base-line cyanide and thiourea tests showed 30-40% extraction of both gold and silver. After roasting (450-750C), the maximum gold extracted was 89% with thiourea and 76% with cyanide. Pressure oxidation tests were conducted following a statistical experimental design in a 2L laboratory autoclave at 10% pulp density, and the residues were subsequently leached in acidic thiourea solutions for 2h. Leach results were presented in the form of contour maps, and optimum autoclave conditions were determined for maximum gold extraction (93%). However, silver extraction was only 7% when gold extraction was maximized.

Jan 1, 1992

By P. K. Chatterjee

Computer aided design and inter active graphics have been well established in the electronics, automotive and mechanical engineering industries. The use of such aids in underground mine design and planning, however, has been noticeably absent. The large expense involved in the research and development of CAD and graphics systems and their highly specialized techniques have rendered investment in these areas difficult to justify. Optimum mine planning involves an interactive procedure of evaluation of several alternative plans. Generally the development of each mine plan of a given operation can take many man-months. This time constraint on planning precludes any comparative analysis and evaluation of alternatives, thereby introducing the possibility of unrealized gains. This paper outlines the development of a computer aided mine design program utilizing interactive graphics for the design, simulation and scheduling of underground coal mines. The program developed examines exploratory borehole information and produces a structured database of the sampled data. This database is utilized to generate seam sections and different mine layouts. A simulation of mine extraction and production levels and a schedule of proposed alternatives are then performed.

Jan 1, 1984