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By D. O. Downing

"The 1990s saw enormous changes in the Canadian coal industry and the future promises to be no less turbulent. While the markets served by Canadian coal producers have changed and buying practices continue to evolve, the coal mining, or supply side, has also changed remarkably in response and now provides the basis for an interesting industry story.The dynamic situation in coal mining has led to some surprising outcomes and seemingly contradictory developments. This paper outlines the changes that have occurred, and which are still unfolding in Canadian coal mining, firstly, in terms of mining technology and productivity, secondly, in terms of corporate divestments, acquisitions and bankruptcies, and finally, in terms of resource development. The paper also outlines some plausible futures for the industry looking ahead."

Jan 1, 2002

By M Humphreys

Multi-episodic mineralisation is often characterised by different spatial trends exhibited by different generations of the mineralisation. The structural complexity of mineralisation together with the heterogeneous nature of the mineralised zones prevents unambiguous application of the conventional deterministic methodology for 3D constraining of the mineralised domains (ie conventional wireframing is ambiguous).A different approach, discussed in the present paper, includes a probabilistic definition of the domains encompassing one statistical population of the data. The domains are defined geostatistically using the indicator probability model. An indicator threshold is chosen for the definition of the high and low-grade domains. The spatial distribution of this indicator is then modelled by a variogram. The probability of exceeding the given grade threshold is than estimated by ordinary kriging for each modelled block. Blocks are then grouped according to their probability of exceeding the threshold and a continuous closed volume (domain) created from this likely patchy grouping using an appropriate structural model to fill the gaps). Methodology for the geostatistically assisted domaining is discussed in the paper. It is suggested that this technique represents an additional tool facilitating a structural interpretation of the mineralised zones.After the geostatistical domaining of the lode has been completed the grade within each of the domains is modelled using Uniform Conditioning method. Application of Uniform Conditioning for modeling the grade distribution has a significant advantage over linear methods (such as inverse distance or kriging) because Uniform conditioning enables estimation of local recoverable resources at different selective mining unit sizes that can be substantially smaller than the drilling density and are unable to be estimated directly.

Jan 1, 2002

By S. Banisi, M. Poorkani, M. Farzaneh, M. Askari

"At the Sarcheshmeh copper mine 40,000 t of ore per day with an average grade of 0.9 % Cu is ground to 70% passing 75 microns. Grinding is effected in 8 parallel lines of 8 x 5 m ball mills in a closed circuit with cyclones. The make-up balls are 80-mm forged alloy steel balls and the average ball consumption is 750 gh of ore ground. In order to optimize ball size distribution inside the mill, based on the previous investigation instead of using only 80 mm make-up balls a combination of 80 and 60 mm (75% to 25% by weight) ball charge was used in one of the mills. To evaluate the performance of three ball types namely forged alloy steel balls (A), ductile cast iron (C), high chromium cast iron (D) and also a combined (80 and 60 mm) charge of forged alloy steel balls (B), four identical parallel mills were charged accordingly. These four mills were sampled during a period of six months. The amount of material finer than 75 microns of cyclone overflows was selected as a criterion for the performance evaluation. It was observed that in a mill with the combined make-up balls the amount of fine produced was 4% higher than the other mills. The consumption of ball types A, C and D were 730, 710 and 534 g/t, respectively. The results of laboratory flotation tests showed that due to an improvement in the production of fines an increase of 1.4% in the overall copper recovery is obtainable. Due to the promising results, the new make-up ball regime was implemented in all mills in the plant.INTRODUCTIONThe Sarcheshmeh copper ore body which may rank as third or fourth largest in the world contains 1 billion tonnes averaging 0.90 % copper and 0.03 % molybdenum. It is located southeast of Iran and has been processing 40,000 t/d of ore since 1982. The mine produces 100,000 tonnes of copper and 2,200 tonnes of molybednite concentrate per year. After three stages of crushing, the ore with a F80 of 12.7 mm is fed to 8 parallel ball mills in closed circuit with cyclones to produce a product 70% finer than 75 microns. The concentrate of the first stage of flotation is reground and the tailing constitutes the main component of the plant final tailings. A concentrate with an average grade of 31% Cu is obtained after cleaning and re-cleaning stages. Total recovery of the plant varies between 83 and 87 % depending on the operating conditions and ore type."

Jan 1, 2002

By D. M. Weinberg, S. R. Novascone, R. R. Reynolds, J. H. Cole, C. D. Christensen

The mechanical properties of the rocks surrounding an orbital vibrator alter the shape and amplitude of the vibrator’s orbit. Detecting these changes with driving point impedance measurements promises to reveal fractures and, possibly, identify the in situ stress state and significantly increase the depth that can be investigated. Our research emphasis has been on detecting vertical fractures through casing. Experimental and numerical results to date indicate that our new logging tool has excellent potential for determining both the vertical extent and azimuthal orientation of such fractures. Fracture and in situ stress orientations are useful in mine planning.

Jan 1, 2002

By A. Demirci, A. Keçeciler, Y. S. Durutürk

"This paper deals with the results of the variation of thermal conductivity of rocks with pressure on a laboratory scale. For this purpose, the authors have added a pressure-supplying unit to the apparatus developed by Mousset-Jones and McPherson (1986), Önder (1995), Ashworth and Ashworth (1979), and Innaurato and Occella (1989) in order to measure the thermal conductivity under pressure. The values obtained from the tests performed by this new apparatus have been stated using a regression analysis and the related graphs have been drawn. Results have shown that the thermal conductivity of rock varies digressively with pressure. The same results have been obtained in different rocks types. IntroductionOne of the most important tasks of mining engineers is that of establishing, maintaining and sustaining safe and healthy working conditions in underground mines.Heat can have a profound effect on safe and healthy working conditions and is one of the main problems in deep underground mines. In this regard, the temperature of the air passing through the mine openings increases steadily and causes a decrease in the efficiency of workers due to the unwanted physical effects to human bodies in the working area. At the same time, the hot and humid environment resulting from heat and temperature rise causes some important occupational diseases and increases the accident risks in the related openings."

Jan 1, 2002

By Nilce Alves Santos, Vânia Lúcia de Lima Andrade, Keila Lane Carvalho Gonçalves, Harold Wyslouzi1

"When confronted with the difficult decisions on advancing an exploration project to the feasibility and construction stages, it is important to know how various regions of the ore body will react in the milling and concentration processes. While bench scale test work is common and inexpensive, the results and information provided are somewhat limited due to the difficulty in accurately predicting the effects of recirculating middling streams or gradual changes in solution chemistry.Conventional Pilot Plants, processing 100 to 1,000 kg/hour of sample ore, provide the detailed engineering data required to develop a final process flowsheet and to size the equipment. They are, however, expensive to set-up and operate, and are really only viable for major projects that are well advancedIn the latter part of 1999, the Mineral Development Center at CVRD (MDC) purchased a new piece of mineral processing equipment which can run continuous flotation tests using drill core samples. To evaluate its performance, and to compare it with conventional testing methods, various types of flotation tests were carried out using two different types of copper ore. The limitations and advantages of open circuit and locked cycle bench tests, as well as the Mini Pilot Plant and the Conventional Pilot Plant were evaluated.Open circuit tests carried out at the bench scale only provide basic information. More complete and trustworthy information is obtained, in terms of the recirculation of flows and reaching a permanent and stable flotation regime, as the dynamics and complexity of the tests increases. The data obtained showed that the MPP’s metallurgical performance was equivalent to that of a conventional pilot plant."

Jan 1, 2002

By Eric Konigsmann

"The Pogo project is located on the Goodpaster River, 38 miles north of Delta Junction in east central Alaska. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Teck Corporation are planning to develop a 2,500 ton per day underground mine and mill at Pogo. A preliminary resource of 5.5 million ounces of gold has been identified in two flat lying lenses. An underground adit has been developed to facilitate underground drilling of the deposit and to provide samples for bench and pilot scale metallurgical testwork.Flowsheet development included the evaluation of several processing options. The final flowsheet selected includes SAGhall mill grinding, gravity concentration with intensive cyanidation and direct electrowinning, sulfide flotation with ultrafine regrinding, and cyanide leaching and CIP gold recovery from the flotation concentrates. Flotation tailings will be filtered for placement in a dry stack storage facility or disposed of as paste backfill underground. All of the CIP tailings will be disposed of underground as paste backfill. A pilot plant was carried out to evaluate the proposed flowsheet described above and to confirm the gravity recovery predictions.Great care was taken in the development of the flowsheet and site layout concepts to mitigate the environmental impact of the proposed operation. An overview of the site water management concepts is presented and the impact of water issues on the process flowsheet is discussed."

Jan 1, 2002

By J. A. Finch

"A method of sampling and presenting bubbles for imaging for use in full-size flotation cells is described. The device (bubble viewer) comprises a tube attached to a sealed glass viewing chamber. The assembly is first filled with frother-containing water (to prevent coalescence) and the tube immersed at the desired location below the froth. For a few minutes bubbles are collected in the viewer free from slurry and are readily imaged. To reduce bubble overlap and the problem of defining the plane of view, the viewing chamber has a sloped side. Bubbles rise, encounter this slope, spread into a single plane and slide up. This simple expedient virtually eliminates overlap and provides an unambiguous focus plane - the underside of the sloped glass. The bubble image is captured and processed to give size data. The bubble viewer has been employed at several concentrators on different types of flotation cells. Examples of the images are given. The impact of position in the cell and the effect of changing gas rate on bubble size are illustrated. This technique provides a sensitive measure of the effects of process variables on bubble size.INTRODUCTIONDespite the extensive use of flotation in the mineral processing industry, the methodology employed for cell design is largely based on empirical rules rather than on first principles. One of the main reasons for this state of affairs is that the local flow structures encountered in industrial-scale machines are very complex. These flow structures are difficult to simulate under the controlled conditions of the laboratory and the difficulty to solve the mathematical models that treat the randomness of such flows also mean theoretical treatment is limited. Understanding flotation cell hydrodynamics requires reliable data, which involves the implementation of measurement techniques capable of performing both at the laboratory- and the industrial-scale, In addition, it is desirable that such techniques are amenable to automation to reduce extensive manual intervention in the data collection process."

Jan 1, 2002

By P. R. Clifford

Phosphogypsum is a byproduct of the manufacture phosphoric acid. There are approximately one billion tons of phosphogypsum stored in stacks in northern and central Florida. The Florida Institute of Phosphate Research (FIPR) is investigating potential uses of phosphogypsum. These include using phosphogypsum as a road base material, as a soil amendment in agriculture, as a daily cover in landfills, and as a construction material. The results of this research will be presented and will be discussed in light of regulatory barriers to the use of phosphogypsum.

Jan 1, 2002

By M. E. Kuchta

Research is currently being conducted at the Colorado School of Mines in the use of high-pressure water for scaling down loose rocks in underground mine openings. In addition to improved miner safety, the adhesion strength of shotcrete applied to rock surfaces treated with high-pressure water is also increased significantly resulting in improved overall support capabilities of the shotcrete layer. Test results show an increase in adhesion strength by a factor of four on a concrete test wall cleaned with water at 21 Mpa (3000 psi) as compared to a surface cleaned at 0.7 Mpa (100 psi).

Jan 1, 2002

By Tim O’Neil

If you build a big truck, build a big tire to match it. Let that haulage synergy aid the economics, productivity and lessened maintenance for the unit. Now, Cater-pillar and Michelin have done just that. Discussions began in 1996. Caterpillar was making plans for its 797 ultra-class haul truck. The development team realized the need for a tire that could withstand extreme loads. The 797 would weigh 558 t (615 st) and be capable of 64 km/h (40 mph) speeds. So Caterpillar approached Michelin. The two companies realized the benefits of jointly developing a tire for the 797.

Jan 1, 2002

By Jean Cayouette

"In 1995, Louvicourt Mine started one of the first paste backfill operations in Canada. From 500,000 tonnes in 1995, the annual paste backfill tonnage produced reached 800,000 tonnes in 1999. The maximum throughput of the surface plant (including binders) is 3,50Ot/d with a final density of 75 to 76% solids which gives a slump of 15 to 17cm. Following the start-up of the paste backfill plant, the backfill strength performance levels were well below the pilot plant’s predictions. The introduction of ferrous slag, laboratory tests on various binder ratios with or without additives, and the desliming of the tailings enabled us to optimize the mix and operation costs. Primary and secondary stopes are filled respectively with a paste containing 4.5% and 2% binders consisting of a mixture of 20% cement and 80% ferrous slag. In certain stopes, the binder ratio may vary from 2 to 7%, but always in a ratio of 80/20. Six years after start-up, or 4.5mt of paste backfill later, this paper discusses the present operation and the major changes that have occurred over the years to optimize both the operation and the paste fill quality.INTRODUCTIONLouvicourt Mine is operated by Aur Resources Inc. which owns 30% of the shares. Its partners are Novicourt Inc. (45%, subsidiary of Noranda Inc.) and Teck Corporation (25%). The mine is located in the north-west part of Quebec, about 600 km north of Montreal and about 25 km east of Val d’Or. The mine commenced commercial production in July 1994."

Jan 1, 2002

By R. Hedin, M. Dunn

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (US EPA 319 program) provided funding to aid a public-private effort in the installation of an environmentally-friendly system to treat abandoned mine drainage at Jennings Environmental Education Center (Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources). Through this cooperative effort among state and federal agencies, mining, excavation, and environmental companies, college and home school students, Girl Scouts, and volunteers, a successful multi-component passive system, readily accessible for upgrades and public education/research activities, was built. 90 people were directly involved in construction of this award-winning system and about 1000 people annually benefit from the educational opportunities.

Jan 1, 2002

Core samples, which were collected by the author from the Busang prospect, East Kalimantan, reflect a progressive evolution of a large magmatic-related hydrothermal system that is comparable to that encountered in many similar systems elsewhere in the Pacific region. The initial, localized deposition of sheeted porphyry quartz-molybdenite veins took place at high temperatures and fluid salinities, and at relatively deep levels. This was followed by an extensive phase of phyllic (sericite-quartz-pyrite ¦ tourmaline-apatite) wallrock replacement and vein formation. Propylitic (epidote-chlorite-carbonate-quartz) alteration was formed marginal to the phyllic assemblages. These porphyry-related events were centred in the Southeast Zone, and are probably associated with the emplacement of a felsic intrusion at depth. This event contributed only trace gold to the system. The early stages of hydrothermal activity were followed by an episode of quartz (¦ adularia) û carbonate û base metal sulfide veining, which was accompanied by argillic (illitic-kaolin clay) wallrock alteration. This event was sulfide-rich in the Central Zone and carbonate-dominated in the Southeast Zone. Gold mineralisation was observed in Central Zone drillcore to be associated with both sulfide, as well as carbonate, deposition. A final stage of epithermal-style quartz ¦ stibnite û realgar veins are, in the Central Zone, locally gold-bearing. The latter two events are interpreted to be associated with the late-stage exsolution of metal-bearing brines from the felsic intrusion that formed the earlier porphyry quartz-molybdenite veins and widespread phyllic-propylitic alteration.

Jan 1, 2002

By A. Cole, F. Porretta

Barrick Gold recently implemented an oxygen roasting process to treat carbonaceous ore from its Goldstrike property in Nevada. One of the key project challenges was the design of the roaster gas cleaning system, which was driven by the requirements of a strict air permit and the need to achieve very high reliability. The roaster gas systems include multiple stages of wet particulate collection, a dual alkali SO2 scrubber, mercury scrubbing, CO oxidation and NOx reduction. This paper describes the gas system, the influence of regulations on project implementation, and performance of the system.

Jan 1, 2002

With the advent of the resources boom in the late 1960s most of the larger scale resources projects in Australasia were commissioned on an æowner miningÆ basis, where the mine owners owned and operated the primary mining equipment. Then, in the 1980s with the arrival of the gold mining boom in Western Australia and elsewhere, a change occurred û most of the mining activities were carried out on a contract mining basis. Over recent years, however, there has been a marked trend amongst larger Australasian open pit mining operations back towards owner-controlled and operated mining operations. The reasons for this are many and are addressed in the paper, but centre on the concept of the owner being prepared to assume more of the mining risk in exchange for the advantage of not having to pay a contractorÆs profit margin. Where mining contracts are entered into, the older æschedule of ratesÆ format is being replaced with less adversarial and more entrepreneurial contract alternatives involving operating cost and risk sharing in a spirit of æfair dealingÆ. Leasing and maintenance issues have also been influenced in recent years by the advent of more flexible contract arrangements with equipment suppliers. Group purchasing has also had some influence for project operators. For many mine owners, the optimal risk management profile involves a practical offsetting of the assumption of mining risk on the one hand, against the removal of litigation risk and potentially reduced operating costs on the other. Potential pitfalls may arise where equipment size and type requirements vary with time or where manpower management, mining flexibility, job skills or safety exposure factors are relevant. These issues are commented on in the context of some well known examples, and an update is provided on contract mining versus owner operation in large scale Australasian open pit mining generally.

Jan 1, 2002

By C Doblin

Any value addition to the mineral sands in the Murray Basin (Australia) will generate waste that needs to be disposed of safely. For example, conversion of ilmenite and synthetic rutile to titania (TiO2) pigment would generate large amounts of environmentally undesirable elements. Processing of U+Th containing zircon sands to zirconia or to higher purity zircon would generate a low-level radioactive waste. In this study it is proposed that one way to circumvent the waste problem could be to contain such waste in magnesium-based (Sorel) cements. Containment of waste in magnesium cements is an attractive idea especially for the mineral sand processing companies that could operate in the Murray Basin in the future, because the required magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride may be made cheaply from the saline waters encountered during mining operations. The magnesium cement production process is also far less energy intensive than the Portland cement production process. The results of this study indicate that mixing a waste stream with a slurry of magnesium cement before being discharged to the disposal area would contain the waste in a æconcrete-likeÆ structure, resistant to dispersion by wind and moderate rain. However, some loss of strength and increased leaching of impurities, Mg and Cl could take place in wet climate areas. Ongoing research is being concentrated to develop a new process for making water-resistant magnesium cement.

Jan 1, 2002

By Yasunori Kosaka, Junya Tokita, Aramaki Shosaku, Inoue Junji

Light ANFO that satisfies blasters and customers who want to reduce the amount of explosive consumption without changing blasting effects and designs and passes Cap sensitivity test regulated by law. The reduced loading density of light ANFO reduces the amount of explosive consumption. The loading density of conventional ANFO is 0.X-0.9g/ml, while the loading density of light ANFO is 0.7-OXgiml. The detonation velocity of light ANFO is maintained not to reduce blasting effects. Detonation velocity of conventional and light ANFO using steel tube of inside diameter 36 mm are 3200 - 37OOms. detonation velocities are the same though the loading density of light ANFO is reduced by O.lg/ml. This suggests that the reactivity of light ANFO improves.

Jan 1, 2002

By J Temos

This paper outlines a number of immediate practical approaches to continuous improvement in environmental management in the minerals industry. It puts these into context with longer time-frame step-change approaches whose gestation may take a decade. Examples of improvements and approaches are drawn from WMC operations.

Jan 1, 2002

By J Weir

Accurate sampling of slurry streams is extremely important for metallurgical accounting in mining operations, not only for measuring the ore grade from the mine, but also for measuring the recovery of mineral by the mineral processing plant. Accurate sampling is also required for intermediate streams in complex circuits for determining efficiencies of processing units within the plant. As the profitability of the minerals industry is squeezed more with time, greater emphasis is being placed on efficient use of the resource and accountability of the various sections of the mining operations. This has led to increased awareness and interest in obtaining statistically correct sampling across the operations. Accurate sampling is not only required for metallurgical accounting, but is also required for on-line analysis of the slurry streams for elemental analysis and for particle size. Sampling of slurry streams for metallurgical accounting purposes has traditionally been one of the areas of concern in mineral processing plants. In the first instance, the sampler must be designed to comply with the fundamental principles of sampling theory and must provide a representative sample of the slurry stream. In the second instance, the sampler must continue to reliably provide a representative sample, regardless of wear of the equipment or build up of solids with time and other operating issues. To-date the main type of sampler that has been used in mineral processing plants for metallurgical accounting has been the Cross-Cut sampler. These have a cutter that periodically cuts across the full slurry stream. For large flow slurry streams, these are often followed by a secondary and perhaps a tertiary sampler, to reduce the flow-rate or sample, to a manageable size. This paper discusses a new method of sampling slurry streams that has been developed by Thermo Gamma-Metrics, previously known as Amdel Instrumentation. The new samplers overcome many of the problems associated with cross-cut samplers while providing a sample which is representative of the main stream, throughout the life of the sampling system. The sampler is called the SamStat (Sampling Station) and it is now proven in many applications across many countries and mineral processing plants (PGMs, Cu/Au, Pb/Zn, etc).

Jan 1, 2002