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By Ronald J. Mathis

The objective of this contract is to design, build, surface test, and evaluate a breadboard prototype of the Variable Wall Mining System so that data are available for the design of a production machine. The Variable Wall Mining System (VWMS) consists of a series of side cutting augers, connected end to end, and distributed across a panel. Supplying rotary power at the end of the string and anchorage from conventional longwall roof supports, the augers are sequentially thrust into the face and then lifted to the roof to extract the coal in a continuous manner. The augers not only cut but also transport the coal. The effort described in this report summarizes the operation characteristics of the VWMS, the design methodology used to develop various working models, the surface testing of a ½ -scale version of the VWMS, prediction of power requirements and performance potential of a full-scale system, and a critique of the VWMS concept, conclusions, and recommendations.

Jan 1, 1987

By E. J. M. Jahnsen, I. Jauhari, T. Badrujaman, F. A. Stober, B. O. Wasmund, L. R. Nelson, T. Miraza, J. M. A. Geldenhuis, A. Taofik Hidyat

The role of dedicated operational support in the ramp-up and stabilisation of the FeNi-II furnace for ferro-nickel production at PT Antam?s smelter located in Pomalaa, Indonesia is described. The furnace was uprated to 32MW capability in a rebuild performed in 2005. This primarily involved installing a larger transformer, coupled with adoption of HATCH water-cooled copper plate, waffle and flanker coolers with integrated metal and slag tapblocks, HATCH air-cooled copper fin lower sidewall cooling and HATCH vertical sidewall binding system ? ?holddowns?. Following a smooth commissioning period, the progress in attaining the preliminary ramp-up target load of 24MW is described. This initial target was set by Antam, subject to some prevailing smelter equipment constraints, particularly kiln capacity. Stabilisation of the furnace operation is discussed, together with some of the specific commissioning and operational challenges surmounted by the joint Antam-HATCH team. These included: ?Mastering furnace integrity monitoring and operation with copper coolers, especially metal tapblock planned maintenance and repair strategies; ?Transition from traditional ?immersed electrode? to ?brush-arc? mode of operation approaching as closely as possible to the productive ?shielded-arc? mode of operation within existing equipment constraints; ?Reductant selection and control issues; ?Utilising the sophisticated furnace monitoring to provide detailed indication and warning of potentially destructive furnace upset conditions such as Si reversion and CO boils.

Jan 1, 2007

By Warren L. J, Horsley R. R, Meagher L

Mineral concentrators often use process water that is very saline and/or hard. In this paper the effect of increasing concentrations of sodium chloride and calcium chloride on the rheological properties of 70 wt% quartz suspensions (d5o - 10.6 ¦m) is reported. The apparent viscosity at 100 s t in 5 mol dm -3 sodium chloride solutions (approx. 300,000 ppm) was nearly 500 times the viscosity of water without salt or particles present. Part of the increase in viscosity is caused by aggregation (coagulation) of the suspension.

Jan 1, 1989

By Dan A. Brown

Outline ? Basic Concept of ACIP Piles ? Factors Affecting ACIP Pile Performance ? Applications: - Favorable Conditions - Unfavorable Conditions ? Design for Axial Loading ? Lateral Loading Considerations ? Summary & Conclusions

Jan 1, 2004

By Burns W. G, Muceniekas E, Whitcher I. G, Hughes F. E

No iron ore deposits were reported before 1961 from the Hamersley Ranges, Western Australia, although low-grade bedded iron formations, associated with ferruginous jaspers and cherts, were known to occur in the local Nullagine Series of Precambrian age.In January-March 1961 preliminary investigations in the area drained by the Turner River, Duck Creek and Serpentine Creek revealed the presence of over 1000 million tons of dense botryoidal or pisolitic limonite, forming flat-lying orebodies with 50-57 per cent iron.Large bedded hematitic orebodies were also discovered in the same area in August-October 1961. These have a porous, biscuity texture and an iron content of 60-61 per cent. They occur at a welldefined stratigraphic level (Brockman Iron Formation), normally in synclines where they have been upgraded by circulating meteoric waters during an old cycle erosion.In 1962 systematic geological studies and mapping, together with sampling and scout drilling, indicated larger reserves of biscuity hematitic ore and led to the discovery of massive hematite deposits at Mt. Tom Price. These were extensively drilled in 1963, proving the persistence of' high-grade mineralisation to a depth of 200 ft and over.To date the total indicated reserves of the Hamersley deposits, within the area held by Hamersley Iron Pty. Limited, are of the order of 4960 million tons and thus rank among the more important of the world. The reserves are composed of 600 million tons of bedded dense hematite ore with 64-66 per cent iron, 2900 million tons of bedded biscuity hematite-limonite with 60-61 per cent iron, 1360 million tons of limonite (goethite) ranging in grade from 50 to 57 per cent, and 100 million tons of canga (conglomerate) iron ore containing 53-63 per cent iron. In all cases harmful impurities are comparatively low.

Jan 1, 1964

By Sie A

After completing a feasibility study in 1987, Niugini Mining Limited (NML) obtained five Gold Mining Leases within PA 632, covering the Mount Victor and Clarkes Ridge gold deposits. Reserves prior to mining were 260 000t at 3.63g/t Au for Mount Victor and 40 000t at 2.8g/t Au for Clarkes Ridge. Ore was mined from the two deposits by NML from November 1987 to January 1990. A total of 645kg of gold and 346kg of silver were produced from 198 000 tonnes of ore pro- cessed. Mining and milling operations ceased in February 1990. Since then, there has been significant progress in rehabilitating and revegetating the site. Plant and workshop facilities have been dismantled and removed from site, exposed parts of the pit have been landscaped and replanted, tailings water has been neutralised and discharged, and the dam filled. All remaining personnel and equipment left the site in November 1990. It is envisaged that the replanted areas will be rapidly revegetated, leaving little evidence of mining. Niugini Mining did not recoup the initial investment for Mount Victor, but the mine produced a positive cash flow and made a significant' financial contribution to the local communities and Papua New Guinea as a Whole.

Jan 1, 1991

The Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at the Local Level (APELL) program is a process that helps people prevent, prepare for and respond appropriately to accidents and emergencies. APELL was developed by the United Nations Environment Program, in cooperation with industry groups, governments and local communities. Since its beginnings in1988, the program has been implemented in more than30 countries. APELL is a tool for bringing people together to allow effective communication about risks and emergency response. The program provides a common-sense approach to accident prevention and response.

Jan 1, 2003

By O. Naiker

Xstrata has modified and improved on the solid state reduction of chromite (SRC) process that was pioneered by Showa Denko in Japan and previously used at Xstrata?s Lydenburg plant. The history of pre-reduction is a long one, with the SRC process being the first and only commercially successful one prior to Premus. Krupp developed the chromite direct reduction and the rotary hearth for the pre-reduction of chromite. However, these processes have not been successfully commercialised. The are a number of significant differences between Xstrata?s patented Premus and the original Consolidated Metallurgical Industries (CMI) process. These include, the use of lower cost anthracite fines as the reductant source together with the use of unactivated bentonite as the binding agent. In addition the use of oxygen as an energy source is used in Premus but not in the original CMI process. There was a fundamental change in the operational philosophy of the process in that while the original CMI process aimed to maximize metallization of the pellets, the Premus process seeks to maximize the energy output from the kiln while still achieving the required efficiencies and hence increasing furnace output. Premus is designed to reduce electrical energy consumption, provide high recoveries of metallic oxides, and utilizes low cost reductant and energy sources such as anthracite and oxygen respectively. Due to the fact that Premus is one of the most technologically advanced and competitive processes used today in the production of ferrochrome it was the process selected for Xstrata?s new ferrochrome facility, Project Lion, that is due to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2006 in the Steelpoort Valley in Mpumulanga, South Africa.

Jan 1, 2007

By Frank E. Woolley, Robert D. Pehlke

Jan 1, 1965

By K H. Esbensen, K Engström

The conclusion from the debate over the last decade in the mining sector is that, for grade control, reverse circulation (RC) drill sampling gives more reliable results due to less sampling problems than blasthole samples. However, by conducting the latter with well-controlled procedures there still exist fair possibilities to counteract the major blasthole sampling problems and achieve fit-for-purpose representativeness, especially if based on minimal loss of fines. In the present PhD study, extensive replicate experiments and variographic characterisations are conducted to evaluate the performance of manual blasthole (BH) sampling and sectorial segment sampling. The experiments were performed in Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB)’s Leveäniemi open pit mine in the north of Sweden. The experimental area is an apatite-magnetite iron ore deposit of the Kiruna type, with the demand to exhibit a maximum of local heterogeneity to allow the experiment the largest possible conclusion powers. Gathering and splitting the complete BH drill cutting cones (fines cone, coarse cone) served as an authoritative reference on which to assess the representativity of the two BH sampling methods.Results show that manual BH drill sampling is able to produce samples with an acceptable accuracy and precision if performed properly and with insight. Based on variographic comparison, segment sampling shows similar precision for chemical grades as the manual sampling, while the particle size distributions were more deviating for segment sampling than for manual sampling at the high and low size ranges. Possible reasons for these partly surprising results are discussed.For further investigation of the performance of BH versus RC drill sampling, a second experiment has been planned on a parallel profile. This will result in an unprecedented opportunity for a full variographic comparison between RC and BH sampling, aimed at designing specific, fit-for-purpose sampling procedures as a function of ore quality, cut-off grades and important contaminant levels.CITATION:Engström, K and Esbensen, K H, 2017. Blasthole sampling (replicate and variographic experiments) in LKAB open pit iron ore mines – fit-for-purpose representativity?, Australia, in Proceedings Eighth World Conference on Sampling and Blending , pp 85–96 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2017

By D. Harrington

Probably over 95 percent of the coal production of the United States depends upon the use of explosives before it can be placed in the railroad car at the mine, and up to the present time it has been impossible to obtain Pry kind of practicable explosive that isn't dangerous unless handled carefully. In other words, no "foolproof" explosives have been found to date and inspection of the accident records of the coal mines of this country indicates that the use of explosives in coal mines has taken a sad toll of lives. ACCIDENTS PROM EXPLOSIVES IN COAL MATES Of the 2,000 to 2,500 persons killed annually in the coal mines if the United States, 100 to 125 have been killed from explosives without an explosion of gas or dust; these accidents have been due to misfires, hangfires, premature blasts, or accidental setting off of explosives through carelessness or otherwise (but chiefly through carelessness in some form). In this type of accident the flame character of the explosive is not necessarily involved, although an unexpected or premature blast is initiated much more easily with black blasting powder, which has a long flame, than with a permissible explosive, which has a flame much shorter and of briefer duration. By far the greater number of such accidents are caused by black blasting powder or dynamite rather than by permissible explosive.

Jan 1, 1936

By Nicholas G. Theofilos

The Bahamian economy weathered the worldwide recession of the last few years better than most developing countries. This was mainly owing to the ties between the tourist industry of the Bahamas and the U.S. economy. The mineral industry played a minor role in the country's economy. The chief mineral exports included an increasing amount of petroleum products horn the country?s 500,000-barrel-per-day refinery, steel pipe, salt, and aragonite. A 60,001)-barrel-per-day desulfurization facility was completed by Bahamas Oil Refinery Co. (BORCO) in Freeport. The project included vacuum gas oil desulfurization, hydrogen and sulfur recovery, steam generation, water desalinization, and offsite facilities.

Jan 1, 1980

By H. E. Bartlett

In the operation of some flotation plants treating platinum ores it was found that there were imbalances between the inputs and outputs. The inputs and outputs were sampled as slurries and it was determined that the imbalances arose from biases in the sampling, despite the samplers having been designed according to well-established rules. The launders feeding the sample cutters, and the sample cutters themselves were redesigned using finite element analysis to model the flows. A new set of design rules were formulated. The application of a Components of Variance Analysis, to determine the variance of primary and secondary sampling and of analysis in the lab for a concentrate is presented to illustrate the need for frequent sampling of process streams.

Jan 1, 2002

By Cabrera M. Manuel C

A fines de 1980, la empresa Minero Perú construyó una operación piloto de monitores y planta de lavado con una capacidad de 1,500 m3/día, incrementando la producción de oro a un 80%. En este sentido, el presente texto señala la producción de oro de esta minera peruana, utilizando dichas herramientas mencionadas. Para ello, se describe la geología, minado, características del monitor seleccionado, características de la bomba de alta presión, metalurgia y las plantas de lavado.

Oct 14, 1980

By R. Q. Shotts, H. J. Hager, A. C. Richardson, G. D. Coe

"INTRODUCTION In the State of Alabama few mines produce coal clean enough to be marketed directly without being washed. This is particularly true where the coal is to be used for the production of metallurgical coke. In washing plants where single-compartment jigs alone are used to treat a large range of sizes, it has been found that the washed coal finer than 1/4-inch contains a large proportion of free impurities and is much higher in ash content than are the coarser sizes. To reduce the ash content of this fine material with jigs usually entails a greet reduction in capacity and a loss of coarse coal in the refuse. This investigation, conducted by the Southern Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the University of Alabama and the Alabama By-Products Corporation, was undertaken to determine whether the fine washed coal from jigs could be economically re-treated on coal washing tables.COALS TESTEDThrough,the cooperation of the Alabama By-Products Corporation, samples of fine-sized washed coal were obtained from their washeries at Bradford and Gamma.The Bradford mine, on the Black Creek bed, yields a low-ash, medium-volatile coal with fairly good coking properties. This coal is blended with coal from the Mary Lee bed for coking purposes and compensates for the high ash content of the latter. The Black Creek bed is about 30 inches thick and seam analyses show an ash content of from 2.0 to 4.0 per cent. In the Bradford mine the undercut is about 6 inches high, so that a large proportion of fines is produced."

Apr 1, 1932

By J. Donovan Jacobs

Many improvements in the art of underground excavation have appeared during the past two decades. These improvements have been both in methods and in machinery and have resulted in more economical construction of today's tunnels. In the realm of machines, the developments of continuous boring heads for either soft ground or rock, random arm excavators and the sliding tunnel floor (Magic Carpet) have each made contributions toward more rapid tunneling. CONTINUITY OF ADVANCE Tunnel boring machines are often referred to as "continuous excavators". Continuous advance (without cyclical interruptions) has not been achieved, however, in any of the machines now in use. In most rotary-head tunnelers the thrust needed to make the cutters bite into the face is obtained from hydraulic cylinders reacting against anchoring devices held stationary by pads which grip against the sides of the tunnel. With this system the forward motion of the cutting head is continuous only until the propelling cylinders have reached their limit of extension. At this point the grippers must be released, moved forward and reset before a new cycle of advance can be begun. Some machines are built to obtain their propelling thrust from hydraulic cylinders pushing backward against newly-installed rings of tunnel support. This is the customary method for propulsion of shields. With it, each cyclical advance or "shove" must await the erection of a new ring of supports. Faster tunnel driving

Jan 1, 1974

By S R. La Brooy, T Giraudo, I C. Ritchie

The treatment plant at the Macraes Gold Project in New Zealand processes a carbonaceous, refractory sulphide gold ore. Since its commissioning in 1990, there has been a programme of continuous improvement of the plant, leading to higher recovery, increased throughput and low operating costs. During this time, a number of processes for treating both, or either, the preg-robbing carbonaceous fraction of the ore and the refractory sulfide fraction have been evaluated, trialed and utilised. The latest phase involves the installation by Minproc of plant utilising Newmont Gold's Pressure Oxidation Technology, a process which is anticipated to mitigate both problem factors when commissioned in 1999.

Jan 1, 1998

By D. M. Davidson, P. F. Kerr

The Permian Cutler Formation in Kane Creek, Utah bears uranium ore in fissure-type vertical veins. This fissure vein formation and its associated host rock bleaching, weak argillic alteration, and base-metal sulfide mineralization along with the development of hydrothermal minerals, a 60 m.y. isotopic Pb/U age, and well-crystallized uraninite's structural control, give evidence of ore deposition in a hydrothermal environment consistent with Laramide mineralization. Mica polymorph studies indicate first, that temperature during the hydrothermal alteration or subsequent ore deposition did not exceed 200°; hence Cutler deposits are classified telethermal; and secondly, that rock alteration and ore deposition are closely related both in time and space, as is seen in argillic alteration sequence. Ore deposition in an alkaline to slightly acid reducing environment is postulated. Ore textures and mineral associations and distributions also indicate that carbonate complexes may have been transported with the deposing ores. Bleached rock formations are not primary strati-graphic phenomena. Bleaching, or changes in ferric iron content, results from a chemical process involving reduction and conversion of hematite to a soluble aqueous ion. Nearby Chinle bedded deposits (Moss Rack sandstone), containing shale lenses, fossil wood, organic debris and minor fractures, overly the Cutler formation. Chinle ores have a single reported isotopic age of approximately 200 m.y. Their chemical environment is assumed similar to that of the Cutler ores, though slightly more acidic. Two genetic, paradoxically divergent interpretations of the bedded deposits are derived from available spectrographic, petrographic, X-ray and chemical analyses. Kane Springs canyon is located southwest of Moab, Utah, south of the Colorado River and northwest of the Lisbon Valley mining district (Fig. 1). Uranium deposits occur along the northeast flank of a Kane Creek salt anticline where two geologic formations bear ore, the Permian Cutler and the Triassic Chinle. The Cutler deposits' fissure vein formation is an unusual occurrence in the Colorado Plateau. The Chinle deposits appear to be of the normal sedimentary type. Associated with the vein deposits are a number of features, including argillic alteration of sedimentary strata. The minerals of these deposits and their associated features have been studied in detail in a two year program entailing both field and laboratory techniques. STRATIGRAPHY A stratigraphic section of the lithologic units in the Kane Creek area is given in Table I.

Jan 1, 1967

By Ronald W. Schaefer

This report describes operations at the Rosiclare Fluorspar Works of the Aluminum Co. of America at Rosiclare, Hardin County, Ill. The works include the Fairview mine, the fluorspar mill, and related facilities. The publication covers exploration, development, mining and milling practices, mine-drainage problems, and other activities and is presented as part of the Bureau of Mines series of publications on mining and milling practices in various parts of the United States. The Rosiclare fluorspar area, for its size, has been the largest producer of high-grade fluorspar in the United States and probably in the world. The vein system in this area is over 5 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, and ore has been found as deep as 900 ft.

Jan 1, 1961

By Thomas M. Barczak

State-of-the-art longwall roof supports provide effective strata control, but failures of these support systems still occur. To identify failure mechanisms and the impact these failures have on the safety of the support system, the U.S. Bureau of Mines has been conducting research on shield mechanics in the Bureau's unique mine roof simulator, as well as field studies of in situ support loading and investigations of longwall failures, Three types of failures are discussed: (1) inadequate support capacity, (2) structural failure, and (3) instability. Hypothetical situations with proposed courses of action and case studies of actual longwall failures are described. This information is intended to assist the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSEIA) and industry mining personnel in safety evaluations of longwall roof support systems.

Jan 1, 1989