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By M. C. Bhulose

Paper written on project work carried out in partial fulfilment of B. Eng (Mining Engineering) degree The purpose of this project was to identify constraints that could occur in the current sub-decline shaft at Turffontein Shaft should an increase in production take place. Particular attention was to be paid to the transportation of men and materials and to the broken rock and ventilation capacity of the shaft. This project is an in-depth evaluation of the logistic capacity of the sub-decline system at Turffontein Shaft in order to determine by how much production can be increased in this area to replace tonnages from the vertical shaft area, where ore reserves are rapidly becoming depleted.

Jan 1, 2004

By T. Struminski

The paper is aimed to assess the possibilities of usage of pyrometers and thermal cameras to study ventilation and environmental conditions in underground mines. Surface and underground thermovision tests were carried out in the Rudna mine and included channels and diffusers of some selected fan stations, shaft crest closures, engines of central fans and their instrumentation. The thermovision underground tests in the Rudna mine consisted of ventilation barriers, underground fans, temperature of rocks, ventilation machines, parts of belt-conveyors and electric machinery.

Jan 1, 2003

By Steven Rupprecht

"The South African Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (the SAMREC Code or the Code) sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for public reporting of exploration results, mineral resources and mineral reserves in South Africa. The Code is being rewritten and updated, with work on-going since 2013. The revision is being undertaken to ensure the Code remains relevant, incorporates developments within the international mining industry and keeps abreast of technology. Some of the changes and their reasons are discussed. INTRODUCTION The South African Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (the SAMREC Code or the Code) sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for public reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Rreserves in South Africa. The Code is being rewritten and updated, with work on-going since 2013. The proposed 2016 update is not significantly different from previous versions of the Code. The revision is being undertaken to ensure the Code remains relevant, incorporates developments within the international mining industry and keeps abreast of technology. The Code sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for public reporting. However, reporting may be unclear, ambiguous, selective, obscure, distorted or unintelligible. Part of the purpose of the update is to provide better guidelines to Competent Persons (CPs) to ensure that the material information is being reported and that reporting is transparent in accordance with the guidelines of the Code. The information provided should, as required by the Code, be adequate to inform the “reader/investor or potential investor to make a reasonable and balanced assessment of the significance of the information”. The Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) highlights the importance of the reporting Codes, as provided from a quote from their website (www.crirsco.com): The mining industry is a vital contributor to national and global economies. It is a truly international business that depends on the trust and confidence of investors and other stakeholders for its financial and operational well-being. Unlike many other industries, it is based on depleting mineral assets, the knowledge of which is important prior to the commencement of extraction. It is therefore essential that the industry communicates the risks associated with investment effectively and transparently in order to earn the level of trust necessary to underpin its activities."

Jan 1, 2015

By F. P. Hassani

Today, mine backfilling has become an integral part of mining operations, both from a local and overall ground control point of view, and as regards mining techniques and environmental considerations. During the past decade, substantial research has been carried out to contribute to the better understanding of the mechanisms involved in mine backfill behaviour. This work involved analytical, experimental and numerical studies at different scales. Accordingly, this work has been aimed at developing backfill design guidelines for actual working conditions. Backfill design for deep mining conditions is complex and requires understanding of various elements. The most important of these elements are: backfill inherent strength parameters, backfill placement method, stope geometry and interaction between backfill and host rock. The mobilization of backfill strength parameters controls the backfill behaviour and thus, its failure mode. It is believed that the governing boundary conditions and backfill-rock interaction influence the backfill strength mobilization significantly. Accordingly, the interaction between backfill and host rock is an influential factor in overall backfill behaviour under applied loads. The focus of this research is to investigate the backfill-rock interaction, considering a nonlinear behaviour for both backfill and rock mass. Assuming typical stope geometry, the FLAC code was used to model the complex boundary condition associated with narrow vein mining conditions and to simulate the backfill behaviour. A comprehensive numerical study was conducted and the results obtained were compared against field observations. The analysis of findings provides qualitative results, which can be used for backfill design. Keywords: Numerical modelling, backfill, deep mining, non-linear behaviour, rock mechanics, backfill behaviour, narrow vein mining.

Jan 1, 2008

By G. O. Oniyide, H. Yilmaz

The South African platinum mines in the Bushveld Complex (BC) have unique features that distinguish them from the gold mines. They have a higher horizontal stress closer to the surface, lower occurrence of seismic activity (caused mainly by pillar failure), and are sited in an area of high geothermal gradient. One of the future challenges of platinum mining is the increasing temperatures as the mining depth increases. High temperatures invariably bring about higher ventilation costs and require different approaches to human factors and ergonomics. Excavation stability would also be another area of concern due to increasing stresses. In this investigation, the effect of temperature on the physical and chemical properties of selected Bushveld rocks (chromitite, pyroxenite, norite, leuconorite, gabbronorite, mottled anorthosite, varitextured anorthosite, granite, and granofels) was studied by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy using energy-dispersive Xray spectrometry (SEM-EDX). The rock specimens were heated in a temperature-controlled oven a rate of 2°C /min to 50°C, 100°C, and 140°C and kept at temperature for five consecutive days. Samples were allowed to cool to ambient temperature (approximately 20°C) before image capturing. Micrographs of the specimens were taken before and after heat treatment. All the SEM samples were also subjected to heating and cooling on alternate days for ten days in order to observe the effect of repeated heating and cooling on the rocks. The results of the optical microscopy analyses showed minor physical changes in the rocks. The SEM images revealed that cracks initiating at lower temperatures extend with increasing temperature. The chemical analyses showed that the temperature range considered in this research is not high enough to induce changes in the chemical composition of rock samples.

Jan 1, 2016

By Jeffrey C. Hillman

The need to recruit locally produced engineers by the South African Mining Industry led to the Engineering Faculty at the University of the Witwatersrand developing a number of academic bridging initiatives for educationally disadvantaged students. The graduation rate achieved during the initial five years of operation by the most successful of these programmes has been on a par with that of al other students but the performance of subsequent intakes has declined to such an extent that the continuance of this scheme could now be at risk. One reason for this reduction in throughput is that many of the applicants for the increasing number of mining bursaries have been more interested in the bursary than the profession and have either failed or dropped out due to a lack of application and motivation. This will have serious consequences for both Wits and the Industry if it continues and some method of identifying unsuitable or suspect applicants needs to be introduced as a mater of urgency. It is recommended that an introductory course be set up at a working mine that would be run under the auspices of Wits, as a joint venture with industry, and include a level of academic input that would provide both bridging needs and certain first year credits. The final form of this course will require extensive consultation with al parties but needs to be completed before the end of 1996. It is further recommended that the advertising and promotion of mining careers be expanded and much improved.

Jan 1, 1996

By W. M. Jansen

In many mineral processing operations, the reported production figures for an accounting period may not make the best use of available data. While most of the mathematical approaches, such as check-in/check-out, mass balancing, used in effective metallurgical accounting strategies are well understood, the sources and magnitude of measurement errors generally are not. As part of the 'AMIRA P754-Metal Accounting and Reconciliation' project, a study was undertaken at the Northparkes copper/gold concentrator near Parkes, New South Wales to examine the data used in their concentrator metallurgical accounting system. This paper summarises the results of a detailed examination of the mass measurement systems around the concentrator as well as the primary sampling system used for grade estimation. The goal of this work was to develop practical techniques to quantify the error (ie both accuracy and precision) of the measured metal accounting information. With this information, statistical confidence levels for this data can then be calculated. If the errors are small, the effect of error in each piece of measured data can then be propagated to other calculated production figures such as recovery and feed grade using a statistical technique called `the propagation of error'.

Jan 1, 2007

By E. Pardo-Igúzquiza, R. A. Olea

The bootstrap is a computer-intensive resampling method for estimating the uncertainty of complex statistical models. We expand on an application of the bootstrap for inferring semivariogram parameters and their uncertainty. The model fitted to the median of the bootstrap distribution of the experimental semivariogram is proposed as an estimator of the semivariogram. The proposed application is not restricted to normal data and the estimator is resistant to outliers. Improvements are more significant for data-sets with less than 100 observations, which are those for which semivariogram model inference is the most difficult. The application is illustrated by using it to characterize a synthetic random field for which the true semivariogram type and parameters are known.

Jan 1, 2015

By Z. Saw, C. Poveda, N. L. Mai

Optimising the throughput of a mining network comprising all equipment from shovels to semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mills is a complicated task, yet the potential benefits can be significant. Key modelling challenges stem from the sheer number of possible routes which material can travel, different equipment operating under different constraints, and the rate of SAG mills being calculated through a nonlinear function of the blended materials’ rock attributes. Nevertheless, this is an ideal onapplication area of mathematical programming, a branch of operations research. This paper describes an application of mixed integer linear programming (MILP) to optimise the mining equipment network of one of the world’s largest copper mines.The model takes as input a year-long monthly mine schedule of shovels in different pits, pushbacks, sequences and faces which produce material to be moved through a network of crushers, conveyors, silos, distributors, stockpiles and SAG mills, ultimately outputting a daily operational plan for all equipment that maximises the throughput of the network. All operational constraints and business rules are considered, including three quality attributes of copper ore. Comparing model results with actual data shows an improvement of 4.47% in network throughput tonnage. Additionally, although the model is solved using a free, open-source solver, optimal solutions are still achieved within a practical timeframe.

Sep 1, 2021

By G. Lyman

The cross-belt sampler is a device that is very widely used even though it has not been ratified by the Standards associations. This paper is concerned with the bias testing of two cross-belt sampler designs against stopped belt samples and a cross-stream cutter at the belt end. The bias analysis is carried out using size distribution as the analyte and conventional t-testing and the Hotelling T squared test, which are compared for their effectiveness. The paper considers the issue of detectable bias and the statistical planning of bias tests.

Jan 1, 2010

By L. J. Gardner

Ore pass systems play a critical role in moving broken rock from the workplace to surface, and the integrity of the ore pass excavations is crucial. Over the life of the mine, ore pass integrity deteriorates, which may eventually result in the ore pass no longer being fit for purpose. This paper presents several case studies of successful ore pass rehabilitation exercises.

Jan 1, 2006

By S. O. Choi, H. -S. Shin, W. -K. Song

Nuclear waste should be disposed with the best warranty for the national health and welfare. Among the several repository systems, the deep underground disposal is considered to be a most suitable system in Korean peninsula. However it demands basically the comprehensive stability analysis such as the behaviour of discontinuities in rock mass, the behaviour of ground water, and the reaction of rock stress according to the heat from the nuclear waste. For these purposes, the underground nuclear waste disposal repository was simulated in two- and three- dimensions. It shows that emphasis will be given to the thermal conductivity of discontinuities and the thermal convection of ground water as well as the thermal stress generated by the nuclear waste for design and construction of repository system, and they should be obtained from the field measurements. Déchets nucléaires devront tre déposés avec la meilleure garantie pour la santé et le bien public. Parmi les plusieurs systèmes de dépôt, la disposition en souterrin profond est considérée au système le plus approprié en Corée. Pourtant ce système demande essentiellement l’analyse éten-due de stabilité comme le comportement des discontinues en masse rocheuse, le comportement de l’eau souterrin et la réaction des contraintes de roche selon la chaleur depuis les déchets nucléaires. Pour ce but, le dépôt des déchets nucléaires en sous-sol a étè simulé en deux et trois dimensions. Il montre que l’accent sera donné à la conductivité thermale des discontinues et la convection thermale de l’eau souterrin aussi bien que la contrainte thermale générée par les déchets nucléaires pour le plan et la construction du systèmes de dépôt, et ils devront tre obtenus depuis les mesures sur place. Die Kernwüste muß mit der besten Gewähr für die nationale Gesundheit und die Wohlfahrt angeordnenet werden. Unter einigem Fundgrubesystem, das tief unterirdisch Wegwerfen werde in Betracht das passendest System in der koreanisch Halbinsel gezogen. Jedoch, es verlangt grundzätzlich die umfassend Stabilitätsberechnung so wie das Behnehmen mangelnder Konti-nuität in der Felsmasse, das Behnehmen des Grundwasser, und die Reaktion der Felsenbelastung nach der Hitze von der Kernwüste. Für diesen Zwecke, die unterirdische Wegferfenfundgrube der Kernwüste wurde in der zwei und drei Dimensionen gesimuliert. Es beweist daß die Betonung wird zur thermisch Leitfähigkeit mangelnder Kontinuität und thermisch Konvektion des Grund-wasser sowie die thermisch Belastung ergezeugt durch die Kernwüste für den Entwurf und die Konstruktion des Fundgrubesystem gegeben werden, und sie müssen von den Feldmaße ergelangt werden .

Jan 1, 2003

By Braam Blom

PK2 Ventilation shaft is part of Paardekraal No 2 twin shaft system that is being developed to replace depleting Merensky reef production at Paardekraal shaft complex. The sinking team at this shaft faced considerable challenge of improving the total sinking cycle in order to be able to deliver the fully equipped shaft on time and on schedule. The cladding support cycle was identified as the tedious and time consuming activity in the overall shaft sinking operation. Reduction in the time required for handling and setting up the support installation equipment, and the time required for subsequent installation of the necessary support has a direct impact on the overall cycle time, and consequently the overall productivity and efficiency of the sinking operation. This reduction in support cycle was achieved by making use of machine carousel. The objective of this paper is to describe the support methodology that was used during the ventilation shaft sinking and the use of the machine carousel to reduce the cladding support cycle. The machine carousel replaces the traditional use of machine kibble in conventional vertical shaft sinking and has been designed specifically for installation of sidewall support at the shaft bottom during the sinking process.

Jan 1, 2009

By P. K. Sahoo, C. R. Ray, S. S. Rao

Good operation of Soderberg electrodes is dependent upon high quality electrode paste coupled with better electrode management procedures. Without having a good electrode operation, it is not possible to obtain the best outcome from the furnace. In other words that is a good way to say how important the proper electrode operation is. Good electrode performance depends on the slipping rate and current levels, which decides the shape of the baking curve at the level of just below the contact clamps. Negative curvature of baking zone in the central part is considered dangerous because shrinkage takes place outwardly creating abnormal stresses in the electrode. Soft breakages occur when the baking zone comes below the clamps and the casing cannot take the current. This paper deals with various factors affecting baking characteristics leading to soft breakages and also presents case studies in a closed 48MVA furnace with smelting for charge chrome. In case studies in a closed furnace, it has happened that the energy for baking at the low current operation before breakage has been lower than the actual slipping has demanded. At low current there should not be problem, but a problem can occur when the current for some period is raised above the current carrying capacity of the casing. So data for electrode operation in actual period was studied and presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. L. Chen

Keywords: copper, concentrate drying, steam dryer, dryers By placing additional demands on energy and gas flow, the moisture content of a copper concentrate has an adverse effect on the smelting process. Different drying technologies, such as directly heated rotary dryers, flash dryers, and steam dryers, are available to solve this problem. The energy requirements of and off-gas generated from different dryer types are compared. The performance of the steam dryer was found to be superior to that of the others. In particular, the rotary steam dryer and its benefits are discussed. Structural properties confer an advantage on the rotary steam dryer, for wear on tube elements is eliminated, and drying efficiency is improved. If steam is available, the rotary steam dryer is an excellent choice for drying copper concentrates.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. Yavuz

One of the challenging problems for optimization in mining operations is to choose the best equipment among the alternatives. Equipment selection is an important task for mine management due to its operational cost, and is also an integral part of mine planning and design. Equipment selection is not a well-defined process because it involves the interaction of several subjective factors or criteria. Besides, decisions are often complicated and may even embody contradictions. Therefore, equipment selection is considered as a multi-criteria decision-making process, and suitable decision-making methods should be employed in this process. In this study, the loader selection for Aegean Lignite Colliery was made by using both the analytic hierarchy process and Yager’s method. Owing to the misusage of Yager’s method in the past, a new procedure is proposed in this paper for making proper decisions. It is highly recommended in this purposed method that criteria or alternatives should be grouped so as not to exceed the limitations of human performance (nine criteria/alternatives). The most appropriate solution for the loader selection was investigated by obeying this limitation for each method, and the results were compared. At the end of the decision-making process, a sensitivity analysis was applied for each method in order to see how a criterion affects the final decision. The advantages and disadvantages encountered during the application of each decision-making method are presented.

Jan 1, 2015

The corrosion behaviour of a low carbon steel was investigated in synthetic seawaters with and without Sr2+. It was found that strontium substitutes for calcium in aragonite, rather than precipitating as discrete strontianite (SrCO3). The aragonite deposits that formed in the presence of Sr2+ were finer than those that formed in the absence of Sr2+. It is believed that an increase in the strontium content of aragonite induces a decrease in its solubility, which in turn results in a higher nucleation rate of the precipitates. Furthermore, the growth rate of aragonite is decreased by the presence of Sr2+in the solution. It is concluded that Sr2+is an essential ingredient in any artificial seawater when calcareous deposits are investigated on steel. Keywords: corrosion, seawater, calcareous deposits, strontium, aragonite.

Jan 1, 2007

By F. M. L. Mulaudzi

Behaviour studies of metal dusting processes and associated filamentous carbon formation were undertaken on Alloys 600, 601, and 800 using a simulated metal dusting environment of 25C0-70H2-5H20 (vol.%) at 650°C. These samples were studied visually and by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Visual examination and SEM surface observation showed that Alloy 800 suffered metal dusting attack at an early exposure reaction period. The coke deposit amounts increased significantly with reaction time from 168 hours to 336 hours in Alloys 600, 601, and 800. Alloy 800 showed pitting after 168 hours' exposure, and the degree of pitting increased after 336 hours. XRD showed all these alloys had a common austenitic phase, with Alloy 800 also having ferritic metal particles. Alloy 800 after 168 hours' exposure had a complex phase mixture on the surface, consisting of ferritic Fe and austenitic FeNi phases. For coke deposit, there were also Fe304, Fe3C and graphitic carbon. The existence of Fe, Ni, and Cr metal particles, and also graphitic carbon in coke deposits, was confirmed by EDX analyses.

Jan 1, 2013

By C. -T. Mutale, A. S. Tuling

Titanium can exist in three different oxidation states. Its oxides are numerous and in presence of iron and oxygen, iron-titanium oxide compounds can also form. Some of the oxides are non-stoichiometric, making the determination of the thermodynamic properties of titanium and its oxides in molten steel and in slag difficult. Therefore, for the assessment of titanium activity in molten steel using the electrochemical measurements of oxygen partial pressure, the identification of oxides in equilibrium with titanium is important. This paper reports on an investigation of solid titanium oxide inclusions, which have been identified by combining different methods of analysis on quenched samples. These samples were taken from a Fe-Ti-melt at 1600°C, quenched in cold water then mounted and polished for optical microscopy. The oxide inclusions were analysed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Both single crystal and polycrystalline diffraction patterns were used to identify the oxides by comparing the d spacings with those in the ICDD X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) database. XRD was used to analyse the oxide particles on the top of slow cooled samples. It was found in the TEM study that the similarity of the diffraction patterns of the various phases meant that unique identification was difficult to achieve in some of the diffraction patterns. However, TiO, Ti2O3, Ti3O5, Ti4O7were identified in quenched samples, while TiO2, FeO.TiO2and iron oxides were seen in slow cooled samples. It was also confirmed that the type of oxides is related to titanium content of the samples. Keywords: Titanium, Titanium Oxides, Iron, TEM, XRD, thermodynamic.

Jan 1, 2004

The roasting of sulphide ores and concentrates is often the first step in the production of metals or chemicals. In many processes, the production of sulphuric acid is viewed as a by-product, whereas in some plants production is an important economic factor. Regardless of the purpose, a pyrite roasting plant consists of mainly three plant sections: roasting, gas cleaning and sulphuric acid. With the addition of air, the pyrite concentrates are transformed into solid oxides and gaseous sulphur dioxide at temperatures of 600?1000°C. After cleaning and cooling, the sulphur dioxide in the roasting gas is further processed to sulphuric acid. Two types of reactors are used depending on the application: stationary or circulating fluid bed. For over 60 years, Outotec has progressively been developing the principle of fluidized bed technology in several different reactor types for a multitude of process applications. The versatility of the fluidized bed reactor system has manifested itself in the treatment of minerals, including solid fuels, and for metallurgical processes both in the ferrous and non-ferrous fields. Process applications have included roasting, calcining, combustion and charring of coals, as well as off-gas treatment. This paper provides a summary of the pyrite roasting technology currently used along with a simple cost comparison of pyrite roasting and sulphur burning processes.

Jan 1, 2009