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By W. L. Jacobsen, T. L. Dyer

Cortez Gold Mines is completing a Feasibility Study for a new open pit gold mine in north central NV. The production schedule calls for a peak in material movement. This schedule is based on current operational efficiencies and equipment parameters observed at the company’s existing open pit operation. To mitigate risks of over/under predicting production, simulation modeling was used to validate the loading and haulage requirements during the peak production period. The advantage of simulation is the ability to provide a realistic model of a mining operation based on scheduled, and unscheduled random events during the period under analysis.

Jan 1, 2006

By John Chadwick

In the drive for faster development advance rates, railbound systems can be advantageous, in the right application. Skanska BS, the contractor to mine-owner VSK Mining, is driving an adit access deep into the Volouské Urchy Mountain in Slovakia to access the Gemerská Poloma talc deposit, some 70 km (43 miles) west of Ko?ice, the economic and cultural center of eastern Slovakia. Skanska began driving the Stolna Elisabeth drift in February 2007, extending 25 kg/m (50 lb/yd) rails (with 750 mm or 30 in. between sleepers) into the mountain to provide the main haulage to bring talc ore and waste out of the new mine once it gets into production. It will also be used for personnel transport, and is now almost complete. As a second egress and for ventilation, a 2.5-m- (8.2-ft-) diameter shaft of about 300-m (984-ft) depth will be sunk from surface down into the orebody. Stolna Elisabeth is a 4.2-km- (2.6-mile-) long drift mined at a cross section of some 11 m2 (118 sq ft). The finished profile is 3.2-m- (10.5-ft-) wide by 3.6-m- (11.8-ft-) high. It has been developed on a very slight incline so that water runs down it to the portal. The portal is 450 m (1,476 ft) above sea level and the end of the tunnel is 475 m (1,558 ft) above sea level. Much of the rock through which it has been developed is magnesite with a compressive strength of 150 MPA. The drilling jumbo is an Atlas Copco twin-boom Boomer 282 Raildrill drilling 42- to 45-mm- (1.6- to 1.7-in.-) diameter holes to a maximum length of 2.5 m (8.2 ft), depending on ground conditions. This is a drill jumbo that Skanska has used successfully on a number of projects during its life. The condition of the rock through which this drift has been driven is extremely variable. Five classifications of A1 and A2 and B1, B2 and [ ] B3, where A1 is the most competent rock and B3 is the worst, have been established. The amount of support used, of which more later is determined by the classification of ground conditions. At the time of the author?s visit, the project it was about 40 days ahead of schedule, thanks to high advance rates. For instance 6 m/day (20 ft/d) was the plan for the advance to be achieved in B1 rock, but sometimes the crews have achieved 8 m/day (26 ft/d) ? which is the average for the whole project ? in those conditions. In A1 the best advance rate achieved is 12 m/day (39 ft/d). The loading unit is a Häggloader 9HR-B on crawler tracks with a pony track to run on the rails. This allows the unit to be towed up and down the drift along the rails. To load from the face, the Häggloader lowers the foot of its onboard conveyor system to the floor and the backhoe pushes material on to it. This digging arm-conveyor combination produces uninterrupted, optimal volume loading of the haulage unit, without spill ? a technique offering load capacities as high as 180 m3/h (6,356 cu ft/hour). Further-more, as an electrically powered machine, it offers great

Jan 1, 2009

By Chris Harnan

This paper describes the geology of three European cities and outlines how the geology has lead to the development of specific foundation construction techniques. Comparative tables of techniques commonly employed are given in Section 5. It can be seen that despite the presence of the 'single market', techniques still have wide diversity despite some similarities in geotechnical conditions.

Jan 1, 2000

In some parts of the world explosions in mines are more commonplace events. Even in the more developed nations explosions have occurred in recent times. In some cases these mines have significantly lowered their lost time injury frequency rates and as such considered themselves to be ?safe? operations. The consequence of these explosions has been devastating. It is not just the loss of those underground, but also to the families that have lost people in them and the broader community that has lost friends, income, business opportunities, and in many cases support and sponsorships. It begs so many questions, ?What went wrong??; ?Why were the circumstances not foreseen??; ?What could have been done to prevent it??; ?How is it that no one stopped it, reported it, fixed it etc.??. Being held accountable for negligence, should not be overlooked, however this may not aid the processes required to find all the answers. If the nature of explosions is understood, the circumstances and tools to prevent them are readily available then the occurrence and reoccurrence are due to weaknesses or inadequacies of the systems of work or in the implementation of them. This paper restates the fundamentals of gas explosions, examines the options to control the underground environment through ventilation, gas management and monitoring, education and training. Case studies have been used to examine systematic failures in ventilation management. In some of these cases it is not so much, the system that had been developed, but the interpretation and implementation of the system that resulted in the failure and subsequent loss.

Aug 1, 2013

By Walter Ensinger

Special foundation works is one of the most innovative sectors in civil engineering and construction. Both engineering techniques and construction machinery are undergoing continu­ous further development. These developments are providing ways to meeting the world-wide requirement for special geotechnical works even faster, even better and more efficiently. Unfortunately, accident prevention organisations have had to realise that the figures on in­dustrial accidents in special foundation works are still above average in number. The Safety & Environmental Working Group of the EFFC thereupon started to carry out a survey on acci­dents occurring in this sector and used this information as a basis for the preparation of acci­dent statistics and an accident analysis. The objective of this undertaking is to determine key accident occurrences and their causes and to consequently determine measures for improved health and industrial safety.

Jan 1, 2002

By Hirst H, McAfee J

In December, 1934, Mr. R. Sussex extruded some silver lead alloy wires in order to determine their electrical resistance. After the determinations had been made each wire was threaded through a sheet of paper on which the composition was noted. The wires were placed in a more or less tangled mass in a cupboard in March, 1935. It was not until September, 1936, that they were re-examined, and it was found that during the eighteen months some of the wires had corroded very badly. It was not until March, 1938, that the wires and the corrosion product could be examined, and the results are given in the following pages. It is of interest to note that none of the numerous silver-lead alloys which have been used for creep testing in the rolled condition have shown a similarphenomenon. The silver content of the rolled alloys was, however, never greater than 0·1%.GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE CORRODED WIRESThe wires contained 0·1% up to 28% of silver, and a general examination showed that the corrosion had progressed farther the higher the silver content. This can be seen in Fig. 1, which is a photograph taken in March, 1938, of typical wires at a 'magnification of five diameters. In the early stages the corrosive action seems to be localized and an area of grey, yellow or reddish brown powder appears. The grey corrosion product is by far the one, most frequently seen, and in the later stages the only one visible from the outside. The reddish coloured product is sometimes seen on the residual metallic centre when the grey product has been broken away.The irregular extent of the corrosion can be seen in Fig. 2, which shows (natural size) the 5% silver wire after standing two years. The corroded parts are seen to be much thicker than the slightly corroded ones. The corrosion product, being non-metallic, is quite brittle and falls away from the wire on bending. In the extreme case the' whole wire has corroded and presents a cracked appearance as seen in Fig. 1 (281% silver).An approximate idea of the extent of corrosion can be obtained by measuring the diameter of the corroded part. The original diameter in each case was ·050/ ·051 inches and in Table I are given the diameters of the corroded parts after Hand 3 years respectively. When the diameter...

Jan 1, 1941

By T. M. Barczak, S. C. Tadolini

Reduction in the recovery time required and improvements in safety during a longwall face move have compelled coal mine operators to examine and use pre-driven longwall recovery rooms. The recovery entry is developed at the longwall stop position and supported ahead of time so that the required combinations of standing and internal supports can be installed before the longwall face approaches. A calibrated three-dimensional finite element model, developed in conjunction with an underground test area, provided the critical components and design principals for a comprehensive parametric study. The study indicates that vertical, horizontal, and shear stresses concentrated on the outby abutment pillar corner of the recovery room resulting in deformations in the immediate roof above the primary roof support anchorage level. The results of the numerical model and field site observations indicated that the combination of the internal bolting system and the standing concrete supports are critical for the successful and safe extraction of the longwall equipment. Cable supports installed at and angle over the pillars can help stabilize the disturbed zone above the adjacent fender and outby pillars, however; standing supports are required in most sedimentary roof conditions to increase stability and assure a safe longwall extraction.

By Antonio Pineda, Roger K. McLimans, Felicity E. Lloyd

lmenite is a primary ore feed to the DuPont chloride process for the manufacture of titanium diox-ide pigment. We seek to determine ilmenite geochemistry as a function of original source and as-certain which ilmenites have chemistry most amenable to upgrading via iron-leaching (leucoxenization) and that have favorable, with respect to pigment manufacture, trace element content. Ilmenite geochemistry is a function of its primary origin and of subsequent alteration. Heavy mineral sand deposits may contain ilmenite from one or several dominant source rock(s). In addition, ilmenite may alter in the weathering environment, changing the major element compo-sition (iron-leaching) and certain of the minor element content. A primary objective is to classify ilmenites in relation to origin in order to fingerprint source rocks in provenance determination. The changes in trace element chemistry during alteration are also investigated. A “decision tree” is developed to classify ilmenite types and source rock origins. Ultimately, with those methods and by amassing a database of ilmenite types from worldwide locations, it should prove possible to determine ilmenites (and their sources) more susceptible to iron leaching in the weathering en-vironment. Such ilmenites, enhanced in their titanium content, are the preferred ore targets. The method used is electron microprobe analyses at elevated conditions of voltage, cur-rent, and counting time to enable higher precision. In-situ ilmenites from igneous, metamorphic, and altered rocks (saprolites) are analyzed. Initial foci for sedimentary ilmenites are restricted provenance (approaching monogenetic, examples from Spain, Portugal) and polygenetic prove-nance (Denmark). Altered ilmenites, including the DuPont Florida ore, are used to characterize the chemistry of leucoxenization. Trace element concentration, detectability, and cost considera-tion, led to focus on Mn, Mg, V, Cr, and Nb to develop a classification scheme validated by dis-criminant analysis and “classification-regression trees”. Results show a high degree of success for restricted provenance study and an acceptable one for polygenetic provenance.

Jan 1, 2005

By Thomas M. Gurtowski

The New Pacific Northwest Baseball Park, now known as Safeco Field, is located directly south of the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, and will be the new home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team. The location of the ball field is shown on Figure 1, Vicinity Map. The seating capacity is 45,600, and outfield distances are 331 feet in left, 405 feet in center, and 326 feet in right field. The overall dimensions of the stadium are 680 by 800 feet. It is bordered on the east by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad main line. A unique aspect of this ballpark is the retractable roof with a north-south span length of 660 feet. The roof consists of three separate sections that roll on elevated rails running east-west on the north and south sides of the stadium. The soil conditions consisted of near-surface fill underlain with alluvial and Estuarine deposits to depths of 60 to 80 feet. The bearing soils consisted of very dense, glacially overridden deposits. Groundwater is 4 to 7 feet below the ground surface, and the alluvial deposits are subject to liquefaction during a strong motion earthquake.

Jan 1, 1998

By N. S. Kim

Economically favored Cr and Cu leaching out process from spent power plant fly ash (PPFA) had been investigated. PPFA, bearing of C, S, V, Ni, Cu and Cr, has been widely used as an assistant fuel in cement industry. Recent environmental regulation in S. Korea prohibits using PPFA as a fuel. Many researchers have also studied on extraction V and Ni from PPFA. Due to low concentration of V and Ni, 2% and 1%, respectively, economical and environmental friendly process could not be found. In this study, Cu and Cr have been removed in an economical way and which satisfied with KS Extraction Test. The rest unburned carbon, V2O5 and NiO2 in residue were found to be applicable for indoor and outdoor colored bricks or deodorant panel. Various parameters such as pH, lixiviates and time on leaching behavior were investigated in order to leach Cr and Cu remaining C, V and Ni. Keywords: Fly ash; Selective extraction; Ammonia; Deodorant panel

Jan 1, 2009

By T. Gerritsen, R. C. Delgado, J. Janzen, E. R. Veloza

The paper describes the components of an Integrated Furnace Control system for covered-arc (shielded arc) smelting with results from the recently started 75 MW Cerro Matoso Line 2 Furnace. The paper starts with a review of the mechanisms of power and feed input and heat losses in the shielded-arc smelting process, and describes how the details of the control system are tailored to the process. The control modules of a covered-arc smelting furnace are described including measured results and screen captures. This paper focuses on Integrated Furnace Controls tailored to shielded-arc smelting, but similar approaches have been recently applied to other furnace processes including immersed-arc smelting.

Jan 1, 2004

A poured slag bottom is universally considered to be the best type bottom for copper reverberatory furnaces. It is impervious to molten matte and ready for immediate use.When molten slag is not available a monolithic silica bottom is the second best; such a bottom has been adopted at Mount Morgan. The laying of such a bottom is a phase of smelter construction on which so little real information is obtainable that a day to day record of such a recent example as Mt. Morgan's 19 ft. x 40 ft. reverberatory may be of interest. The work was done under the direction of E. Pesout, of McGill Smelter, Nevada. PREPARATION OF THE BOTTOMA 26-inch bed of closely packed firebrick with sand-filled joints was first laid on the clean, dry concrete foundation and the whole dried out by small fires maintained on the brickwork for several days. Ninety tons of silica sand was meantime thoroughly dried and stored in clean drums. This sand must be low in FeO and CaO and contain about 95% Si02 , the majority of which should be present as tridymite. This form of silica shows little expansion at high temperatures, for it is the form stable between 870° and 1470° C.Its presence thus minimises disturbance to the bottom by the expansion which, during the burning in, would mark the transformation of quartz to tridymite.

Jan 1, 1939

By K. Leung, J. E. Udd, L. B. Geller, F. Kitzinger

"Sixteen miners died tragically at the Paymaster gold mine in Timmins, Ontario, in February 1945 when a badly corroded hoist rope broke. The investigation of the Royal Commission that followed arrived at a number of recommendations (The Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 1947) aimed at avoiding future disasters of this kind. One consequence was the development and legislated use in Canada, several decades ago, of powerful electromagnetic (EM) instruments for the non-destructive testing of mine shaft wire ropes. The authors have been involved for many years in the design, production, and testing of EM instruments (Geller and Udd, 1990, 1992; Geller and Kitzinger, 1991; Geller et al., 1992). Since the mid-1990s, particular attention was paid to the design and operational results obtained from the computer controlled portable MagnographTM II wire rope tester (Geller et al., 1995, 1998).In the present paper, the authors summarize further hardware- and software-related developments of this instrument. Further, an account is given of the results obtained from the most recent design known as the Perma- ScanTM testing system. This is also a computerized dual-function system. In it, however, the sensor head is designed primarily, if not solely, for permanent installation and for remotely controlled operation. This represents a basic departure from traditional designs, which were intended for ad hoc temporary installations. The remote-controlled instrument described in this paper has now been in operational use for more than four years."

Jan 1, 2003

By Charles Goodeve

"BEFORE I begin, I should like to thank The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy for the honour they have bestowed in inviting me to give this address at the fourth annual C.I.M. Conference of Metallurgists banquet.Secondly, I should like' to convey the greetings of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain in accordance with a request made by its Council at its last meeting. The I.S.I. hopes for the continued growth in strength of this annual Conference and in the collaboration between our respective societies.When I read the program of this Conference, it was brought home to me what a non-ferrons country Canada is. Also, I realized what enormous advances have been, and are being made, and what an ex-citing field non-ferrous metallurgy is for the scientist. This made me wonder, as I have done before, whether the future for steel was proof against these advances.At present, iron and steel stand astride the metallurgical world like a Colossus; I hope that the bronze industry will pardon my stealing their thunder and mixing my metaphors! Will this still be so in the future?The best way to answer this question is to take a look at the fundamentals to see why the iron atom dominates to such an extent that al! other metals are called ""non-ferrons."" Is its present position due to historical and therefore ephemeral reasons, or is there a fundamental difference between the atom of iron and those of other metals?"

Jan 1, 1966

By P. C. Fletcher, E. Kaya

The Bond grindability testing procedure has been standardized to measure the same grindability values, i.e. Bond work index (BWi), for the same ore when tests are performed in different laboratories or by different operators. This is accomplished by the standardization of mill dimensions, tumbling speed, grinding ball charge weight and distribution, sample ore charge weight in the mill and operating practice. The results of this investigation reveal that the Bond work index grindability values may differ substantially with different standard Bond ball mills. This paper will review the results.

Jan 1, 2002

By Virginia T. McLemore

The Gallinas Mountains are in northern Lincoln County and southern Torrance County, New Mexico, USA where a series of alkaline igneous bodies, including porphyritic latite, trachyte/syenite, andesite, and rhyolite laccoliths, flows, dikes, and plugs, have intruded Permian sedimentary rocks belonging to the Permian Abo, Yeso, and Glorieta Formations. A small amount of bastnaesite, a REE mineral, was recovered during processing for fluorite from the Gallinas Mountains. Four types of deposits are found in the Gallinas Mountains: epithermal REE-F veins, Cu-REE-F veins, REE-F breccia pipes and iron skarn deposits; all are associated with Tertiary alkaline to alkalic-calcic igneous rocks. Alteration includes brecciation, silicification, chloritization, and fenitization. District zonation is defined by Cu-REE-F (±Pb, Zn, Ag) veins that form center of the district, surrounded by REE-F veins. Carbonatites are inferred at depth by the presence of fenitization, carbonatization of the breccias, presence of REE and similarity of the intrusive rocks and mineralization to areas with known carbonatites.

May 1, 2011

By James J. Scott

Dynamic rock anchors are interior fixtures developed by the author which promise to be a revolutionary development in the field of ground control. The fixtures are designed to be placed in the ground with modern roof bolting equipment, such as the type used in the American coal mining industry. They are composed of a plastic form- able anchor tube which serves to fasten a buttress deformed rod which is thrust and turned into the plastic and in turn clamps the roof plate to the rock surface. Plastic tubes 10 to 16 inches in length provide sufficient anchorage to exceed the yield strength of steel rods 5/8, 3/4 or' 7/8 inches in diameter. This paper presents field testing and early work done on the device over the last seven years. Results of pull tests, creep tests, laboratory testing in concrete, and field testing under natural rock conditions demonstrate the uniqueness and effectiveness of this new support system. A second development which uses the dynamic rock anchor in conjunction with a resin cartridge to provide a stiffer anchorage system is also discussed. These products will be manufactured and marketed by Ingerso-11-Rand Co. under the trademark of DYNA-ROK and DYNA-ROK PLUS anchors.

Jan 1, 1989

By John Kinneen, Sunghoon Choi, Arne Fareth, Edward S. Barboe, Kyle R. Ott

A new water treatment plant is to be constructed for a portion of the water supply system of New York City. The project includes construction of new water conveyance tunnels crossing perpendicular and sub-parallel to the existing pressurized water tunnel at two locations. A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of new tunnel construction on stability of the existing tunnel and hydrojacking potential in the surrounding rock mass. This paper introduces a practical approach to evaluate tunnel interaction, expressed in terms of rock-liner interaction, stress-induced stability and hydrojacking failures. A simple method to evaluate hydraulic and mechanical properties of concrete liners and jointed rock mass is also presented.

Jan 1, 2007

By Alun J. Davies

This paper describes a design-build project for the construction of a tanker wharf for 150,000 dwt vessels. The tankers deliver oil from offshore oil fields to a Transshipment terminal on the south coast of Newfoundland. The project described is an expansion to a previously constructed facility, adding an additional berth. The first berth was designed conventionally as concrete structures supported on groups of independent, single piles. The second berth was awarded to Peter Kiewit Sons' Co. Ltd. based on an alternate design which utilized a "jacket" concept whereby prefabricated steel frames are placed on the seabed and serve as permanent templates and also give lateral support to the piles, thereby increasing their load capacity. This led to economies and time savings. Discussed herein is the design process and the field installation, covering the jackets, driven pipe piles, and the rock anchors.

Jan 1, 2000

By M. Copeland

Phase relations of gadolinium alloyed, up to 40 weight-percent (wt pct), with AISI 304-type stainless steel were established. Body-and face-centered cubic iron-rich solid solution phases and several intermetallic gadolinium-containing compounds of variable composition that approximated the formulas Fe9Gd, Ni7Gd2, Ni3Gd, Fe2Gd, NiGd, and NiGd3 were identified. The intermetallic phases Fe9Gd and Ni7Gd2 were noted to melt at about 1,080° C at about 0 to 2 wt pct gadolinium. The melting temperature of Fe9Gd increased with increas-ing gadolinium content to a plateau at about 1,230°C and 30 wt pct gadolinium, and the melting point of Ni7Gd2 decreased to a plateau at 900° C and 30 wt pct gadolinium where Ni3Gd, NiGd, and Fe2Gd coexist. Body-centered cubic iron solid solution was stable from 1 to 2 wt pct gadolinium to higher contents, 30 wt pct gadolinium or possibly more, and face-centered cubic iron up to 12 wt pct gadolinium below 1,200° C. The stability of these phases above 1,200° C was not resolved except for the mel points. A limited number of fabrication variables as well as mechanical and corrosion properties of alloys containing up to 5 wt pct gadolinium were studied. Equilibrating and forming operations were best conducted at about 940° to 1,080° C. Some variability in the yield and tensile strengths of alloys was noted; however, there was a continual decrease in ductility and impact resistance with increasing gadolinium contents. The resistance of gadolinium alloys to corrosion in water at 354° C was about the same as stainless steel.

Jan 1, 1965