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By C. Sun

The Leeville underground mine has been in operation since 2006 and currently produces 3,500 tons of ore per day with an average gold grade of 0.34 opt. The mine has a large horizontal extent of 2,500 feet by 500 feet and a vertical extent of 20 to 200 feet. Based on the characteristics of the ore bodies, a long-hole stope and cut-and-fill mining methods are used at the deposits which are divided into several mining zones. Cemented rock fill (CRF) is used as the backfill in the open stope. CRF design includes the aggregate design, the ratio of cement and fly ash design, and strengths for the long-hole stope and cut-and-fill. In the aggregate design, the particle size distribution is one of the most influential aggregate characteristics in determining how it will perform as a basic backfill material. Gradation helps determine durability, porosity, cement and water requirements, strength, and shrinkage. To cut the backfill cost, fly ash usually is added into the binder to replace some part of cement. However, adding fly ash can affect the strength of the backfill. The reasonable percentage of fly ash is also important for making a good and low cost backfill. Based on the different mining method, the different backfill with different strength is designed. A systematic quality control procedure for aggregate and backfill is followed. After four yeas application, CRF system in Leeville achieved very good results.

Jan 1, 2011

For establishing sustainable material cycle process in human system, a brand new concept should be created, which could recycle the waste materials, which are land-filled and discarded under present economical situation. The concept of 'RtoS' (Reserve (of waste) to Stock) to create 'artificial deposit' of the materials concentrate is one of the best ideas to be applied. From this viewpoint, separation technology, in especial, solid phase separation such as mineral processing technology contributes much to the concentration, making 'artificial deposit' with less energy consumption compared with melting and/or dissolving technologies. Results of rare metals concentration in the e-waste are also introduced as an example with combining novel comminution and parts/powder separation.

Sep 13, 2010

The resource industry must prepare for the inevitable shift towards automation as an operational objective. Although this may seem like a distant concern, many mining companies and equipment manufacturers are already conducting full-scale automation trials. The necessary technology is advancing at a rapid pace yet the training of people to support it at the trade level lags far behind. Those given the responsibility of installing and maintaining automated equipment in the mining environment require a unique set of skills and knowledge. These training needs demand attention to ensure that the wider uptake of automation is sustainable and achieves its full potential.   This paper documents work undertaken by CRCMining and the Mining Industry Skills Centre towards establishing a training framework seeking to address the needs of trade level personnel tasked with the support of automation equipment. A comprehensive definition of the skills and knowledge required by the hypothetical automation-specialised tradesperson is presented. The training pathway identified for these personnel is also described. This work forms part of the Mining Industry Skills Centre's Automation Skills Formation Strategy, funded by the Queensland Department of Education and Training.

Jun 1, 2010

By K. Barr, F. Grenier, J. Hettinger

"To reach the Hemlo Gold Inc. objective of becoming the lowest cost, safest Canadian gold producer while causing no environmental damage, management embarked from its inception on a strategy to build an organization which would foster employee involvement wherever possible. This paper describes the organizational structure and how various innovative concepts have been implemented.BACKGROUNDThe Golden Giant Mine in the Hemlo area of North Western Ontario is owned by Hemlo Gold Mines Inc. 50.1% is controlled by Noranda. The mine commenced operations in March 1985 at a modest production rate. After it reaches full production by the end of 1988, with completion of underground development work, the mine is expected to operate at 3000 t/d and produce in excess of 300,000 ounces of gold per annum. This makes it one of the three largest producing gold mines in North America.Two other companies, Lac Minerals and Teck-Corona, operate mines on either side of the Golden Giant Mine. Noranda Geco Division is located 55 kilometers to the north at Manitouwadge. The majority of Hemlo Gold's 270 employees live in Manitouwadge where a mix of accommodation was constructed and made available for purchase by employees. Bus transportation is provided to and from the workplace with modern coaches. The housing and transportation policies were implemented prior to start-up and designed to help attract and maintain good employees.As shown in Figure 1, the operation is divided into five operating and support departments with each reflecting a high degree of departmental control and responsibility. For example, the mill department is responsible for all aspects directly relating to the milling complex including safety, operation, mechanical maintenance, assaying, instrumentation, and environmental control. Similarly, the mine department is responsible for all phases of operation, mine engineering, geology, and maintenance of underground mobile equipment. The plant department is responsible for maintenance of hoisting plants and conveyances, underground stationary equipment, all site electrical services, surface buildings, housing and yard maintenance. Efforts are made at every level of the organization, from departmental organization to individual job assignments, to ensure responsibilities are clear and that they encompass complete functions."

Jan 1, 1988

By Samuel J. Gambino

Preliminary recommendations for the Upper Northwest Interceptor 1&2 specified installation of reinforced concrete pipe using pipe-jacking methods. However, a larger one-pass tunnel constructed using precast segmental lining would provide additional storage volume. The risk of encountering unexpected conditions or events and the resulting cost impacts could differ significantly for these two options. A probabilistic life-cycle cost analysis of these alternatives was performed. This paper discusses the construction alternatives considered, the risk assessment methodology used to evaluate these alternatives, the input parameters and risk factors used in this analysis, and the recommended project which is currently being constructed.

Jan 1, 2008

By Mina M. Shinouda

Brightwater West (BT4) represents the state of the art in utility tunneling, namely a long relatively small diameter, soft ground tunnel, with no intermediate shafts, under significant groundwater pressures, requiring very precise survey control in order to hit a small exit window. The tunnel is over 6.4 km (4 miles) in length, is expected to encounter active earth pressures of over 5 bars in glacial geology, and a planned hole through into a shaft eye constructed at 45.7 meter (150 feet) below the water table. Despite the fact that all of these challenges have been previously overcome in larger diameter tunnels, the technical solutions are much more challenging in a smaller diameter due to the lack of space available for implementing the equipment and techniques required. In addition to the technical challenges, the project is faced with many of the constraints designed to minimize the impact of these types of projects on the neighboring community and environment. The work shaft for BT4 is within 15.2 m (50 feet) of Puget Sound and is on a site that was previously occupied by petroleum storage tanks, and all of the tunnel muck has to be removed from the site by barge as trucking is not allowed by contract. The paper addresses the work performed during the preparation for tunneling stage of this project both in assembling the TBM and in preparing the site for its arrival.

By Fernando Nunes da Silva

Wear mechanisms of materials that constitute the equipments and operating parts in the pre-salt area during the production of petroleum and gas can include corrosion, corrosion-cavitation and corrosion-cavitation-erosion. In the laboratory, it is realizable, but at times it is inaccurate to reproduce or visualize some of these mechanisms due to the real complexities caused by hydrodynamic flows, and the physico-chemical and mechanical non-linearities. The main objective of this work was to study coupons of low carbon steel under laboratory conditions, such as corrosive, cavitative-corrosive (CO2) and corrosive-erosive (CO2 + SiO2), in a stirring aqueous saline solution (0 and 5.0 m/s) at two levels of temperature, with bubbling of gas (5.0 L/min) and contaminated with or without (2.5 % mass), by solids particles of SiO2. The surface of the coupons subjected to upstream flow (0° in a cylindrical generatrix of coupon), and downstream flows (180º) were analyzed by profilometry. The measurements of roughness and waviness of all coupons were statistically analysed using Statgraphics® Centurion XVI, at a confidence level of 95% and significant differences observed in some matrices were discussed.

Jul 31, 2018

By Lisa Morrison

The 11th Annual Mineral Economics and Management Society (MEMS) conference was held April10-12, 2002, in Montreal, Quebec. It consisted of a series of technical sessions. Each paper addressed the economic issues that are related to the changes that many people believe are now required in the mining industry. Some of the papers were directed at how the mining industry will handle the changes that will be required in its philosophy and operations management. Of equal importance was whether the industry possesses the toolkit necessary to effect these changes and emerge stronger from its challenges.

Jan 1, 2002

By Anil Mahyera

This report present the results of a laboratory and field research program aimed at design and development of a torque-thrust controlled bolter with the capability to (1) predict the "quality of anchorage" attained while installing mechanical anchor roofbolts, and (2) improve the uniformity and tension levels achieved among a group of roofbolts. The prediction accuracy of the anchorage quality algorithm ranged from low to moderate because of the complexity and variability of the phenomena involved. The best roof support with mechanical anchor bolts was found to be achieved by simply installing them under ? proper torque-thrust control, and with ? a hardened washer under the bolthead. This procedure resulted in an improvement in uniformity of 3 times, along with an increase in mean tension levels of 75% over conventionally installed roofbolts.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. T. White

"Metallurgical extraction processes often call for the heating of aqueous slurries. Indirect heat exchangers are generally not feasible for service with high yield stress slurries because of low heat transfer rates. It is more appropriate to heat the slurry by direct contact, typically with steam as the heating medium. Although having a long and successful history, direct-contact heat transfer to aqueous slurries has been used without the support of pilot plant research. This paper provides results of the needed research, the work being done at a scale large enough to enable direct scale up to commercial operations. A pilot plant heater was constructed and tested to develop an understanding of the slurry heating process and to ensure that commercial scale heaters were appropriately sized.INTRODUCTIONPressure Leaching OperationsPressure leaching operations are often used to oxidise sulphide gold ores, or for extraction of nickel and cobalt from laterite ores with sulphuric acid. Where there is sufficient sulphur available, the exothermic pressure oxidation reactions can be self sustaining at temperatures as high as 225 ºC, without having to preheat the feed slurry. At lower sulphur levels, slurry preheating is required. This is typically achieved by utilising the flash steam released from the slurry letdown stages and contacting this directly with cold incoming slurry ahead of the autoclave. The vessels where this slurry-steam contact is made are known as heaters or condensers, with the number of pre-heat stages varying, depending on how much heat is evolved in the oxidation reaction (Mason, 1990).In nickel laterite pressure acid leaching processes, which operate between 245 and 270 ºC, the only significant exothermic reactions are those associated with dilution of sulphuric acid in the leach. As a consequence, slurry preheating with flash steam is always used commercially. In practice the number of flash steam preheating stages required varies from 1 to 3, driven by a number of factors, including other uses for flash steam and the upper temperature limit at which preheated slurry can be pumped. A diagram of a typical pressure acid leach train is shown in Figure 1.For pressure acid leaching operations and at low sulphur levels in pressure oxidation, boiler generated direct steam addition to the autoclave is required to sustain the reaction temperature. For this reason it is imperative that the flash steam – slurry heat transfer is efficient and the slurry temperature approaches that of the flash steam closely."

Jan 1, 2012

Approximation of Surface Area of Fines in Blast Induced Fragmentation The surface area of fragmentation, especially in the finer size fractions, is a useful property to characterise the mechanisms of rock breakage. In the past, researchers have made assumptions with regard to the shape of fragments in order to estimate surface area, such as that all fragments are the same shape or all fragments are spheres. Often these assumptions were developed with inappropriate measures and returned considerable variability and error for the calculation of surface area. This paper reports a model to estimate fragmentation surface area from sieve sized raw data and a density measurement, with experimental validation down to a size fraction of -45 + 38 ?m in a range of rock types. After characterisation of particle shape, a range of fragment shapes was found to be in each size fraction. Nevertheless, in the ?2 sieve series the average fragment mass, volume and the size fraction standard deviations could be predicted reasonably accurately. Ellipsoid geometry was used to describe particle shape. Using these parameters and the number of fragments (also predicted) in each sieve size the individual surface area of each fragment was simulated.

Sep 13, 2010

By H. E. Lee, D. Ingvoldstad

AT Bunker Hill the original charge storage and preparation system was installed in 1917 to accommodate lead-silver gravity mill products. Only minor tonnages of wet fines such as vanner and flotation concentrates were received. Charge flux and diluent requirements were provided by an ample supply of siderite middlings and coarse lime-rock. While oversize material was crushed through %-in., the use of roll crushers in series resulted in a more or less granular, free-running charge of adequate porosity. Under such conditions, receipts could be proportioned directly from receiving bins, and suitable blending was obtained by passing the resultant layered composite through a small Stedman disintegrator. This elementary system served well for production and smelting of an extremely lead-rich sinter, in the low column blast furnace. Here sinter physical quality is less critical, and appreciable quantities of raw flux and oxidized ore may be charged directly to the blast furnace without seriously impairing furnace capacity. Prior to 1938 the relative proportions of zinc receipts were low and extraneous flux requirements at a minimum. However, subsequent war-inflated zinc demands brought marked increase in fine concentrate and slimy zinc leach residue receipts and an abrupt introduction to smelting a more refractory zinciferous charge. The higher temperature demands of the more refractory zinciferous charge required a higher smelting column and the higher column, in turn, rendered the blast furnace less receptive to improperly prepared feed. Inadequate presinter processing facilities prevented the production of acceptable sinter, and blast furnace production declined to 50 pct of former capacity. In view of a prevailing contention among lead metallurgists as to the deleterious action of high zinc slag on blast furnace capacity, it was natural to overstress this factor and to concentrate on possible changes in furnace design. Another interpretation was that primary correction should be sought through expanded sintering facilities. This divergence of opinion, together with the extreme material shortages of the 1940's, delayed corrective

Jan 1, 1957

By M. Savella

The Runruno Gold Project is located on the island of Luzon, approximately 200 km north of Manilla in the Philippines. The mine is a surface mine operation and use the proven BIOX® and carbon in leach processes to recover gold, and the ASTER™ process for detoxification of the CIL residue prior to discharge to the Residue Storage Impoundment (RSI). Work to date has defined a mineral resource of 1.39 million ounces of gold, and the operation will produce 96,700 ounces of gold per annum over a mine life of 10.4 years. The BIOX® circuit is designed to treat 140,000 tpa of concentrate with a design capacity of 404 tpd of concentrate at a design sulphide sulphur grade of 17% S2-. The Runruno project is the first BIOX® plant to implement the Generation III BIOX® design principles. As part of the Generation III BIOX® program Outotec supplied a turnkey, containerised metallurgical laboratory to facilitate the first four stages of the BIOX® and ASTER™ inoculum build up requirements. BIOX® inoculum build-up was started during early January 2015 with 5 litres of stock cultures shipped from South Africa. The BIOX® culture was successfully adapted to concentrate produced from the mini plant during March 2015. The ASTER™ inoculum build-up commenced during early August 2015 utilising 27 litres of ASTER™ bacterial inoculum already adapted to similar process conditions expected during commercial operation. This paper will detail the various stages of inoculum build-up through to commissioning and ramp-up of the BIOX® and ASTER™ Processes at the Runruno Gold Project. The paper will highlight some of the factors affecting the commissioning process as well as the improvements seen through the introduction of the Generation III BIOX® design principles.

Jan 1, 2017

By S F. Simmons

The Ohaaki Rhyolite and the Rautiwiri Breccia are two volcanic units occurring in the shallow and deep parts of the Broadlands-Ohaaki geothermal system. Alteration of these units by chloride waters results in distinct mineral assemblages that also have distinct whole rock compositions. The Ohaaki rhyolite is altered to an assemblage dominated by quartz, adularia, illite and pyrite as a consequence of silica, potassium and sulfur metasomatism. Locally, these rocks contain up to 0.5 ppm Au. The Rautiwiri Breccia by contrast is altered to an assemblage dominated by albite, adularia, quartz, illite, chlorite and pyrite in association with modest sodium metasomatism. Whole rock oxygen isotope compositions of altered rocks range between 3.3 and 7.5 ë, and are generally lower compared to their fresh rock equivalents having values of 9.5 to 10.6 ë; the result is broad pattern of lower values with increasing alteration intensity.

Jan 1, 2002

By Gregory R. Wagner

The Program of Mine Safety and Health Research described in this document reflects the continuing commitment of the Spokane and Pittsburgh Research Laboratories to focus on the most important areas where research can make a difference in reducing risk and improving safety and health for miners. It is the first program of work conducted since Congress mandated closure of the former U. S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) in the Department of the Interior and supported integration of the health and safety research function of the former USBM into the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Organizational changes made FY97 a challenging year of transition. Ongoing research was reviewed and revised to reflect the new, more limited, health and safety mandate of the research laboratories. The mining industry, mine worker representatives, and interested government agencies provided broad input to assure that the research performed would focus on the most critical safety and health problems confronting mining today and which are expected to be faced in the future. The two laboratories worked to evolve coordinated programs of safety and health research, each with a special focus. The work of the Spokane Research Laboratory is directed toward issues of special importance to the Western mining industry, particularly those safety hazards found in metal/nonmetal mining and surface mining. The work of the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory will continue to focus on Eastern mining, particularly underground coal mining. Traditional areas of expertise for understanding and preventing fires and explosions and for controlling the hazards of dust and noise will continue to reside in Pittsburgh. Each laboratory is developing new capabilities in the analysis of relevant safety and health information to assure that program priority-setting decisions are informed by the best available data. Recognizing the continuing importance of communicating the results of research to all who are capable of improving safety and health conditions in mining, each laboratory has developed an activity for information dissemination and coordination with stakeholders. In the midst of organizational self-examination and change, the research staff in Pittsburgh and Spokane have never wavered from their continuing commitment to conduct the highest quality scientific research-solution-oriented scientific work meant to reduce the risk of injury, disease, and death from occupational hazards in mining. The pages that follow give insight into some of the program activities and accomplishments from FY97. I hope you share my pride in the many accomplishments of the NIOSH mine safety and health research program during this year. This report comes at a time of increasing stability for the mine health and safety research program. The organizational changes in Spokane and Pittsburgh have been concluded, and NIOSH has succeeded in recruiting a new, permanent associate director for mining to lead this critically important national program. Congress has contributed to an optimistic future by providing expanded funding for NIOSH mining-related research for the next fiscal year. On a personal note, I greatly appreciate the opportunity I have had to serve as the NIOSH Acting Associate Director for Mining during this transitional year. The commitment and intelligence with which the mining research staff pursued their mission was matched by their patience and understanding in moving into a new organizational environment. All of us committed to improved safety and health for this Nation's miners owe them our respect and appreciation.

By B. Boutilier, R. Mendoza

"First Majestic Silver Corp. (FMS) is a silver mining company founded in 2002 that operates exclusively in Mexico. It has six producing silver mines, one of which is the La Encantada silver mine (La Encantada) located in the state Coahuila. La Encantada is located near the southern United States border and 708 km (440 miles) north of the city Torreon.La Encantada is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental and is a high-temperature carbonate replacement deposit. Mineralization in La Encantada occurs in many different forms such as veins, chimneys, breccia pipes and reefs (mantos). Mineralization is mainly oxides of iron, zinc, lead and manganese, with high concentrations of sulfides at depth relating to two main intrusive events: the Milagros Intrusive and the La Prieta Skarn.Mining began in La Encantada during the 1950s with small vertical shafts, drifts and raises. It focuses on the high-grade silver zones using traditional hoists and extraction methods, before branching into two main separate mining camps: El Plomo and Penoles camp. Penoles, the previous owner, focused mainly on large ore bodies using post pillar cut-and-fill mining method to extract the higher-grade material. Due to the type of ground, irregularity of pillars, and rock conditions, large amounts of high-grade pillars had to be left in situ to ensure the stability of the excavations. The mined-out areas would then be filled with lower-grade material to assist in the stability of the secondary level. These room-and-pillar development entries were 2.5 m x 2.5 m (8.2 ft x 8.2 ft) and spaced every 10 m (32 ft), leaving a vertical pillar of 7.5 m (25 ft). First Majestic acquired La Encantada in 2006. After the acquisition of the mine, the company began the conversion of the surveying reference system from a local grid (Maria Isabel Shaft as 0,0) to the Nav27 coordinate system, and subsequently converted to the WGS84 coordinate system in 2015. Due to the extensive history of the mine, different areas were surveyed with different systems, causing significant challenges when designing the principal extraction levels, pillar heights and ramp locations. To overcome this difficulty, the entire mine was resurveyed and the old workings transposed to the new coordinate system, except for some inaccessible areas due to poor ground conditions or ground collapses. To further ensure pillar height and the safety of the mine workers, probe holes were drilled during the development process."

Sep 1, 2019

By J. -F. Lagueux

Goldex Mine is an underground mine located near the town of Val-d?Or. Multiple innovations were required to work the mine. Due to its low grade, it was important to develop a bulk mining method to economically extract the ore. The method used is a combination between shrinkage stope and long hole stope methods. This modified method is more than adequate; however, all of the ore body must be liberated in a very short period of time. Therefore, to bring down 23 Mt of ore, large blasts up to 1.8 Mt are required. The situation is also complicated by the fact that the mine is located in a residential area. No less that 40 homes are built within a 1 km radius of the mine site. In addition to managing mass blasts, means must also be found to mitigate the vibrations produced by the blast to diminish the disturbance to the neighbourhood. Therefore, the mine used numerous tools to properly plan the blasts and reduce the impacts. A program to control vibrations was one of the first tools put in place. The program?s aim was to draw up an action plan to ensure a follow-up of the homes by inspecting them. The second tool was to develop a methodology to plot a reliable attenuation curve and to adequately determine the maximum charge weight for each blast. Finally, effective communication tools were developed to inform the neighbourhood. There was a huge amount of work to be done in relation to the bench. Reliable and fast loading techniques had to be found to load large blasts in a very short period of time. Adequate logistics had to be developed to send underground more than 20,000 kg of emulsion per day while performing the daily underground operations. Technology had to be developed to adapt the i-kon electronic blasting system to large blasts. Since the control of the charges was the major factor to reduce surface vibrations, it was important to employ loading techniques that would permit decking of the long holes to reduce the charge weight per delays without adversely affecting the loading. All of this work requires an enormous amount of energy but also close collaboration between the different stakeholders (various departments, suppliers and consultants).

Jan 1, 2011

By F. Seitz

STAFF: Editor, Gerhard Derge Carnegie Institute of Technology Schenley Park Pittsburgh 13, Pa. Editorial Assistant, M. A. Redmerski Managing Editor, James J. Burke THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: John Chipman, President; W. R. Hibbard, Jr., Post-President; C. C. Long, Vice-President; T. D. Jones, Treasurer; R. W. Shearman, Secretary. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: R. Maddin, Chairman; Dennis Carney, J. C. Fulton, J. H. Hollomon, T. B. King, C. C. Long, W. 0. Philbrook, J. D. Sullivan, David Swan, and F.L. Vogel. Review and selection of manuscripts is under the supervisian of the following Publications Committees: Extractive Metallurgy D ivis ion: T. 0. King, Chairman; S. J. Dick inson, R. P. Hermsdorf, R. Schuhmann, Jr., and H. H. Kel logg. Institute of Metals Division: F. L. Vogel, Choirmon; R. L. Smith, Vice Chairman; R.W. Balluffi, J. H. Bachtold, A Servi, C.D.Graham, Jr., C. G. Goetzel, F. E. Joumot, Jr., G. E. Pellissier, Paul Gordon, Jock Washburn, Harold Margol in, A. U. Seybolt, I. R. Kromer, R. A. Meussner, R. W. Guard, M. Harmon, J. N. Hobstetter, Dean Starr, P. Shewmon, R. Gordon, J. 0. Betterton, and E. Morgan. Iron and Steel Division: W. 0. Philbrook, Chairman; F. C. Langenberg, C. W. Sherman, J. Wagstaff, and E. J. Whittenberger. Published bimonthly by the American lnstitute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., 29 West 39th Street, New York 18, N. Y. Telephone: PEnnsylvania 6-9220. Subscription $20 per year for non-AIME members in United States and North, South, and Central America; $25, foreign; $5 for AlME members. Single copies, $4.00, single copies foreign, $5.00. The AlME is not responsible for any statement made or opinion expressed in its publications . . . Copyright 1959 by the Americon Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. . . . Registered cable address, AlME New York ... Indexed in Engineering Index, Industrial Arts Index, and Chemical Abstracts . . .Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. , ond Ann Arbor, Mich. Volume 215, Number 3

Jan 1, 1960

By H. H. Schrenk, W. P. Yant, F. A. Patty

"INTRODUCTION In accordance with the outline of investigation described in a previous report 5 of the Bureau of Mines dealing with the use of acrolein for detecting leakage of methyl chloride from unit--type refrigerating systems, the work has been extended to include an investigation of its use in a multiple system, This report gives the results of analysis of samples of the gas from representative units of a multiple system charged with methyl chloride containing approximately 0.9 per cent acrolein by volume, The results furnish a basis for estimating the Warning that would be given in event of leakage. The properties and warning intensity of acrolein have been described in a previous report. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis investigation was made at the combined request-of Several Inc., Manufacturers of refrigerating, appliances, and the Roeasler Hasslacher Chemical Co., manufacturers of methyl chloride. Acknowledgment is given to R. M. Major, ,chief chemist of the former firm for arranging the experimental site and equipment; to Arthur O. Haseeneall, owner of the apartment building where the investigation was conducted, for his courtesy in permitting the investigation; and to R. R. Sayers, chief surgeon, Bureau of Mines, and surgeon., U. S. Public Health Service, for suggestions and advice."

Sep 1, 1930

By C A. Locke, J Cassidy, J L. Mauk

The Waihi-Waitekauri region hosts numerous low-sulfidation epithermal deposits that both outcrop and occur at depth. Zones of intense hydrothermal alteration enclose the Au-Ag bearing quartz vein deposits. Hydrothermal alteration includes the destruction of magnetite by hydrothermal fluids, pervasive silicification adjacent to quartz lodes and potassium enrichment due to adularia and illite deposition. High-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric, and new gravity data delineate distinct geophysical anomalies associated with hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation. Five magnetically quiet zones occur in the region varying in size from 3 to 34 km2 and in geometry from circular to irregular zones. These zones represent the near-surface extent of strong to intense hydrothermal alteration associated with fossil geothermal systems. All epithermal deposits in the region occur in magnetically quiet zones. Over 120 new gravity stations together with existing data across the Waihi district have defined a positive Bouguer gravity anomaly coincident with the magnetically quiet zone. Eastern and western gradients of 50 gu/km bound the anomaly that contains two flat gravity highs west and east of the Waihi deposit. Strong potassium signatures in airborne radiometric data correlate with outcropping zones of alteration and are consistent with the presence of adularia and illite minerals. Hydrothermally altered zones are represented by areas of low Th/K ratios as a result of low thorium concentrations in andesite and elevated potassium levels in altered zones.

Jan 1, 2003