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Mining steeply dipping coal seams is a difficult task. Prior to 1996, fully mechanized longwall mining methods along the seam strike direction were tried in China and other countries. Due to its larger coal reserve in steep seams, China made more, but still limited, progress on mining such seams than other major coal-mining countries. In the last two decades, accelerated research efforts have tried to improve the mining technology in steeply dipping coal seams. Based on this work, a dynamic model of a roof-support-floor (R-S-F) system under asymmetrical constraints in mining steep seams is established here, and a theory of strata control and hazard prevention is formed. The key technologies for mining steep coal seams include global and regional strata control methods in the longwall face; methods for the longwall face machines to sustain static and dynamic loads; and flexible protection technology. These theories and technologies have been successfully applied in China to the mining of steep coal seams of varying thickness and hardness, with hard and soft roof and floor, and with a high potential for spontaneous combustion. In recent years, the technology has been introduced to Russia, India, Uzbekistan and other countries where steep coal seams are mined.

Jan 1, 2013

By Tom Michaud, Rob Albinger, Ian Turner, Michael Rispin

Data transmission, communication, tracking, and the connection of equipment such as gas detectors, cameras, and collision avoidance systems in today's tunnel industry are critical pieces of the constructor's infrastructure. Reliability, flexibility, redundancy, and cost-effectiveness are key in selecting and implementing inte- grated systems. Both wired and wireless components are used to deliver custom solutions and can involve interconnectivity between backbones. Systems integration is important as industry adopts proven technologies from other industries. Case stud- ies are given showing how tailor-made approaches deliver needed functionality, with varying degrees of com- plexity, in various classifications of environment, in order to meet a project need.

Jun 23, 2024

By Anthony Iannacchione, Tim Miller, Nicole Evanek

The Subtropolis Mine is a room-and-pillar mine extracting the Vanport Limestone near Petersburg, OH. In February 2018, mine management began implementing a new mine layout to better control the negative effects of excessive levels of horizontal stress. Almost immediately, the conditions in the headings improved. Conversely, and as expected, stress-related damage was concentrated within crosscuts. Over the last 18 months, the mine operator has diligently experimented with different techniques/methods to lessen the impact of the instabilities in the outby crosscuts. The range of controls used by the mine operator include angled crosscuts, crosscut offsets, increased distance between crosscuts, arched crosscuts, cable-bolted crosscuts, altered blasting pattern, and windows. A window is used to resist roof deformation by leaving a strong brow of roof rock within the crosscuts.

By G. C. Anderson

The Cleveland Cliffs NOLA electronics and software upgrade is a Windows based system that simultaneously controls two Texas Nuclear NOLAs and associated sampling. It uses new spectrum analysis and algorithms to produce accurate, linear silica measurement with slurries that range from 5 through 50 percent solids. This linearity allows us to achieve a reproducible procedural calibration. The hardware consists of readily available shelf items, is extremely redundant and eliminates all NIM bus modules.

Jan 1, 2003

By Dale A. Bivens

INTRODUCTION The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is currently being constructed for the United States Department of Energy in SE New Mexico. The purpose of the project is to store low level transuranic waste in an underground environment which will ensure a safe atmosphere for the life of the stored waste. Ohbayashi was contracted by the DOE to sink two shafts and underground drift development which will be used to conduct a series of long term experiments in order to finalize the suitability of the geology and the environment for the transuranic waste storage. The two shafts sunk at the WIPP site were excavated around a borehole by conventional methods. The excavation around a borehole eliminates some of the established blind bottom sinking techniques, but creates unusual problems which must be pre-planned and scrutinized closely. An analysis of the slashing to the borehole technique will be given. WASTE SHAFT The waste shaft (w/s) is 5.8 meters (19 feet) in diameter and will be used primarily to transport the radioactive waste to the underground storage area. A pre-existing 1.83 meter (6 feet) diam borehole was taken to a depth of 655 meters (2150 feet) to the existing drift; at this level, a 38 meter (125 feet) sump was installed using blind bottom sinking techniques. Geology The primary geology for the w/s excavation is redbeds, anhydrites, dolomite, mudstone and

Jan 1, 1985

By Kenneth A. Grace

Introduction The 1980s have not been kind to the mining industry, especially in the United States. As mineral commodities prices plunged, marginal producers were squeezed out and then major players were forced to cut back or close down operations. Base metal miners suffered the most. Gold was all that glittered. As had been the case throughout min¬ing's history, exploration activity was an early victim of these depressed conditions. Mining companies had to economize drasti¬cally and exploration was deemed a nones¬sential activity. Funding for new explora¬tion ventures dried up as mining was seen as a poor investment. A national magazine even proclaimed the death of the industry. Indeed, ignoring matters of independ¬ence of supply and the relationship of min¬eral production to national security, it was argued that mining was but a small cog in the overall scheme of things in the United States. The industry made a relatively small contri¬bution to the gross national output. We were becoming a service industry economy, re¬member? But what of those countries where mining plays a major role in the economic well-being? In some, mining is the national economy. In a few specific cases, special conditions actually brought prosperity. Copper production in Chile is one example. There, high grade copper, low production costs, and a technically advanced industry reaped the benefits of mine closures else¬where. In most other cases, however, par¬ticularly in the lesser developed countries, whole economies were devastated. This article will show what one major mineral producer, Canada, did to ensure the survival and even growth of its minerals exploration activity during these lean years. Background While Canada is among the world's mining leaders, mining is not its dominant industry. Still, it plays a far more important role than in the United States. It is a major earner of foreign exchange, currently accounting for about 25% of the total value of exports. Through spinoffs and a multiplying effect, it is a significant employer. In the far north, particularly, mining is the major nongovernment industry and a leading factor in the opening up of frontier territory. The industry cannot be allowed to die because it is often the main economic underpinning for vast, remote areas. Thus, exploration for new deposits cannot be cur¬tailed significantly without it having a long¬term negative impact on the very fabric that melds such a large, sparsely-populated ex¬panse of country into a nation. Over the years, Canadian governments have employed various means to encourage the development of new mines. Often, these incentives were tax-oriented, such as the three-year income tax holiday that applied to new mines in the 1950s and 1960s. The advantage of the tax connection is that any such incentive policy can be applied across the board to the 10 provinces and two territories that make up the federation of Canada. This is important because mining, except for the two federally-administered northern territories, comes under provincial government jurisdiction. Mining taxation is a complex give-and-take between the central and provincial authorities. In Canada, expenditure on mineral exploration is an allowable cost against reve¬nue for tax purposes. This works well pro¬vided there is some revenue from which to deduct. New exploration companies, those with no income from mining activities, de¬rive little benefit from this type of tax provi¬sion. Similarly, in times of depressed prices and reduced or nonexistent profits, the tax deductibility of exploration spending loses its value even for the major mining compa¬nies. To encourage exploration in Canada during the lean years, a different sort of incentive was required. The instrument used during the 1980s was again tax connected. It became known as flow-through financing or, simply, flow-through shares. When it assumed its final shape, it worked dramati¬cally. Flow-through shares Flow-through shares are so-named because they permit tax benefits earned by a corporation to 'flow-through' to the share¬holder. Basically, when an investor buys a flow-through share and the proceeds de¬rived by the company from this transaction are used for Canadian exploration, the in¬vestor can claim a deduction for tax pur¬poses as if the exploration expenditure was made by him personally. Flow-through shares go back to the early 1970s when Canada revamped its mineral income tax law. At that time, it permitted full deduction of exploration and development expenditures and provided for an automatic depletion allowance of one¬ third of operating profits from mining. There was also the three-year income tax holiday for new mines. New legislation replaced the depletion allowance with an earned depletion arrange¬ment whereby one dollar of depletion was earned for every three dollars spent on ex¬ploration and development. This earned depletion was `banked' during a transitional period (to 1974). After that it could be deducted from resource profits up to a maximum of 25% of such profits in any one year, with the excess carried forward. To promote exploration and mine de¬velopment in Canada, the earned depletion allowance plus the continued deductibility of exploration and development expendi¬tures permitted the recovery of risk capital before taxation. The three-year tax holiday, however, disappeared. Also, mining com¬panies that did not reinvest in exploration lost the depletion allowance benefit.

Jan 1, 1989

By C. D. Taylor, A. L. Mazzella, A. L. Martikainen

In fluctuating airflow, continuous air velocity recording is the most reliable method of air velocity measurement. It allows for fast recognition of changes and the calculation of long-term averages. Also, it enables the mine operator to identify when the airflow has decreased to a point requiring action. Using ultrasonic anemometers provides an accurate option for continuous air velocity monitoring. This paper provides information about the effect of common obstructions in underground mining on air velocity readings. Stationary and moving obstructions are used to represent workers and equipment that would cause discrepancies in measured airflow. Also, it is important to know how large of a sample size is required to ensure reasonable accuracy of results. Statistical analysis is used to evaluate the required sample size. The sampling procedure is further studied by comparing two different sample rates. The results show that obstructions provide noticeable differences in air velocity measurements. Also, movement of obstructions can be recognized from changes in results. Surprisingly small sample sizes provide reliable air velocity information. Standard sample rates are found to be suitable for the underground environment.

Jan 1, 2011

By Doug Harding

The Metropolitan St. Louis Water District’s Project Clear is a 28-year program targeting wastewater capacity throughout St. Louis, MO. The extensive program includes the Jefferson Barracks Tunnel, running parallel to the Mississippi River at 2 m ID and 5,400 m long. A rebuilt Robbins Main Beam TBM began boring but hit challenging conditions about 2,400 m in, including water inflows. A larger 4.1 m Robbins Main Beam machine will complete the remaining 3,050 m in limestone, dolomite, and shale. The TBM will utilize a high-powered, high breakout torque cutterhead along with enhanced 360-degree probing & grouting capabilities to detect any karst formations.

Dec 1, 2022

By Soner Top

In this study, a process to separate manganese and iron from manganiferous iron ores by reductive acid leaching followed by magnetic separation was conceived and experimentally tested. In the leaching process, sulfuric acid was used as lixiviant and oxalic acid was used as reductant. The experimental results showed that the manganese and iron separation was optimal when the concentrations of the sulfuric acid and oxalic acid were 0.75 M and 30 g/L, respectively, at a temperature of 80 °C, a solid/liquid ratio of 67 g/L, stirring speed of 400 rpm and leaching duration of 60 min. Under these conditions, 90.49 percent and 6.78 percent of Mn and Fe were dissolved, respectively, from the ore sample in a size fraction of smaller than 106 µm. It was determined that the leaching of manganese from the ores was a second-order reaction with activation energy, Ea, of 53.38 kJ/mol. The leaching residues obtained under the optimal conditions were subjected to wet high-intensity magnetic separation tests to recover the remaining iron content. This separation process produced a concentrate containing 56.20 percent Fe and 1.79 percent Mn with iron and manganese recoveries of 56.83 and 66.73 percent, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a magnetic separation process was used on a residue obtained from the reductive acid leaching of manganiferous iron ores to recover iron.

By D. W. Scott, D. G. Minnes

Introduction Ontario's diverse industrial mineral resource base includes structural minerals such as sand and gravel, crushed stone, building stone, clay, shale, limestone, and dolostone. These resources are used to produce aggregates, brick, metallurgical stone, fillers, cement, lime, and other construction materials. The majority of the operations are in deposits of Palezoic and Quaternary age in southern Ontario, close to the major markets. Province-wide, there were more than 140 Mt (154 million st) of aggregates produced in 1985. About 115 Mt (128 million st) of that was produced in southern Ontario with the rest being largely from Crown land in northern Ontario. Structural industrial minerals account for more than 80% of the value of total industrial mineral production. The remaining 20% is accounted for by the nonstructural minerals, such as salt, which is produced in the southwestern part of the province. A host of other nonstructural industrial minerals are known. Production, though, is currently restricted to calcite, gypsum, quartz, talc, nepheline syenite, and byproduct metallurgical sulfur products (Fig. 1). Major production is close to the large markets of urbanized southern Ontario and the northeastern and northcentral US. With an abundant variety of industrial mineral resources and the large population within 650 km (400 miles) of most deposits, the market offers great potential. Ontario's nine million people accounted for about 35% of Canada's entire $476.3 billion gross domestic product in 1985. This equates to about one-third of the nation's buying power being within a 200-km (125-mile) radius of Toronto. This major concentration of industrial and economic activity has resulted in a well-developed industrial minerals industry that fulfills most of the structural industrial minerals demand in Ontario. Nonstructural industrial minerals are similarly well placed to compete in this high demand area. Although Ontario manufacturers still import some of these materials, Ontario products are achieving significant market share. And, they serve the needs of neighboring provinces and states. Present production and trends Ontario has traditionally produced significant amounts of industrial minerals. This produc¬tion had a value of $956 million in 1984 (Table 1). Structural materials production in 1985 and 1986 approached or exceeded levels not seen since the early 1970s. Many new products have been developed using these raw materials. The industry is becoming concentrated in the hands of several large companies, mainly four large cement com-

Jan 12, 1987

By L. Yuan, D. Bahrami

Underground mine fires remain a concern for mine operators, posing a health and safety risk to mineworkers. In the last decade, the number of mine fires has decreased significantly. However, dealing with an unknown fire in underground mines can be a challenging task, which could lead to a hazardous condition for miners during an evacuation and rescue operation. A timely detection of a mine fire and monitoring its characteristics—namely, size and location—are of great importance in reducing the risk of mine fire injuries. A new, improved fire location algorithm has been developed and integrated into an atmospheric monitoring system (AMS) program by researchers from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This paper describes the new fire location model and presents the results of verification fire tests conducted at the Safety Research Coal Mine (SRCM) facility of the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) using the collected AMS data. NIOSH is endeavoring to develop workplace solutions to improve the detection of and reduce the risk of hazardous conditions in mines. The results demonstrate successful application of the improved fire location model and provide a useful tool for solving the problem of unknown fire location and reducing the risk of hazardous conditions.

By Robert E. Mclvor

Classification system efficiency (CSE) is a simple metric that can be used to measure and increase ball milling circuit efficiency. It is defined as the percentage of the ball mill energy being used to grind target (oversize) particles. This paper describes CSE analysis conducted for a variety of operations with related improvements in circuit efficiency ranging from 3 to 30 percent. The achievable CSE for any given ball milling circuit is described, providing the means to determine the extent to which every plant can benefit from increasing grinding circuit CSE.

By Mahesh C. Jha, Frank J. Smit

Column flotation and selective agglomeration are promising advanced physical cleaning processes that can be developed for preparing premium quality coal-water slurry fuel from coal fines. Such a fuel could either replace oil or natural gas in certain industrial and utility boilers or else could be burned in advanced combustors currently under development. These applications require coal cleaned to sulfur and ash contents below 258 g/GJ and 430 - 860 g/GJ (0.6 lb/million Btu and 1 - 2 lb/million Btu), respectively, to meet clean air emission requirements. A highly loaded slurry must be produced in order to avoid derating the boilers, and the total cost of the fuel must be below $2.37/GJ ($2.50/million Btu) in order to penetrate the market by the turn of the century. Achieving these technical and economic goals depend critically on the selection of suitable feed coals. This paper describes the identification and evaluation of 18 coals and final selection of six coals from different regions of the United States as potential feedstock for preparation of premium fuel. The work is being performed under a cost-shared DOE project.

Jan 1, 1995

By B. Slaker, M. M. Sears, G. Rashed

Ground falls represent a significant hazard at underground mines in the stone, sand and gravel (SSG) sector in the United States. Researchers from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are conducting detailed investigations into the complex loading conditions at underground stone mines operating in challenging conditions. This paper presents the application of numerical modeling to analyze pillar and roof stability at a dipping underground limestone mine.

By Nikhil Dhawan, Shrey Agrawal, SHAILA MIR

The current study investigates the effect of microwave processing on low-grade banded iron ore using charcoal, coking coal, and non-coking coal. Charcoal showed better microwave heating response at low temperatures, and the coals exhibit better heating response at higher temperatures. Low carbon dosage ~ 12% is sufficient to generate concentrate with 61.8% iron grade and ~6% for 94.8% iron recovery comprising of magnetite phase suitable for iron-making applications. The process separation efficiency of ~ 95% is achieved at 6% carbon dosage and decreases with an increase in carbon due to formation of the fayalite phase. The metallization degree showed a strong dependency on reductant dosage and achieved amaximumvalue of 22.7%at 18%charcoal. The comparison of ore with pure iron oxide and the synthetic mixture of iron oxide indicated that the underlying bonding due to banded structure enhances the Joule heating during microwave irradiation and thereby aids in attaining higher temperature and better separation.

Sep 21, 2020

By Rustyn Sherer

Curis, the name of a new Arizona-based mineral development company, is an acronym which stands for ?Cu? (elemental symbol for copper), ?r? (recovery), ?is? (in situ, the Latin for ?in place?). The company was created specifically to advance the development of the Florence Copper Project in Florence, AZ and to pursue other next generation copper development projects in progressive jurisdictions around the world. ?We are extremely excited about this project,? said Curis Resources president and chief executive officer Michael McPhie. ?We?re here to set the standard for Greenfield in situ copper recovery (ISCR) operations in Arizona and around the world. We believe in our people, our technology and our process; and we are passionate about our commitment to environmental stewardship and community development. We?re making a long-term investment in Florence, and in Arizona.?

Jan 1, 2011

By S. Dixon

The use of warm (40-50°C) solution for the selective elution (pre-strip) of copper cyanide from gold and silver cyanides adsorbed on activated carbon was found to elute +90% of the adsorbed copper compared to the use of ambient (20°C) solution eluting 50-70% of the adsorbed copper. The warm solution pre-strip elution did have higher co-elution of gold (1-4%) and silver (10-18%) with the copper. The use of ambient solution pre-strip elution co-eluted less gold (0.2%) and silver (2%).

Mar 2, 2022

By C. S. Simons

The aphorism that provided the title of this paper is probably a couple of hundred years old, but it still expresses a fundamental truth in the metals industry. This truth will be illustrated through a brief review of the major developments in the extractive metallurgy of the oxidized ores of nickel - the "laterite" ores. While the details to be discussed are for the most part specific to nickel, a close parallel with other commodities - particularly in recent years - will be apparent even to those whose interest in nickel itself is slight. Thus it is hoped that this paper will be stimulating, at the least, to anyone who is concerned with the implementation of process improvement, "Invention" in the present context means any change from "conventional" process technology that shows a reasonable chance of reducing costs, increasing revenues, or both, in the production of a commodity. This can be anything from a simple rearrangement of flowsheet steps to a completely different basis for processing. And the result may reduce costs by more efficient use of energy or labor or reagents; may increase revenues by better recovery of the primary product or by introducing the recovery of previously ignored by-products; may insure sales volume (and thereby cash flow) through higher product purity or an improved product form. "Necessity" is the perceived need to attain at least one of these classes of results. This perception of necessity, however, varies widely from management to management and from project to project.

Jan 1, 1983

By P. A. Korpi

In March of 1978 the first set of Angular Spiral Liners utilized in grate discharge ball mills for wet grinding was put into service in the San Flanuel Concentrator of Flagma Copper Company. The use of these liners has decreased grinding media consumption by 19.2% and grinding energy consumption by 15.8%. In addition a 1.1% increase in grinding throughput is being realized through the use of the system. This paper describes the Angular Spiral Lining System and reviews the test program at the San Manuel Arizona Concentrator. Operating parameters are discussed in addition to the current testing program to futher optimize the system.

Jan 1, 1982

By Rao Balusu, Bharath Belle, Krishna Tanguturi

A collaborative research project is undertaken by Anglo American Coal and CSIRO to develop appropriate strategies for gas and spontaneous combustion management of longer panels. Extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling studies have been conducted and calibrated using operational longwall goaf gas data to obtain a fundamental understanding of goaf gas flow patterns in longwall panels of 1.0-km and 3.0-km lengths and a detailed investigation of the effect of various mining and operational parameters on goaf gas flow patterns. The modelling studies have also been used to investigate the performance of various gas drainage and proactive inertisation strategies during various stages of longwall panel extraction. Simulation results indicated that apart from tailgate (TG) side goaf holes, gas drainage from maingate (MG) goaf holes and the mid panel start-up goaf holes would be useful for flat seam field conditions. Operation of 8–10 goaf holes is recommended for field site conditions with high goaf gas emissions of 6000 L/s. The modelling results indicated that the traditional inert gas flow rate of 500 L/s currently used in some mines would be insufficient to achieve effective goaf inertisation in long panels. Results indicate that 3.0- km-long panels would require 1500 L/s of inert gas and there is a need for multi-point inert gas injection strategy for effective goaf inertisation. In this paper, details and results of modelling investigations and recommended strategies for gas and spontaneous combustion management in 1.0-km- and 3.0-km-long panels are presented.