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By Robert Gannicott

??A mining company without the burden of operating a mine ??Management focused on marketing a high-quality, run-of-mine range of Canadian diamonds ??Robust revenue stream ??Specialist diamond knowledge ??Canadian exploration and development expertise ??BUT ??Single asset revenue base from depleting ore reserve ??Limited influence on production plans

Apr 1, 2005

By Bengt Fellenius

The conventional wave equation analysis without control of the representativeness of the parameters to the actual conditions does not provide accurate results. However, the representatives can be vastly improved by means of using the results of monitoring the dynamic response in a pile during driving. Dynamic monitoring displays the interaction of independent strain and acceleration measurements having directly propor­tional response to impacts, but inversely proportional response to re­flections from the soil. Examples are given and the CAPWAP method used to calculate from the measurements the dynamic pile and soil para­meters and mobilized soil resistance is outlined. The dynamic monitoring technique and analysis has been accepted internationally and been incor­porated into Building Codes. The prediction is offered that in five year's time, no major piling project will be undertaken without dynamic monitoring and analysis.

Jan 1, 1984

Contact Angle Measurements on Lignite Surface

Sep 13, 2010

By R. Barbaroux, B. Dubreuil, D. Lemieux, K. Nasrallah, G. Garcia Curiel

"As conventional, base or precious metal ores are being depleted worldwide, the mining industry is being faced with an increasing exploitation of arsenical sulfidic ores. Enargite is a common example. The downstream processing of these ores poses several problems ranging from high smelter penalties to finding economical and environmentally acceptable means of disposing of the arsenic. Several hydrometallurgical processes have been proposed for extracting arsenic from enargite concentrates, notably using alkaline sulphide leaching (ASL). However, few alternatives exist for removing the arsenic from solution and stabilizing it in an approach that is both economical and environmentally acceptable.Dundee Sustainable Technologies (“DST”) has developed a technology for the sequestration of arsenic by vitrification. Originally optimized to cost-effectively stabilize arsenic trioxide (As2O3), DST has shown that vitrification could be successfully extended to the stabilization of other arsenical products, such as calcium arsenate (Ca3(AsO4)2) and sodium arsenate (Na3AsO4). In this paper, the vitrification of arsenic in the context of an enargite leaching was newly explored and demonstrated successfully.Two processing routes are being proposed by DST for the removal of arsenic from enargite concentrates and their stabilization by vitrification. In one route, arsenic is extracted by ASL and is then precipitated under atmospheric conditions and with minimal use of reagents and time. The resulting precipitate is an unstable hydrated ferric arsenate (FeAsO4•2H2O) that is then vitrified in a non-dilutive method, significantly increasing the stability of arsenic and meeting the TCLP guideline. Unlike is required for scorodite, stabilization was successfully achieved without concern for the crystallinity of the precipitate."

Jan 1, 2017

By Eleanor Sonley

In October 2000, temporary seismographic stations were installed above the Trail Mountain Mine, Emery County, Utah, USA to supplement a regional network. Over seven months, 1826 mining-induced seismic events were recorded with a magnitude range of M 0 to M 2.2 (Arabasz et al., 2002, 2005). Routine event locations for this dataset cluster around the longwall mining activity during the recording interval. However, applying a double difference relocation technique to the routine locations significantly improves the correlation between mining activity and event location. The resulting relocations depend greatly on station distribution and the number of arrival time picks. We use this dense temporary array to assess station distribution requirements for applying the double difference technique at other mines by systematically removing data from available stations, thus simulating sparser networks. The insight gained using the Trail Mountain dataset is used to develop a metric for assessing the usefulness of above-mine networks and to develop a tool for expanding seismic network coverage. To verify the appropriateness of these tools for wider application, we examine data from two additional mines located in the western United States. Improving the relative locations of mining-induced seismic events highlights the association of these events with active portions of the mine. Clusters, regions of quiescence and relative timing of events can be used by mine operators to assess hazard, optimize production, and evaluate performance of mine plans. The lessons learned from this study may be used in future network design to improve accuracy of event locations at other mines.

Jan 1, 2009

By B. C. Christensen

The contract objectives are (1) to develop safe practice guidelines which will minimize the chance of fires in underground fueling areas and (2) to develop a low-cost, reliable, automatic fire protection system for underground fueling areas. The effort described by this report covers the period from 21 June 1976 to 30 September 1977 and accomplished the following tasks: ? Preparation of Data Plan and Data Acquisition, mainly through visits to sixteen mine sites and a literature survey. ? Analysis of the accumulated data, providing design inputs for (a) evaluation of the fire problem; (b) development of safe practice guidelines; and (c) development of recommended design concepts for automatic fire protection systems. ? Preparation of safe practice guidelines for underground fueling areas. ? Preparation of recommended design concepts for automatic fire protection systems for underground fueling areas. ? Design and fabrication of fire protection system for installation at Pine Creek Mine, Bishop, California. ? Install system and perform underground fire tests at Pine Creek Mine.

Jan 1, 1977

Previous methods for measuring the flow of solids in Jnrdraulic conveying have not considered the important effects of slip velocity and particle concentration. In this paper an extension of the method proposed byShirato et al. (J. Chem. Engng. 'Japan, 1: 164-167) for determining mass flow in a vertical conduit is outlined.The present method consists of measuring' the volumetric flow of the slurry (by a magnetic flow meter for instance) and the density of the slurry in two pipe sections of different diameters. Effects of variation of slip withparticle concentration, not previously considered, are allowed.Problems involved in estimating the density of a slurry from differential pressure measurement are discussed.The major problem is the uncertainties in estimating frictional losses due to the wall in two-phase flows. The greater reliability of a more "direct" technique, such as by 'Y-ray absorption, for measuring solid concentration is emphasized.

Jan 1, 1971

By Mike Rylatt

"The BHP Diamonds Inc. and Blackwater Group (Dia Met Minerals Ltd., Charles Fipke and Stewart Blusson) joint venture began production at Canada=s first diamond mine during the last quarter of 1998.Construction of the processing plant began in mid 1997. During the 1998 winter season, the heavy process plant equipment was delivered to the Ekati site, 300 km NE of Yellowknife, by the ice road. Towards mid 1998 the construction activities were complete and commissioning began. The mine officially opened in October 1998.Initial production of 9000 tpd kimberlite will be from the Panda pipe grading 1.09 ct/t at an average value of US$13O/ct.Processing starts with a gyratory crusher reducing the ROM kimberlite to 90% passing 15Omm before further reduction to minus 75mm in a WaterFlush crusher. The crusher product discharges into a 4m diameter x 7m long primary scrubber. After screening, the minus 75 +1 mm kimberlite is conveyed to a 250 ft feed bin ahead of the 1.7 m diameter x 1.1 m wide high pressure grinding roll. The HPGR produces 50% minus lmm in a single pass, the compacted flake product is dis-agglomerated in a secondary scrubber. The scrubber product is screened into a minus 25 +lmm heavy medium separation plant feed and conveyed to a 375t HMS feed bin ahead of two 150 HMS modules. Milled 270D ferrosilicon at a slurry density of 2.6 g/cc and HMS feed are pumped to three 420mm diameter cyclones. Heavy mineral concentrates, approximately 1 % of the plant headfeed, are pneumatically transported to the Recovery plant for final diamond recovery using wet high intensity magnetic separators and high intensity (attrition) milling prior to three stages of x-ray recovery. At full production, Ekati will produce approximately 2 kg/day of diamonds.This paper details the later commissioning phase and the first three months Oof operational activities during the build up to full production at the Ekati processing plant."

Jan 1, 1999

Komatsu America International has introduced two new hydraulic excavators. They can work in congested and confined areas. The tight tail swing radius of the PC128US-2 and PC22-8USLC-2 enables the excavators to minimize the work space. The units can operate in confined work settings that are inaccessible or counterproductive to traditional machines. Even the door is designed for tight working conditions. A convex door slides open along the exterior curve of the cab, rather than swinging out on hinges past tracks. And the excavators’ tight tail swing design allows them to load within the track width of the machine.

Jan 1, 2000

An integrated palynological and sedimentological investigation of four wells from the eastern margin of the Gippsland Basin has resulted in a scheme for classification of palynofacies in this area. Thirteen different palynofacies assemblages are recognised and assigned to particular environments based on the enclosing sediments, which range from alluvial, through coastal barrier to continental shelf environments. Close correlation is observed between the interpreted energy regime of the palynofacies assemblage, and that of the enclosing sediments. Assemblages characterised as reworking surfaces can be correlated with unconformity producing events (ie tectonic activity associated with the opening of the Tasman Sea), and some of the minor eustatic sea level Changes.

Jan 1, 1992

By Hal W. Hunt

Heavier loading and more efficient equipment is helping to keep driven piles competitive in America. Better Knowledge and testing of soils and support materials make it practical to use higher stresses; this is being strongly promoted by those directly concerned with timber, steel and concrete piles. Readily available point protection is increasingly used to assure penetration of piles without damage to full load bearing capability. Fabric drains are being installed with pile equipment to speed consolidation of soils. Sheet pile configuration has changed; production has been reduced largely because of imports. Dynamic checking of representative piles for load carrying capability is replacing conventional load testing of just a pile or two ? at much lower cost.

Jan 1, 1987

The mining industry in Australia frequently uses the services of specialist engineering and managing contractors and consultants for a majority of the work required for project development, from feasibility studies to project commissioning. The project owner's prime objectives are to achieve predictability and competitive advantage for their project. As the majority of this work will be carried out by contractors, the effective evaluation, selection and management of these contractors in the most appropriate forms of contracts is an essential ingredient to project success. The first stage to project development should be for the owner to examine its own resources to establish the role that it will fill and thereby identify the role and scope of contractors' involvement. Once the owner has developed this work plan, the selection of contractors and consultants should be structured to ensure that the owner acquires the appropriate expertise and experience to achieve its project objectives. The sequence of selection procedures is: 1. Pre-qualification of prospective contractors according to the owner's adopted criteria, through the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire. 2. Evaluation by the owner tender board according to predetermined mandatory criteria. 3. Preparation of tender documents for submission to qualified contractors. 4. Evaluation of tender submissions by the owner tender board using a pre-determined, weighted matrix of technical and commercial criteria. 5. Final selection and contract negotiation.

Jan 1, 1990

By E. Gallestey, D. Groenveld, F. Kolb, M. Rozou

"Recent copper price evolution pushes modern mining industry even harder to achieve highest production with maximum efficiency. Operations are bound by numerous contractual and environmental conditions that bring a high degree of complexity to both the operators controlling the process and the plant managers assessing the circuit’s potential and setting the production goals.Advanced process control (APC) for grinding is one important tool to operate this most energy intense area in an optimal way, finding the optimal trade-offs between highest throughput, energy efficiency and product quality based on variable ore properties, production targets and management priorities.ABB’s state of the art control and optimization software platform enables user to design a controller based on model predictive control (MPC). The paper and the presentation show the technology used and the results achieved through an APC controller installed in a pilot project in Aitik (Boliden SA), Sweden. Furthermore, possibilities to interconnect grinding with other areas as stockpile management and flotation with various interconnected APC controllers will be shown. Finally, an example of the return on investment and the payback times based on the increased throughput and better product quality will be presented.INTRODUCTIONDepending on the ore characteristics and the targeted plant capacity, the design of the grinding circuit may vary significantly. Typically, the circuit consists of several mills (rod, ball, SAG, AG) in series and/or parallel with a number of classifiers and sumps at appropriate locations (see Figure 1).The main goal of the grinding section is to reduce the ore particle size to a level that enables efficient separation between gangue and precious metals in the subsiding processing step. The trade-off between quality and quantity has to be made. At the same time, it is also crucial to execute this process at the lowest possible energy and grinding media consumption."

Jan 1, 2015

By S. O. Bada

Coal samples taken from the No. 2 Seam and No. 4 Seam in a South African colliery were tested in a rotary triboelectrostatic separator. The two-stage triboelectrostatic separation results using the -177 µm size fraction reduced No. 2 Seam coal containing about 30.4 per cent ash to a clean product of 8.9 per cent and 13.1 per cent ash with combustible recoveries of 9.6 per cent and 30.7 per cent respectively. The same separation approach on No. 4 seam feed coal, which contained 36 per cent ash, produced a clean coal product with 10.8 per cent ash at a combustible recovery of 6.0 per cent. Petrographic tests show a significant improvement in the vitrinite content and a reduction in visible minerals encountered when using the triboelectrostatic separator, with about 53 per cent vitrinite reporting to the clean fraction for No. 2 Seam compared to the feed content of 21 per cent, and a 54 per cent vitrinite in the clean No. 4 Seam from a feed content of 21 per cent. Significant sulphur reductions were also observed after separation in both coal samples, with a better separation in the second-stage coal products.

Jan 1, 2012

By McKinnon R. L

Laboratory and field work on the use of wetting agents for suppression of colliery dust is described. Although the results were inconclusive they were not discouraging and further investigation is required. The use of certain wetting agents may constitute a healthhazard.INTRODUCTIONCoal dust presents explosion and health hazards to the coal mining industry. The problem of dust suppression is particularly acute where water alone is unsatisfactory for this purpose. The addition of a surface active agent (wetting agent) to the water should enable the dust particles to be more easily wetted and thus more easily prevented from entering and spreading through the mine atmosphere.Investigations into this effect carried out at The University of Sydney mainly under research grants from The Joint Coal Board (Dawson and Hargraves, 1955; Charlton and Curnow, 1957) are summarized, and information on the possible harmful effects of certain wetting agents is given.Twelve local manufacturers and five importers supplied 52 wetting agents in liquid, solid, powder, and paste form.The active material content varied from approximately 10 per cent to 100 per cent and the cost per pound from 8d. to 14/3.LABORATORY TESTINGPossible test methodsThree methods of laboratory testing were considered.1. The standard method for comparing wetting agents is the Draves test, used in the textile industry on cotton...

Jan 1, 1961

By Jorj O. Osterberg

The Osterberg (O-Cell) Method makes it possible to separate the side shear resistance (skin friction) from end bearing. The O-Cell is placed on or near the bottom of a drilled shaft and after the concrete is poured and cured, an equal upward and downward pressure is applied. From the test, the load-upward deflection curve in side shear and the load-downward deflection curve in end bearing are drawn. Typical curves are shown where the ultimate load in side-shear is reached and where the ultimate load in end bearing is reached. Several examples of tests in which the test load reached ultimate loads far in excess of what was expected are shown. The side shear in rock sockets is shown to be much larger than generally estimated. Examples are given of where side shear is smaller than expected and the reasons discussed. Disturbance of the sides of drilled holes due to poor construction techniques and ways to avoid these conditions are considered. Examples of bottom hole disturbance are given and ways to prevent the disturbance are discussed. A graph showing the actual measured capacity of drilled shafts compared to the estimated capacity as a function of the hardness and strength of the soil or rock is presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By Djavid Mohammad

Over the next several years, the storage capacity of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago?s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan will be increased by 14.8 billion gallons through the addition of two large off-line reservoirs: the McCook and Thornton Reservoirs. The Thornton Reservoir will be constructed at the terminus of Calumet TARP System. The constructed TARP system will be connected to the Thornton Reservoir via connecting tunnels and gates systems. The connecting tunnels will comprise of: an upgradient transition tunnel, steel lined bifurcated tunnel for conveyance and control of flow, downdradient transition tunnel, and energy diffuser at tunnel portal. A large, approximately 250-foot-long, 69-foot-wide, and 40-foot-high, rock cavern will be excavated at an average depth of 320 feet to house the bifurcated tunnel system and associated six large control gates, each 12.5-ft by 28-ft wheel gate. Presented in this article are discussions about the TARP system, the Connecting Tunnels and gates Project, regional rock conditions, evaluation of reservoir?s wall stability for evaluation of tunnel penetration, and design challenges facing during design of the: rock cavern hosting the bifurcated tunnel system and gates and associated tunnels and shaft.

Jan 1, 2008

By Lynch A. J

Comminution within rod mills has been investigated by use of a matrix analysis of breakage processes. A parameter, the number of breakage stages, has been introduced and comminution within all rod mills has been expressed in terms of the number of grinding stages and a function which describes the feed rate, mill diameter, and mill speed. The effect of variation in feed rate, feed sizing analysis and mill speed on the number of breakage stages is discussed, but no general relation is proposed because more study is needed.INTRODUCTIONRod mills are normally used as the first unit of multi-unit systems for the grinding of metalliferous ores and the cost of operating rod mills may be considerable. For both economic and metallurgical reasons, it is therefore necessary that the mills should be operated efficiently and that a knowledge of the mechanism of the size reduction process within rod mills should be as complete as possible. While a qualitative assessment of the process may be of some value, a quantitative assessment gained by describing the process in mathematical terms can be of much greater use because it may also be used for design and control purposes.In this paper, an empirical mathematical model is postulated to describe the size reduction process within rod mills and it is used to analyse the effects of variations in both rates and size distributions of the feed to the mills.GRINDING CHARACTERISTICS OF ROD MILLSMyers (1953) discussed the grinding characteristics of rod mills and suggested that a pronounced screening effect, resulting in the preferential grinding of the coarser particles, occurs within the mills. This is illustrated in...

Jan 1, 1964

By Caroline B. Chapleau, Mélanie Proulx, Claude Bazin, Gaétan Lavoie

"Quebec Cartier Mining operates a pelletizing plant in Port-Cartier, QC. Grinding, agglomeration and pellets induration are the three main steps in the preparation of iron oxide pellets. In 1998, following different recommendations, the company increased the speed of one of its ball mill in order to increase the grinding efficiency of the machine. As expected, the increased speed lead to an increase of the power draught, which did not produce the expected increase of fineness of grind, neither its allows to increase the mill throughput. The change of behaviour of the mill could hardly be understood by comparison of discharge size distribution at initial and modified mill rotation speed. On the other hand, the use of the selection function from a population balance model provides an insight of the changes that occurred in the mill. This paper reviews the various steps required for the estimation of a grinding mill selection function. Results of the calibration to Quebec Cartier grinding mills show that the increase in the mill speed leads to higher rate of breakage of coarse particles, at the expenses of less efficient breakage of medium and fine size particles. In the case of the studied mill, breakage of coarse particles was probably not the critical step of the mill operation. INTRODUCTIONOre size reduction is the major energy consumption step in any mineral processing operations (Austin et al., 1984). Size reduction is required to either liberate valuable minerals from the gangue minerals in which they are imbedded, or to increase the specific surface of the ground material. Plant engineers continuously face the challenge to find grinding machines, operating conditions or grinding circuit flowsheet configurations that could improve the size reduction process at lower energy or m6dia consumption."

Jan 1, 2000

By L. A. Cornish, S. N. Prins, R. Süss

The work is being done using the Thermo-CalcTM software, and the database is being built up by obtaining good thermodynamic descriptions of all of the possible phases in the system. The database supplied did not cover all of the phases, and these had to be gleaned from literature, or modelled using experimental data. Similarly, not all of the experimental data were known, and where there were gaps or inconsistencies, experiments had to be undertaken. A preliminary version of the database was constructed from assessed thermodynamic data-sets for the binary systems only. The binary descriptions were combined allowing extrapolation into the ternary systems, and experimental phase equilibrium data were compared with calculated results. Very good agreement was obtained for the Pt-Al-Ru and Pt-Cr-Ru systems, which was encouraging and confirmed that the higher-order systems could be calculated from the binary systems with confidence. Since some of the phase models in databases were different, these phases had to be remodelled. However, more work is ongoing for information concerning the ternary phases present in the Al-Cr-Ru, Pt-Al-Ru (two ternary compounds in each) and Pt-Al-Cr (possibly more than three ternary compounds) systems. At later stage of the work, problems with the thermodynamic descriptions of the Cr-Ru and Pt-Cr binary systems were found. A programme of experimental work to overcome these has been devised, and is being undertaken. Keywords: Pt-based alloys, phase diagram calculations.

Jan 1, 2006