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By A. L. W. Lips, T. J. R. Barclay, E. Rothery, S. H. White

Paper presented at the conference Economic geology in Europe and beyond II, models for mineral deposits in sedimentary basins, held in Keyworth, UK, 13-14 April 1994 (originally entitled: The Broken Hill base metal deposit - a tectonically transported and modified basinal deposit within the Proterozoic Willyama fold and thrust belt). A regional structural study was undertaken which incorporated the role of shears. Their positions were identified from earlier mapping, from regional aeromagnetic data and by additional field work. Kinematic studies determined movement histories and petrological studies of the fault rocks formed within the shears identified the relationship between the movements and regional metamorphism. It was found that the shears formed a part of an earlier, major thrust event with transport from NW to SE and a later, minor one in the reverse direction. Neither had any significant effect on the mineralisation apart from local displacement, but the shuffling of the basin stratigraphy adds to the difficulty of recognising the original volcanic and sedimentary protoliths of the metamorphosed sequence. The mineralisation at Broken Hill mine is confined to a single recognisable thrust slice within a shear corridor. It is stratabound with locally transgressive remobilisation due to the high-temperature thrusting and some metasomatic alteration as a result of the retrograde shearing. This variation accounts for the different genetic models applied to the deposits in the past

Jun 17, 1905

By B. H. Smith

"Most of the discoveries of nickel sulphide deposits in Western Australia have followed the search for gossans. The chances of further discoveries depend on improving our understanding of the cover of strongly leached and transported materials that obscure approximately 85% of the area of the Yilgarn Block that has nickel sulphide mineralization potential. The lateritic profiles that are observed on the Yilgarn Block today were formed over a period of more than 100 m.y. of warm and humid climates. This lateritized land surface has been preserved by induration during subsequent arid climates as well as by the structural stability of the Yilgarn Block.In geochemical surveys of lateritied terrain samples have to be taken from at least the saprolite zone usually by drilling so that confident predictions can be made of the significance of analytical data. Account must be taken of the mineralogy of samples, as well as the nature of the horizon of a laterite profile that is being sampled, owing to the concentrating effects on trace elements of Fe and Mn oxides.Multivariate techniques have been applied successfully to analytical data in gossan recognition when textural evidence is ambiguous. Pathfinder geochemistry has also been used in gossan recognition and the most significant recent advance has come from studies of platinum group metals in nickel sulphides and their dispersion during weathering."

Jan 1, 1984

Discussion of the paper published Trans Inst. Min. E., 1916, vol. li., page 99 comprises a written comment by Bolton H. giving two examples of the faunal evidence for deep-water vs littoral conditions of Goniatites (cephalopods) and Upper Old Red Sandstone fishes

Dec 1, 1916

By Jones R. G.

Dr Pat Foster, Senior Lecturer in Mining Engineering at the UK's Camborne School of Mines, talks to Rhiannon Garth Jones about mining safety around the world, education and the future of the industry

Feb 1, 2015

Papers submitted at the 8 ordinary general meetings are listed and details given of the proceedings of the annual general meeting held on 20 May 1971

Dec 1, 1971

By M. Schwartz

Hosting copper, gold, oil and liquefied natural gas, the country is an interesting target for miners. However, remote locations in inhospitable, unusual and difficult terrain cause problems. The government has worked to create a Sovereign Wealth Fund to manage government surpluses from minerals and energy but PNG scores very low among many criteria, including land dispute resolution, as revealed by the 2014 Canadian Fraser Institute in its survey of senior mining personnel.

May 1, 2015

By G. Richards

Mines are facing fresh challenges over how they deal with the huge quantities of water consumed. industry analyst Frost and Sullivan, demand for treatment equipment and services alone is expected to be worth US$3.6bn by 2016, while a report by consultancy Bluefield Research estimates that the total mine water market - which includes water infrastructure such as reservoirs, pipelines and dewatering systems as well as the equipment and services - will be worth US$17bn by the end of 2019. Methods of water decontamination are described.

May 1, 2015

By Groom P.

Discussion of the paper presented at the Midland Institute of Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Leeds, March 21st, 1916, with T. Beach, vice-president, in the chair included contributions by Beach T., Fearnsides W.G., Lloyd W.D., Gill J. and Nadin R.

Dec 1, 1916

By G. I. D. Roach

The leaching, with hydrochloric, sulphuric and perchloric acids, of suspensions and massive specimens of different haematite and goethite samples has been studied. Both accelerating and constant types of leaching curves have been observed. It is concluded that the grain to particle size ratio of the oxide being leached determines which type of leaching curve is obtained, particles containing a large number of individual grains producing the accelerating type of curve

Dec 1, 1971

By R. W. Ruddle

"Besides copper, iron, silicon, and oxygen, a large number of elements may be present in copper ores, the more important of which are zinc, lead, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, selenium, tellurium, nickel, cobalt and the precious metals; impurities of less importance are calcium, magnesium, aluminium, barium, sodium, potassium, manganese, lithium, fluorine, titanium, uranium, vanadium, tin and molybdenum. All of these elements are eliminated to some degree in the subsequent roasting, smelting and converting operations.Information on the elimination of impurities during the smelting of copper is surprisingly meagre, however, rather more information is available on impurity removal during the smelting of the ore in reverberatory or blast furnaces."

Jan 1, 1953

By C. J. Kirkland

25th Julius Wernher memorial lecture given at Tunnelling '91, sixth international tunnelling symposium held in London, 14-18 April 1991. The title gives the lecturer a chance to share some of the lessons he has learnt in a lifetime of tunnelling and particularly in the last six years of his involvement with the Channel Tunnel and the International Tunnelling Association. These included: the difficulties of split contracts but the problems arising with Eurotunnel over the need to create a single owner to whom the banks could lend; the peripatetic nature of tunnellers who built London's underground in the 1960s and returned to build the Channel Tunnel from Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia; the increasing requirement for strategic planning resulting in tunnels between European countries and the need for engineers to deal with decision-makers; EU work on harmonising regulations so that there need no longer be, for example, arguments over which regulations should be followed for temporary electrical equipment in the section of the UK tunnel that is technically in France; the huge improvements in safety standards and attitudes; the enormous increase in the scale of undertakings and individual contracts, with an accompanying change in attitudes to logistics; technological advances to cater for the high performance now required of equipment; and the rising importance of environmental issues. The lecturer also briefly touches on the work of the International Tunnelling Association

Jun 13, 1905

By J. A. Franklin, E. Broch, G. Walton

To make the best use of rock core, the mechanical character of the rock should be evaluated concurrently with conventional geological observations. The advent of simple techniques, such as the point load 'nutcracker' test, makes field logging of mechanical properties competitive with sampling and testing in the laboratory

Dec 1, 1971

By P. Rama Krishna, B. Narasimha Rao, P. Ali i Peera

Induced polarisation (IP) surveys are commonly used in uranium exploration programmes in India. The IP method is effective in detecting the disseminated metallic sulphides that are often associated with uranium minerals. However, conductive and polarisable host rock or overburden often introduces inductive or electromagnetic (EM) coupling into time domain IP measurements. This makes it difficult to distinguish between responses due to such coupling and those that might indicate economic mineralisation. Attempts must be made to remove the EM effects before the IP technique is used in drilling programmes. Transient decay curves which were recorded during field surveys at Pisnari were factorised using the Marquardt algorithm. Dispersion plots of the amplitudes and relaxation times of the composite exponential function enable a clear distinction to be made between the effects of EM coupling and those of mineralisation.

Jan 4, 1993

By T. F. Bamber

The South Nottinghamshire Area has not been greatly troubled by spontaneous combustion until the last few years, during which the Blackshale Seam has been developed and exploited. The problem was first encountered at a colliery which was heavily preoccupied with a major reconstruction scheme, and with the sudden appearance of a completely new hazard both men and management had to adapt themselves very quickly to meet the situation. The paper contributed to the Symposium by the South Nottinghamshire Area illustrates the problems by reference to actual incidents, and shows how the lessons learned from them have been applied to the shaping of future policy on the avoidance and treatment of spontaneous combustion.

May 23, 1905

By E. L. Evans

The historical development of South Yorkshire mining is traced and note made of the liability to generate spontaneous combustion of some of the seams which have been worked. The liability factor is analysed firstly as an inherent property in the material of a coal seam, and secondly as a circumstance of a situation in which access is provided for the air necessary to sustain oxidation. The geological settings in which incidents of heatings have been known to occur is discussed and conditions favouring a natural pre-disposition to spontaneous oxidation exposed, particularly the effect of argillaceous material overlying the seam. An extensive strata-dynamic study follows to demonstrate the situations in which stray air currents tend to impinge on readily oxidizable material. Prevention techniques are indicated as the identification of strata-dynamic situations in which air access to broken coal is induced and thereafter th operational action to seal off the voids which have been opened up so as to exclude air from the broken coal. Measures to reduce the tendency for ventilating air to short circuit across waste voids, and to obviate deflection of air into packs are outlined. The importance of face and roadway design features is demonstrated and the consequences of practices inimical to good control of spontaneous combustion are related. Discussions on means of detection and also on the sealant materials available are included.

May 23, 1905

Discussion at the Midland Institute of Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Leeds, March 21st, 1916, with T. Beach, vice-president, in the chair, of a paper published in Trans. Inst. Min. Engrs., 1916, vol. L., page 509, comprised a written contribution by O'Shea L.T.

Dec 1, 1916

By E. A. C. Chamberlain

New techniques for the continuous sampling and analysis of mine air are expected to replace traditional methods used for the early detection of spontaneous combustion. It has been established that the rate of evolution of carbon monoxide is the earliest indicator of incipient spontaneous combustion. Two methods of continuous monitoring of this gas are available and are now in use in the UK collieries. The first is the UNOR infra-red gas analyser, which is flameproof and may be used underground; the second is a system of tube bundles, which permits air to be drawn from any critical point in a colliery and analysed on the surface. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages but both provide the colliery manager with far more information on the condition of his pit than could previously be obtained by spot sampling and laboratory analysis. This paper describes the two systems presently in use and assesses likely future developments.

May 23, 1905

By B. Denby

sintered ores, to be removed by a pneumatic,

Apr 1, 1995

By Dobson C. L.

The memoir, presented at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 3rd June 1916, outlines the career of one of the Institute's oldest members and past-president 1896-1898, including the improvements he introduced at Harton, St. Hilda and Boldon collieries and his activities with the Institute and the Durham Coal Owners' Association

Dec 1, 1916

By D. J. Buchanan

British Coal's mining research programme is directed towards the strategic objectives of reducing production costs, improving product quality and resolving health, safety and environmental issues. The strategy for R&D is described and selected parts of the programme are reviewed. Two major initiatives are directed towards reducing production costs: geotechnics and automation. Integrated exploration techniques are used to delineate geological structures as an aid to mine planning. Rockbolting is being rapidly introduced and the in situ stress field has been found to be of significant influence. Automation is the subject of a major programme. A strategy for coal quality has been devised. The health, safety and environmental programme concentrates on the traditional hazards together with surface environmental problems.

Jan 12, 1992