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By John E. Miller

In recent years there has been increasing concern in the mining industry over the availability and high cost of diesel fuel to support mining operations. Unit Rig & Equipment Co. has been deeply involved with the development and testing of the newest designs for trolley assist. Beginning in dune 1980, Unit Rig modified and commissioned six 156 metric ton (170 short ton) trolley assist haulage trucks at two mine locations in South Africa. Operating haulage trucks with General Electric GTA 15E/776 drive systems were chosen for the tests since this size of truck represented the majority of the population of large size haulage trucks and the greatest technical development problems. Test operations have proven the feasibility of equipment designs in actual operation and preliminary economic data has convinced the operators to proceed with planning to modify their entire mining operation to use trolley assist. The initial capital investment incurred for trolley assist can be recovered in a short period of time. Following this quick capital recovery, mines will continue to realize lower operating costs through increased productivity and lower diesel consumption.

Jan 1, 1980

By Adam Bedell, Brad Crenshaw

Tunnel project contract documents often present groundwater infiltration requirements for components of the underground portions of the project. All too often these documents require quantifiable target inflows for these components, but only refer to them in subjective terms such as “dry,” “manageable,” etc. The Contractor’s definition of these terms will inevitably differ from the Engineer’s definition of these terms. The purpose of this paper is to look at common subjective terms used in documents and provide suggestions for reasonable quantifiable language. Additionally, the paper will provide information and recommendations on relative levels of cost and effort increase needed to provide increasing levels of water cutoff (i.e., achieve “dryness”?).

Dec 1, 2022

By D. R. Gibbons

This morning I would like to speak to you about an area of chemistry that is enjoying a revival-organometallic compounds. This renewed interest, principally stimulated by defense needs, has already created new markets for the products of the mineral industry. Although the consumption of metals in these new products is modest at oresent, several hold promise of importance. Because this is a new and growing market, I am sure the Council of Economics is aware of many of its facets and is interested in new developments. Of course, the chemical industry has been a significant consumer of minerals for many years. I estimate that in 1957 the chemical-industry purchased a total of $1175 million worth of minerals as raw materials (not including fuels). This estimate can be broken down as follows: [Metals and metallic minerals $375 million Nonmetallic minerals (excluding hydrocarbons ) 330 million Hydrocarbons 470 million $1175 million]

Jan 1, 1958

By C. H. Bucknam

Acid neutralization titrations were applied to the characterization of soil and overburden for the control and prediction of acid rock drainage in the coal fields of the eastern United States in the 1970?s (1). These became known as the Sobek methods as a result of the early United States Environmental Protection Agency publication and the methods have been modified (2) to be adapted to many applications in the metal mining sector (3,4,5,6,), and, as a result, there are a large number of acid neutralization potential methods being used that are referred to as Modified Sobek methods. Standardization of neutralization potential methods for metal bearing ores and related materials based on carbonate carbon, rather than titration, commenced in the 1990?s through the American Society of Methods and Materials (ASTM) Committee E01 on Analytical Chemistry for Metal Ores and Related Materials Subcommittee E01.02 on Ores, Concentrates and Related Metallurgical Materials (7). A subcommittee section, E01.02.05 on Environmental Methods, was organized to coordinate the method and material standardization efforts of ASTM and the Acid Drainage Technology Initiative Metal Mining Sector (ADTI-MMS) Prediction Committee (8), which took on the project of standardization of the acid neutralization potential acidity titration method (ANPA) to supplement the carbonate carbon method in E1915 (9) for application to samples which have metal carbonates (10), in particular, which result in overestimation of the neutralization potential using the carbonate carbon methods (11).

Jan 1, 2010

By Cyrus W. Field

Chemical, mineralogical, and petrographic data have been obtained for suites of plutonic rock samples from the Guichon Creek Batholith of British Columbia and the Mineral-Iron Mountain-Sturgill Peak- Cuddy Mountain-Peck Mountain areas of western Idaho. Intrusions at these two geographically separate localities represent composite plutons ranging from early gabbro through quartz diorite to late grano- diorite and more silicic-alkalic phases. They are early Mesozoic (200 m.y.) in age, and contain porphyry-type mineralization in close spatial and temporal association with late-stage intrusions of porphyry, aplite, pegmatite, and (or) breccia. Country rocks are eugeo-synclinal assemblages of metasedimentary and metavolcanic greenstones of Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic age. The petrochemical evolution of these intrusions, and the effects of subsequent hydrothermal alteration and metallization, are illustrated by standard ternary diagrams of the major oxide and mineralogical data. Samples plotted on an AFM diagram suggest a calc-alkaline magma trend. However, their distributions on NKC and Qz-Kf-Pf diagram show well-defined trondhjemitic (Na20-rich) and tonalitic (quartz-rich) variants to this trend, which are similar in part to those reported for mineralized island arc plutons of the northern Caribbean and southwest Pacific, but which contrast markedly to those for continental plutons of the Bingham District, Boulder Batholith, districts of southern Arizona, and elsewhere.

Jan 1, 1975

By F. B. Henderson III

Since the "end" of the Cold War, revolutionary new research and commercial remote sensing capabilities are being developed that will dramatically change the way we map the earth and address its environmental problems. The technology challenge is not the growth of new environmental remote sensing technologies themselves. It is, rather, how these new innovative observing systems can be accepted and used to the benefit of both the regulatory and the mining communities in the light of present concerns about unknown risks of discovery and liability. The basis for this paper is an unpublished technology primer prepared for the industry-government Workshop on Advanced Measurement and Site Characterization for Mining Impacts held at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, July 14-17, 1997

Jan 1, 1999

By B. Cavender

Investments in new technology are often intended to improve the production or cost performance of existing operations. The economics used to justify these projects can be flawed, however, if they do not adequately consider the potential benefits of the alternative: the fully optimized use of the facility's present equipment and personnel. While new technology can be effective, dramatic improvements in production performance can also be achieved through the rigorous application of standard industrial engineering and operations management practices. An intermediate approach may also be effective: many basic improvements in the mine or plant necessary to support new technology will be equally effective when implemented for the facility's present operators. Firms that optimize their present operations are able to save the capital and avoid the risk associated with new technology. These firms will also be able to capitalize more quickly on new technology when it is implemented.

Jan 1, 2000

By R. Bruce Thorndycraft

This paper will describe several modifications to design of con­ventional oxide gold heap leaching. They are targeted at reduc­ing costs and simplifying heap operations. These modifications were conceptualized during consulting work on over 90 differ­ent heap leaches. In 1995, a unique opportunity arose to imme­diately apply all of these design concepts to the permitting and construction of a new facility at the American Girl Mine in southeastern California. American Girl Mine has operated since 1987. In April 1995, the mine faced a situation with grave consequences for cash flow. Approval for mining of a new ore zone, Oro Cruz, had just been granted, after lengthy delays by California regula­tors. All existing pad space would be filled by October. Only 6 months were available, and new pad siting and design were still undecided. Permitting of a new pad had not begun. Options were quickly reviewed. A strong criteria for pad site selection and design was ease of permitting. There was also a strong desire to install a system that would achieve better met­allurgical recovery and reduced operating costs, compared to previous heaps at this mine. One site offered the best chance for rapid permitting. It was the site of the original 1987-90 heap leach. This already dis­turbed ground contained 1.6 million tons of heaped ore. The old heap had just completed detoxification and was about to be signed off as a Group C waste, ready for reclamation. Instead of recontouring and revegetating the old heap, which the reclamation plan anticipated, we offered BLM and the County something even better. We proposed to off-load much of the detoxed old heap, and reuse the space. The off-loaded material would be back-filled into the original open pit, imme­diately adjacent. While the footprint of the proposed new pad was much larger, the reuse of disturbed ground, and backfilling of the open pit, had very strong appeal to the regulators. Our permitting strategy included the technical design of the proposed new facility. Many of the new design details also appealed to the regulators, particularly the "zero active ponds" concept.

Jan 1, 1996

By Colin J. Douch

New Zealand has been a significant producer of gold for over a century. Total recorded production is over 850 tonnes. There were three major periods of production: the first and biggest was between 1860 and 1880, the second was between 1895 and 1920 and the third was between 1930 and 1945. After 1945 gold production fell continually until 1980 when the major upward adjustment in gold price led to renewed interest. There have been important new developments in each of the known gold-rich areas: Westland, Otago and Coromandel and exploration for gold in these areas and in previously unprospected regions has reached unprecedented levels. In Westland over 140 gold processing plants are each producing between two and six ounces a day from low-grade placers. A major gold dredging operation will soon be producing over a tonne of gold annually and other new dredges are proposed. There are still vast reserves of gold-bearing gravels in Westland and prospecting is continuing to reveal new resources. In the Reefton area there is renewed interest in gold-bearing quartz reefs which were the source of over a million ounces of gold between 1900 and 1951. New large opencast reserves are now defined.

Jan 1, 1988

By W. C. Shanks

The Pioche District of Lincoln County in southeastern Nevada (Figures 1 and 2) has been an historically important producer of silver, zinc, and lead. Economic geology of districts in the Pioche area is summarized most adequately in recent reports by Tschanz and Pampeyan (1) and Gemmill (2) and only a few major aspects will be discussed here. Production in the Pioche District began in 1869 and early mining concentrated on silver-bearing fissures in lower Cambrian quartzites. In the early 1870's the Pioche District was second only to the Comstock Lode in world silver production (3). More recent mining activities have centered on the other major ore type in the area, bedded replacement of lower Cambrian carbonates by Ag-Zn-Pb sulfide ore. Production of replacement ore peaked around 1950. The present study is focused on the Pan American Mine because it is an excellent example of low grade carbonate replacement deposits, because there is little structural dismemberment, and because access was readily available. Most previous workers have suggested that both the fissure vein deposits and the bedded replacement deposits of the Pioche districts are a result of spatially related Laramide igneous activity. The purpose of this study is to determine whether ore genesis is a result of igneous activity or if mineralization might be related to late diagenetic processes such as formed Mississippi Valley "type" deposits. Stable isotopes of sulfur, carbon, and oxygen in ore and gangue minerals have been studied to determine the probable isotopic composition of the ore fluid and paleomagnetic studies of the carbonate rocks have been utilized to determine timing of mineralization. Additionally, petrographic and field studies of carbonate lithologies were undertaken in an attempt to delineate non-structural controls on ore localization. These studies are still proceeding and the results presented herein are, therefore, preliminary in nature.

Jan 1, 1979

By Michael Traylor, Michael Jatczak, Brett Robinson

The Detroit River Outfall No. 2. is an effluent water conveyance system linking the Detroit Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Detroit River. The 6.4m (21ft) finished diameter tunnel extends 1,890m (6,200ft) east from the bottom of a 91m(300ft) deep, 9.2m (30ft) diameter drop shaft. At the eastern terminus of the tunnel, six Riser Shafts connect the tunnel to diffuser heads on the riverbed. The tunnel runs through a highly fractured Limestone formation capable of producing high levels of groundwater in?ows and Hydrogen Sul?de gas. Control of this water and gas was a theme which ran through the entire Project’s design and construction. This paper will provide an overview of each portion of the Project’s construction, including the Entrance Shaft, Precast Concrete Segments, TBM Tunnel, Pre-Excavation Grouting Methods, and the Riser Shafts.

Jan 1, 2003

By William E. Lamont

As a part of the Department of the Interior's rutile and titaniferous materials development program conducted under the Defense Production Act, the Bureau of Mines investigated the potential for producing national stockpile grade rutile from plant products of phosphate beneficiation plants operating in the central Florida pebble phosphate district. The potential for producing ilmenite, zircon, and monazite concentrates from the plant products was also investigated. Results of these studies indicated that 3,000 to 6,000 tons of rutile, 28,000 to 55,000 tons of ilmenite, 9,000 to 19,000 tons of zircon, and 400 to 800 tons of monazite passed through the plant circuits annually. All of these minerals are presently being sent to waste ponds. Beneficiation of a bulk heavy mineral concentrate separated from the amine flotation tailing (froth product) of numerous plants in the district showed that it was possible to produce a rutile concentrate containing over 94 percent Ti02. Additional studies showed that over 70 percent of the Ti02 in the rutile concentrate could be isolated in a product containing 98.0 percent Ti02. The studies also showed that it was possible to produce ilmenite concentrates containing 63 percent Ti02, zircon concen¬trates containing 65 percent Zr02, monazite concentrates containing over 85 percent monazite [(Ce,La,Y,Th) (P04)], and xenotime concentrates containing over 35 percent xenotime (YPO4).

Jan 1, 1969

By Stanley R. Riggs

The rocks exposed in the phosphate district are of Neogene age and consist of clayey quartz and phosphorite sands overlying phosphatic dolomite. The Bone Valley Formation is redefined as a marine phosphorite containing primary phosphorite and abundant terrigenous sediments. It contains a Middle Miocene vertebrate and invertebrate fauna and conformably overlies the Hawthorn Formation containing similar invertebrate fauna. A new, unnamed formation, with Pliocene and Pleistocene fauna and containing reworked phosphorite, overlies the Bone Valley disconformably. Its phosphorite is derived from the subjacent Bone Valley by post-Middle Miocene erosion and deposition in stream channels and marginal marine environments. The Bone Valley contains two main types of primary marine phosphorite. Orthocbemical phosphorite, a direct precipitate of microcrystalline phosphorite (microsphorite), occurs as a cement or binder in thin beds. Allochemical phosphorite consists of clastic phosphorite particles that were originally formed as microsphorite on another part of the shelf. Microsphorite was deposited in a very shallow open marine environment which had an abnormally high phosphorous content caused by upwelling currents. The mechanism of deposition is still in doubt, but organisms probably were a major factor. Soon after deposition, microsphorite was indurated, periodically torn up, and the resulting fragments transported and deposited elsewhere on the shelf. These processes account for a great portion of the clastic phosphorite in the Miocene deposits of Florida. The primary fossil skeletal material is of minor importance.

Jan 1, 1965

By A. Iordanidis

Mining activities have recently been taken place in Vourinos mountain, northern Greece, exploiting the so-called ?olivinite?. A representative sample was collected from this mining area. Mineralogical analysis was conducted using X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD). A thin section was prepared and analyzed under optical microscope. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) was employed for the chemical analyses of major, mi-nor and trace elements. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with energy dispersive x-ray analysis system (ESEM-EDX) was also applied for the characterization of the sample. Forsterite (Mg-rich olivine) and enstatite (Mg-rich orthopyroxene) were the main mineral phases determined by XRD, with a 56% and 44% content respectively. Trace amounts of chromite spinels were also determined. Based on this characterization, the industrial rock proved to be a hartzburgite (a type of peridotite in petrological terms). Optical microscopy and ESEM-EDX provided similar observations and confirmed the above-mentioned results. XRF revealed a composition of 43.31 MgO, 44.25 SiO2, 9.98 Fe2O3, 1.40 CaO, 0.67 Al2O3, 0.22 MnO, 0.01 TiO2 and negligible amount of LOI (<0.1%). Trace elements with high concentrations were Cr (2678 ppm) and Ni (2044 ppm). The comprehensive characterization of this mining product suggested the suitability for various uses, such as refractories, foundry and slag conditioner. Additional experiments are being carried out for environmental applications, e.g. wastewater treatment.

Jan 1, 2006

By Lynne Chastain

The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming are interested in developing their industrial mineral resources. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Division of Energy and Mineral Resources (DEMR) is assisting the tribes in evaluating the potential of their industrial mineral prospects for development. Gypsum occurs on both sides of the Owl Creek Mountains in the basal portion of the Jurassic Gypsum Springs Formation. The gypsum resources that are being evaluated crop out along the northern flank of the Owl Creek Mountains in the Sweetwater basin, a small topographic sub-basin of the Big Horn Basin. From October 1998, to April 1999, DEMR personnel mapped, sampled, and drilled the southcentral butte within the Sweetwater basin. Samples were analyzed for free and combined water, and major mineral oxides to determine gypsum purity. Gypsum purity averaged 93.6 percent for surface samples and 95.1 percent for drill core samples. The basal portion of the Gypsum Springs Formation is comprised of several beds of gypsum up to 9 feet (2.7 m) thick separated by 0.5 to 2.0 foot (0.15 to 0.61 m) thick lenses of siltstone and limestone. Overall gypsum in the formation ranges from 35 to 90 feet (11 to 27 m) in thickness. A resource of approximately 7 million short tons (st) (6.4 million metric tons [mt]) has been identified.

Jan 1, 2001

By Dennis P. Bryan

Nevada is especially well endowed with industrial minerals, both in the number of ore deposits and the diversity of commodities. More than 600 significant industrial mineral deposits, containing 22 principal commodities, are present, in the State. The materials produced in Nevada in 1978 had a value of approximately 113 million dollars, and additional processing of some of them (e.g. gypsum into wallboard, limestone and clay into cement) added considerable more value. Table 1 shows the value of Nevada&apos;s industrial mineral production in 1978. Nevada currently supplies 85 percent of the country&apos;s barite producing 1.6 million tonnes (1.8 million short tons) valued at 30 million dollars in 1978. Nevada is second in diatomite production and contributes one-third of total lithium produced. Other industrial minerals being produced include clays, fluorspar, gypsum, lightweight aggregates, limestone and dolomite, magnesite and brucite, perlite, salt, sand and gravel, and silica. In general, Nevada produces high-value industrial minerals which are not consumed within the State, but rather, are shipped out of State. In contrast, most more populous states produce larger tonnages of lower value industrial minerals which are consumed chiefly within that state.

Jan 1, 1980

By John Callahan

A stream sediment (minus 80-mesh and minus 60-mesh panned concentrates) and lithogeochdcal survey for gold did not locate any Triassic-age placer deposits in the northern Wadesboro and southern Sanford basins in North Carolina. A stream sediment geochemical program for uranium funded by the North Carolina Energy Institute did identify one and anomalous site (8.5 ppm U; 5 ppm Th) near Covenington, North Carolina and eighteen possibly anomalous sites (1-1.6 ppm U) . Five of the eighteen samples with uranium levels in the 1-1.6 ppm range have high thorium levels (112-853 ppm) and may indicate a monazite source for the uranium. Gold values as high as .83 ppm in the stream sediments and 9.3 ppm in the panned concentrates were obtained during the survey. Small (<.5mm) flattened grains of gold (1-4 grains) were observed along with coarse kyanite and/or monazite in some of the panned concentrates. A distinctive pattern of high gold values in the sediments was observed in the vicinity of Mangum, N. C. where Minard (13) reported values as high as 2.1 ppm £ram a Triassic lithology. Follow-up gold analyses on over 400 rock samples from twenty-eight exposures near Mangum failed to obtain any high values (<55 ppb). The presence of coarse kyanite, monazite and gold in panned concentrates may be from a source younger than the Triassic lithologies that the streams currently drain or adjacent Paleozoic rocks.

Jan 1, 1979

By John H. Smith

Because of increased pressure from Federal & State Regulatory Agencies, most acid flows will require some sort of treatment prior to being discharged to receiving streams. In many industries, the volumes of liquors are large and their acid content varied. Pressure to minimize costs of waste treatment equipment and land usage makes development of a treatment process incorporating these desires mandatory. "Standard" methods of acid neutralization with lime have been known for years, however, the volume and characteristics of the resultant precipitated solids can create a disposal problem. Also, when standard lime treatment is used, the settling characteristic of the precipitated solids is normally slow. In some instances, the necessity of added dissolved solids removal, (such as iron, needing aeration) add to the problem of concentrating neutralized solids. In a paper published in the September 1970 issue of "Coal Age," *the results of extensive test work by personnel of the Homer Research Laboratories of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bethlehem Pa., were reported. This paper dealt specifically with development of a flow sheet to treat acid mine drainage (hereafter referred to as AMD) from coal mine operations. Regulations on discharged water required basic pH and low dissolved iron content after treatment. Liquid flows of over 9 MGD from

Jan 1, 1972

By Jason Saldanha, Andrew Evans, Jonathan Baber

"INTRODUCTION The need for a new road crossing at Silvertown is the result of three key drivers:- •,Severe congestion and delay at the Blackwall Tunnel and surrounding road network; •,A lack of network resilience and reliability resulting from a lack of alternative road crossings in east London and the impacts of unplanned closures; and •,The need to support substantial economic development in east and south-east London (jobs and homes) These drivers directly informed the main objectives for a road-based river-crossing solution. The traffic-related problems at Blackwall Tunnel are long-standing and before Transport for London (TfL) assumed control for the strategic road network in London in 2000 the Department for Transport (formerly Dept of Transport) had investigated various relief options including a third tunnel bore and new bridge. This resulted in a new crossing alignment being safeguarded (by direction of the Secretary of State for Transport) and this was refreshed in 2001 in favor of TfL. In recent years (since 2009) TfL as part of the East London River Crossings Programme has undertaken detailed optioneering and feasibility work to address the above ‘need’. This led to the conclusion that a new road tunnel would offer the best solution in preference to bridge, ferry or demand management options. In 2012, in response to a formal request by the Mayor of London, the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed a new road crossing at Silvertown as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by Section 35 direction under the Planning Act 2008. This NSIP designation meant that TfL as scheme promoter must comply with the National Rail and Road Networks National Policy Statement (NNNPS) and must seek the necessary powers to build and operate the crossing by means of a Development Consent Order (DCO) under the Planning Act 2008."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. Yao

Synthetic indium-bearing zinc ferrite (IBZF) was mechanically activated by a tumbling mill. Subsequently, the behavior and kinetics of leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF in sulfuric acid solution were investigated. The results demonstrate that the tumbling ball milling enhances the leaching reactivity of IBZF and increases the zinc and indium extractions. The reaction temperature and H2SO4 concentration have an important effect on leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF. The kinetic model -ln(1-x) = kt was used to describe the kinetics of leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF and to calculate the kinetic parameters. The tumbling ball milling causes a decrease in activation energy and reaction order, which indicates that the dissolution of IBZF after mechanical activation by a tumbling mill becomes less sensitive to temperature and H2SO4 concentration. For the zinc leaching, the activation energy decreases from 73.9 to 70.3 kJ/mol and the reaction order decreases from 0.72 to 0.70. For indium leaching, the activation energy decreases from 78.1 to 73.5 kJ/mol and the reaction order decreases from 0.82 to 0.69. It is found that the dissolution rates of the initial IBZF and activated IBZF are controlled by surface chemical reactions.