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By G. M. Bentel, G. E. Blight

The environmentally acceptable disposal of fine-particled mining and industrial wastes by the formation of hydraulic- fill slimes dams is becoming an increasingly important aspect of the total mining endeavour. Relatively little is known of the behaviour of waste slurries during deposition. This paper describes and analyses the following aspects of slurry behaviour: (i) the relationship between viscosity, shear strength, and water content, (ii) the slope assumed by a thickened slurry, (iii) particle-size sorting on a hydraulicfill beach, (iv) gradients of hydraulic-fill beaches, and (v) internal erosion during the deposition of slurry. v083n04p073.pdf

Jan 1, 1983

The 90th Annual General Meeting of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy was held at Kelvin House, Johannesburg, on 19th August, 1987. Dr H. Wagner (President) was in the Chair and declared the meeting open at 16h00. Obituaries The President read out the names of the departed Members as follows: N.M. Airey, F.J. Kisbey-Green, Dr R.A. Pelletier, C.B. Anderson, A.R. Cator, J. van Heerden, P.J. Burman, C.C. Crosson, M. Livingstone¬Blevins, S.T. Firman, V.E. Kisbey-Green, and A.L. Corna. All stood and observed a moment of silence as a mark of respect. Minutes The minutes of the 89th Meeting of the SAIMM, which was held on 20th of August, 1986, were confirmed.

Jan 1, 1987

By H. A. Uys

The metallurgy of tin smelting In a submerged arc furnace By H. A. UYS, Ing. Metallurgy (Pretoria) (Visitor) The control of tin smelting demands a knowledge of slag characteristics and of the equilibrium reaction that governs the process. These factors are explained by reference to the tin-smelting operation at Iscor, Vanderbijlpark. In the primary cycle, it is important to obtain the highest possible FeO content in the slag. In the secondary cycle, a primary slag high in FeO gives a hardhead (iron-tin alloy) high in iron, which is essential if a high ratio of FeO to SnO is to be obtained in the secondary slag. This determines the economy of the smelting operation: the iron that is introduced into the system from the ore concentrate must go out in the secondary slag. Additions of lime are necessary in the secondary cycle but must be limited if the volume of slag is to be kept Iow.

Jan 1, 1977

By P. M. Swash

A mineralogical investigation of the main causes of refractoriness of some metalurgicaly complex gold ores in South Africa is reported. It is shown that this refractoriness is related to the presence of submicroscopic gold, carbonaceous material, pyrhotite, and base-metal sulphides. Gold ores can be classified according to their content of these components. Electron-microprobe analysis shows that gold occurs in arsenopyrite and pyrite, the gold contents of which can be up to 2700 gft. The gold and arsenic contents of these minerals are closely corelated. Furthermore, within zoned arsenopyrite grains, the concentration of gold closely folows that of arsenic. Mossbauer spectroscopy caried out on samples of concentrate from the Barberton area indicates that the submicroscopic gold within the sulphides is in a non-metalic form. The mineralogical examination of beneficiation products is important, since it sheds light on some fundamental aspects of the behaviour of the ore and gangue components during milling and flotation. Such basic information will lead ultimately to a better understanding of the problems in the beneficiation of these ores. Investigations have shown that the overmiling of the auriferous arsenopyrite and the disseminated nature of the sulphide mineralization are the main problems during beneficiation.

Jan 1, 1988

The Annual General Meeting of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy was held in Kelvin House, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 27th August, 1980. Mr D. A. Viljoen (President) was in the chair and declared the meeting open at 4.05 p.m. Obituaries President: It is my sad duty to announce the death of the following members of the Institute: T. C. A. Meyer (Past President, 1941 to 1942); E. G. Harding, T. A. Stannard, C. T. Hardy, W. C. Jackson, J. S. Sinton, G. H. Duggan, H. H. A. Muller (Life Fellows); W. M. Frames, K. Gebhard, W. M. Walker, S. L. S. Swart, N. W. Stansmore, H. E. Allen, B. W. F. Towne, R. A. Wilson, D. Waterman (Fellows), R. M. Peterson (Life Member); D. L. Gibbs (Member); B. M. Williams (Asso¬ciate Member); D. B. T. Cresswell, P. G. Guernier (Associates). As a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, and in sympathy with the bereaved, please rise and observe a few moments of silence. Notules President: Kan ons die notules van die Algemene Jaar¬vergadering, wat op 22 Augustus 1979 gehou was en in die September uitgawe van ons Joernaal gepubliseer is, bevestig? Bevestig.

Jan 1, 1980

Letter to the Editor With reference to the recent questionnaire in the December 1980 issue on 'The Contents of Journals', I have made the following observations.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. Wagner

In 1980 The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy instituted the Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award to commemorate the outstanding contribution to the South African mining industry made by Brigadier R.S.G. Stokes, who was an Honorary Life Fellow and a Past President of the Institute.

Jan 1, 1986

By Pamela Binstead

The Institute's ninetieth anniversary was celebrated in grand style with a banquet and dance in the ballroom of the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg, on 22nd March. Some six hundred and thirty members and guests filled the room to capacity, and many remained to enjoy the festivities until well past midnight.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. R. Maclachlan

The Estimation of Fragmentation in Blast Muckpiles by Means of Standard Photographs, by H. van Aswegen and C.V.B. Cunningham. Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol.86,no. 12. pp. 469-474. Dec.1986.We have recently read the above paper and wish to make a number of observations.

Jan 1, 1988

By R. W. O. Kersten

The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy collaboration with the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, arranged a colloquium to inform mine management of the current state of knowledge on the rockburst hazard associated with geological structures. The Colloquium was held at Mintek on 4th June, 1986, and attracted approximately 240 delegates.

Jan 1, 1986

A. Sutherland Brown (ed.). Porphyry deposits of the Canadian Cordillera. The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Special Volume 17, 1976. C. G. Down and J. Stocks. Environmental impact of mining. G. B. Rothenberg. Refractory minerals. Park Ridge (V.S.A.), Noyes Data Corporation, 1976. Geology, mining and extractive processing of uranium. London, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 1977.

Jan 1, 1978

The International Colloquium on Developments in Froth Flotation, which replaced the Annual University of Cape Town (UCT)/University of Stelenbosch (US) Minerals Processing Symposium, was held at the Van Riebeeck Hotel in Gordon's Bay on 3rd and 4th August, 1989. The Colloquium attracted 150 delegates from the mining, metallurgical, and chemical industries, including 9 from overseas.

Jan 1, 1989

The authors and Iscor's management are to be congratulated on an interesting and detailed paper that discloses Iscor's philosophy, strategy, and action concerning what can also be termed productivity improvement. Aside from the pioneering work of Beeforth and Dicks regarding Dynamic Profitability Analysis at Vaal Reefs, there appears to be a shortage of papers on this topic from the mining groups.

Jan 1, 1990

By M. H. Kirchner

Trackless mining at Thabazimbi Mine by M. H. KIRCHNER*. Pr. Eng.. B.Sc.. B.Sc. (Elec. Eng.}(Stellenbosch). Dip. Mining (Pta.) Certain aspects ?f the' methods used in the exploitation, by sub-level caving, of a wide, tabular, steeply dipping orebody are described, reference being made to the use of modern mechanized equipment. Statistics relating to production and labour, as well as some geological details, are given.

By C. J. Van Niekerk, D. R. Allen

The electrolytic extraction of zinc at the Zinc Corporation of South Africa Limited by C. J. VAN NIEKERK, B.Se. (Hons.)(Poteh.), M.Se. (Unisa)(Fellow) and D. R. ALLEN, A. Met. (Sheffield) (Member) This paper gives a brief account of some modifications that were made to the process of zinc electrowinning practised by the Zinc Corporation of South Africa Limited. Some changes in the materials of construction are also described.

Jan 2, 1977

By O. Korhonen, T. Leskinen

The use of large OK-16 flotation machines at the concentrators of Outokumpu Oy by o. KORHONEN and T. LESKINEN(Visitors) The development ofthe OK-16 flotation machine is described briefly, and an account is given of its use at various concentration plants in Finland. The benefits arising from the use of larger flotation machines are listed, and the technical specification of the OK-16 machine is detailed in an appendix.

Jan 6, 1976

The 86th Annual General Meeting of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy was held in Kelvin House, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 17th August, 1983. Professor A. N. Brown (President) was in the chair, and declared the meeting open at 16h05. This account of the proceedings includes only those matters that are not reported under the heading `Annual report and accounts' elsewhere in this issue.

Jan 1, 1983

By H. L. Monro

CONTRIBUTION BY J. R. F. HANDLEY Mr Monro is to be congratulated on his concise treatment of a very complex subject. As a graduate with only Mathematics I in my curriculum, I am unable to comment on the mathematical treatment of the factors affecting his supply/demand model, but the logic does not escape me. The main conclusion is that any excess of supply to the spot gold market will depress the price in a normal market, and particularly in a falling market.

Jan 1, 1993

By H. V. R. Von Rahden

The expertise of the industrial mineralogist has not always been sufficiently used in decision-making in the minerals industry in South Africa. The mineralogist can make a contribution at al stages of the exploration programme, from the time of discovery of a geological target area, through metallurgical testwork and pilot-plant studies, to the production of a saleable product. This indicates that the activities of the industrial mineralogist should be more closely integrated with those of the exploration geologist and the extraction metallurgist in order to provide management with a meaningful picture of the economic potential of an ore deposit.

Jan 1, 1997

By M. J. Daly

Historically, engineers and scientists, particularly those involved in the coal-mining industry, have been slow to adopt statistical methods. However, the need to obtain the maximum information .from expensive exploration and development programmes, and the current focus on total quality management, have led to a change in perceptions if classical statistical and geostatistical methods and their application as planning tools. Some if the underlying issues associated with the generally poor communications between statisticians and engineers/physical scientists, which contribute to some if the misconceptions relating to statistical methods, are discussed The potentially profitable application if a number if statistical techniques in the fields if geological evaluation and mine planning! development is also reviewed, with specific reference to the coal industry.

Jan 1, 1995