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By Stephen Hardcastle

Supplying ventilation in underground metal mines can be one of the most energy demanding services required to support production activities. Consequently, as energy, in the form of electricity or combustible fuels can be expensive and their unit cost is expected to increase, there is significant interest in reducing the overall demands of a mine?s ventilation system through such initiatives as controlling ventilation based upon demand and exploring other power alternatives to the current usage of the diesel engine in mobile mine vehicles. However, determining the benefit of any energy saving technology is complex and not universal applicable across the industry, consequently they have not been widely adopted. For these technologies to succeed they must be strategically applied based upon sound business cases. The intent of this paper is to provide information on some of the prospective control strategies and their potential impact on the power consumption related to supplying ventilation.

May 1, 2007

Uranium mining remains controversial in many parts of the world, especially in a post-Fukushima context, and often in areas with significant uranium resources. Although nuclear proponents point to the relatively low carbon intensity of nuclear power compared to fossil fuels, opponents argue that this will be eroded in the future as ore grades decline and energy and greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) intensity increases as a result. Invariably both sides fail to make use of the increasingly available data reported by existing uranium mines through sustainability reporting ? allowing a comprehensive assessment of recent trends in the energy and GGEs intensity of uranium production, as well as combining this with reported mineral resources to allow more comprehensive modelling of future energy and GGEs intensity. In this study, detailed data is reported for numerous uranium mines around the world, including production, energy and GGEs intensity and reported mineral resources. An important aspect included ? arguably unique and never before published ? is the relationship between ore grade and recovery, which is crucial in future projections of uranium mining. Overall, the paper shows the importance of continuing to improve reporting by the uranium sector as well as the ability to analyse key trends and future projections in energy and GGEs intensity of uranium production.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. Butra

The underground research presented in this paper was carried out in the two Polish copper mines: Rudna and Polkowice-Sieroszowice. The aim of the research was to determine stress field parameters. The measurement method and measuring positions are described as well as the measuring technique adapted to the geological and mining conditions of the Rudna mine and the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine. The identified values and directions of principal stresses and horizontal stresses and their importance for optimization of mining operation and safety improvement are discussed.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. Yacher

Most metallurgical plants already have sophisticated control systems as well as a process-historian that manage thousands of real-time and historical variables. There exists a huge potential for operational improvement through the inference of patterns, correlations and cause-effect relationships within these records. The ability to run online and offline advanced multivariate statistical analyses represents a great potential for the mining industry, in various areas such as cathode quality improvement in an SX/EX plant, the analysis of the correlation between the ore characteristics and the mill throughput, the determination of early failure alerts for major equipment, etc. The background theory is described, as well as some practical experiences of operations in Chile and Peru. Cu2007

Jan 1, 2007

By H. C. W. Bosman

"Over the past five years, contributions from geologists and mining engineers were instrumental in the successful development of MEPS. It is a system of FORTRAN programs specifically designed to be used by mining personnel to solve geological and mining problems. MEPS is a flexible keyword-driven system. Extensive error editing procedures significantly reduce the time required to proceed from problem recognition to solution. Possibly the most attractive feature of MEPS is that computer solutions may be guided or selectively modified to obtain desired solutions. Some highlights of MEPS are:1. Vocabulary that is familiar to mining people.2. Geological data storage and retrieval.3. Statistical analysis and variograms.4. Contour maps of assays and geological horizons.5. Trend surface analysis with residual evaluation.6. Ore reserve calculations.7. Open-pit mine design.8. Marginal profitability calculations on pit walls.9. Production scheduling.10. Vertical cross-section plots indicating pit outlines, ore grade contours and selected geological horizons."

Jan 1, 1973

By B. W. Clyburn

"Coals from the Corporation's Lingan and No. 26 mines are classified as high-volatile A bituminous, with a very low inherent ash and containing a/l essential properties to provide metallurgical coal, with the exception of a high sulphur content. Only through proper cleaning at low specific gravity can the pyritic sulphur fraction of the coal be liberated to an extent where final sulphur meets coking standards. This first section of the paper deals with the operation of a Dutch State Mines heavy-media cyclone circuit to achieve an actual separation in the region of 1.30 specific gravity. A discussion of the parameter of control which must be applied along with an appraisal of the results obtained is included in the paper.IntroductionVery high fluidity and unusually low ash are the outstanding characteristics of coal from Devco's mines in the Harbour seam of the Sydney coal field.However, sulphur content, mainly pyritic, ranges from 1 to 2.5070. To obtain the low and consistent sulphur level required in metallurgical coking coals, preparation at low specific gravity is required .Metallurgical coke is used as the fuel in an iron blast furnace. Its sulphur content largely determines the quantity of slag required to remove it and therefore influences furnace productivity and unit costs.Typical data on the various coal properties of importance in the production of coke are included in Table I. Necessity of Low-Gravity SeparationThe design of any coal preparation plant requires the study of washability properties of the coal to be treated to determine the quantity and quality of coal produced at a given specific gravity along with the difficulty in accomplishing that separation.Their low ash content allows the important washability aspects of Harbour seam coals to be represented by sulphur! specific gravity curves (Fig. I). This particular example indicates that a yield of 54.5% is attained, at a sulphur content of 1.20%, for a perfect separating device operating with a 1.29 S.G. cut point.Material rejected from this separation still contains usable coal, which is recovered as middlings by separating at a higher gravity."

Jan 1, 1980

In the flotation of a copper ore, entrainment of fine silicate and iron sulfide gangue minerals resulted in poor copper concentrate grade. In the cleaning stage, rejection of these gangue minerals was particularly difficult due to severe mechanical entrainment when the rougher concentrate was ground to 10 µm. To reduce gangue entrainment, polymeric depressants were tested. The rationale being that with the use of such polymeric depressants that also possess flocculation power, not only minerals-to-be-depressed can be made hydrophilic, but their particle size can also be enlarged. In this manner both the "genuine" flotation and the mechanical entrainment can be reduced. An effective polymer to reduce entrainment of silicate gangue mineral in sulfide flotation was identified from bench flotation tests conducted on single minerals. It was then applied to the flotation of a copper-gold ore confirming the beneficial role of the polymeric depressant in the reduction of fine gangue entrainment.

Jan 1, 2007

By J. P. Weiler

The increasing use of high-pressure die-cast magnesium alloys in the automobile industry requires a better understanding of the mechanical properties, the microstructure, and particularly, the relationship between these two. The goal of this study is to first understand the microstructural features which control the mechanical properties observed from an AM6OB magnesium alloy, and second, to be able to predict the local mechanical properties based on microstructural features encountered in different areas of the die-cast component. The two main tools used in this study are spherical indentation testing, used on local areas of the die-cast magnesium alloy AM6OB to detect changes in microstructure and mechanical properties, and X-ray tomography, used to non-destructively investigate the internal porosity in a sample. The results from these tests are then used to predict the local mechanical properties such as the yield stress, the strain-hardening characteristics, and the fracture properties of the AM6OB component.

Jan 1, 2006

By Tom Gaines, G. S. Brant, J. G. Debanne

"AbstractThe Bonnie Glen oil field, one of Canada's largest, lies about fifty miles southwest of Edmonton, Alberta. One hundred and thirty-eight wells have been completed in this field since its discovery in January, 1952. Five different procedures have been used in completing the producing wells.The reservoir is an Upper Devonian biohermal reef with good porosity and uniformly high permeability. The top of the reef is quite flat but the flanks slope at angles approaching 20 degrees from the horizontal. The reservoir has a gas cap with a maximum thickness of 400 feet, an oil column of 300 feet, and a :porcus aquifer of over 300 feet. The reservoir pressure is now 2,400 pounds per square inch gauge at datum ( -4100 M.S.L.).Because of the high permeability and the high •pressure, lost circulation and resultant blowouts are a particular hazard in drilling at Bonnie :Glen field. To reduce the dangers of blowouts, it is general practice to run casing to the top of the reef. If the reef is encountered 'high' it was usual practice to run a liner and perforate for completion. Wells penetrating the •reef below the gas/oil interface were either completed in open hole or through casing perforated opposite the oil pay, with the former method more frequently used. Eight wells were completed by the Humble-Otis permanent-type completion, and recently five high wells were completed open hole with the gas •cap exposed. This latter completion, 'tubing submergence', has proved highly satisfactory thus far.The open-hole type of completion is cheaper than the liner perforation method and results in better well performance. More experimentation and data are needed before the tubing submergence method can be recommended unqualifiedly. but all evidence thus far favours its use in reef reservoirs."

Jan 1, 1955

By Ahmad Ghahreman, Denver Cowan, Yeonuk Choi

"Testwork was conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of carbon based catalysts while oxidizing a gold-bearing pyrite concentrate under atmospheric conditions. Without the use of a catalyst the oxidation of pyrite was incomplete after 96 hours, resulting in roughly 60% pyrite oxidation. Furthermore the resulting sulphate yield from unassisted pyrite oxidation ranged between 72 and 84%. It is evident that atmospheric oxidation of pyrite is not viable due to slow oxidation kinetics and high sulphuric acid production when using a ferric sulphate media without a catalyst. The effect of two different carbon based catalysts, one Lewatit® AF 5 a new microporous carbonaceous bead, and the second a granular coconut shell based activated carbon, were tested under the same oxidation conditions as the unassisted pyrite tests. After 96 hours, Lewatit® AF 5 assisted oxidation showed approximately 96% pyrite oxidation with a sulphate yield ranging between 26 and 35%, while the activated carbon assisted oxidation reached approximately 100% pyrite oxidation with a sulphate yield between 36 and 37%. Testwork indicated that not only does the addition of a carbon based catalyst greatly improve the oxidation kinetics and lead to almost complete oxidation, the sulphate yield is also drastically reduced, resulting in very high elemental sulphur yields.INTRODUCTION Pyrite is an important sulphide mineral due to its ability to contain invisible gold concentrations up to 132 g/t (Chryssoulis & Cabri, 1990). As a result, ores composed of only a small amount of pyrite still have the ability to contain high gold grades. This refractory gold cannot be accessed via conventional gold leaching processes, such as cyanidation, and additional oxidative pre-treatment is required to liberate the gold, making it more amenable to extraction (Marsden & House, 2006). Current oxidative pre-treatments do exist consisting of both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes including high temperature and high pressure leaching within autoclaves, biological atmospheric leaching and roasting. Autoclaves are a proven process reaching desirable recoveries within approximately a 1–2 hour retention time, due to the increased temperatures and pressures, allowing for an increase in dissolved oxygen (Marsden & House, 2006). The typical reaction for pyrite oxidation within autoclaves is presented in Equations 1, 2 and 3."

Jan 1, 2017

By Ahmad Ghahremaninezhad, Rebecca Radzinski

Arsenic is a highly toxic compound that is naturally found in the environment and is released through the processing of sulphide minerals. Arsenate (As5+) is less toxic than arsenite (As3+) and is soluble in water but can form insoluble precipitates when metal ions are present. The arsenic removal processes used in industry assume that arsenic is in its pentavalent state. Hydrogen peroxide can be employed to oxidize arsenite; however, it is expensive. It has been shown that activated carbon can be used to catalyze the oxidation of arsenite with oxygen as the only consumed reagent at ambient conditions with an efficiency of 99% in less than 24 hours. The mechanism which oxidizes arsenite is not yet understood; however, this study shows that a strong oxidizing agent is formed in-situ. The species and amount of oxidant formed were determined via iodimetric titration and electrochemical methods. The production of oxidant was optimized by comparing the amount of oxidant formed in-situ to the relative amount of arsenite oxidized.

Jan 1, 2015

By Schrade F. Radtke

THE law of our present industrial society is the law of the jungle. By this I mean survival of the fittest. I do not refer to man or animal or the development of superior genetic strain. Rather do I refer to one's product, one's process, or one's material of construction. Each must perform in a superior manner or it is doomed to extinction; it must be steadily improved so that it can meet the competition of ether materials, of other equipment, or other processes. We have before us the classic examples of the horse and buggy vs the automo-bile, cf silk vs nylon, of the steam locomotive vs the diesel engine; in each case, a superior product has virtually wiped out its predecessor. Furthermore, a product, process, or piece of equipment is sold on its performance, together with engineering data which define its •characteristics and performance. For the most part, the present day sales-man must deal in terms of engineering performance of his product; he must know competitive materials -their strength and limitations as well N either old fashioned salesmanship, tradition, nor custom could have saved the horse and buggy from extinction; a superior product which has been steadily and con-sistently improved won out, 'and in turn, this change-over caused a dramatic• change in our whole way of life.

Jan 1, 1960

By Y. Q. Li, X. H. Long

In this work, structural and electronic properties of smithsonite (ZnCO3) and cerussite (PbCO3) as the typical lead-zinc oxide minerals is simulated by means of DFT. The calculated results could be concluded as: (1) The density of states (DOS) of Zn atom in ZnCO3 is nearer to the Fermi level than that of Pb atom in PbCO3, suggesting that the Zn atom of ZnCO3 is more active and easier to interact with water molecules and hydroxyl ions. Smithsonite, therefore, could be more readily depressed in the flotation process. (2) The bond population value of Zn-O (0.23) and C-O (0.92) in ZnCO3 is obviously larger than that of Pb-O (-0.01) and C-O (0.85) in PbCO3, indicating that the covalent characteristic of ZnCO3 is stronger than that of PbCO3. (3) It is shown that the charge of Pb (+1.32e) in PbCO3 is more positive than that of Zn (+1.22e) in ZnCO3, suggesting that cerussite is easier to interacting with HS- compared with smithsonite in the flotation process. In summary, the structural and electronic property of smithsonite is completely different with cerussite, leading to the difference of their flotation behaviour.

Jan 1, 2015

By I. C. Christopher

Introduction The geology of the Cochen-our Willans gold mine has been described in reports by the late Dr. H. C. Horwood (1) in 1940 and by Dr. J. P. Nowlan (2) in 1947. Information from these and other (unpublished) reports has been incorporated in the present paper, together with some recent ideas regarding structural features which are at present being used to locate ore shoots. Location and History The mining claims of Cochenour Willans Gold Mines, Limited, occupy 705 acres in Dome township, on the east shore of Red lake opposite McKenzie island. Adjoining properties are those of McKenzie Red Lake Gold Mines on the west, Boymar Gold Mines on the north, Marcus Gold Mines on the east, and Martin-McNeely Gold Mines on the south. The claims of the original group were staked by W. M. Cochenour, Dan Willans, and H. G. Young, and the Cochenour Willans Syndicate was formed in 1928. Work was carried out by the Syndicate and several other companies during the next eight years with inconclusive results, due to the irregular occurrence of the ore. In 1936, Cochenour Willans Gold Mines, Limited, was incorporated and production was finally started late in 1939.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. W. Lawrence, O. Lopez

Many gold deposits in the world have not been developed clue to the presence of copper and other base metals which can cause metallurgical and environmental challenges clue to the formation of base metal cyanide complexes. SART technology (sulphidization-acidification-recycle-thickening) can resolve these issues by recovering copper as a high grade sulphide concentrate, recycling the associated cyanide back to the gold leach, and eliminating the downstream environmental liabilities. Project economics can be improved substantially, leading to a positive re-evaluation of new and existing gold-copper projects. Some aspects of the design and operation of two recently commissioned SART plants will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2011

"11.1. IntroductionThe recovery of platinum-group elements (POE) from ores is a subject which has received almost no mention in the literature. Edwards (1975) refers to the process used for refining of the POE, throughout the Western World, as a so-called ""conventional"" process .... ""not because of the simplicity or convenience of the operations, but more probably because of the inertia of established processes and the aura of secrecy with which the major platinum refiners have surrounded this process."" There is no doubt in this writer's mind that the latter is also applicable to the dearth of knowledge of the mineralogy, geochemistry and ore deposits of PGE and that the poor recoveries, mainly attributed to the mineral beneficiation stages of concentration, are also affected by this traditional secrecy. Fortunately, this attitude is changing, due no doubt to the advantages that accrue from more open research which may be critically assessed in the literature in the traditional manner. Examples of this more open approach to recoveries and recovery problems are represented by Newman (1973), who gave some typical recovery percentages for Merensky Reef ores, and the recent encouragement and cooperation on mill samples from the Sudbury area by lnco Metals Company (cf. Cabri, 1981a).In general, platinum-group elements are recovered from an ore by the use of a physical concentration method, such as gravity separation or flotation, followed by further upgrading using further physical, wet chemical or pyrometallurgical techniques. The final process of refining in which the individual platinum-group elements are produced in pure form is outside the scope of this chapter.Platinum-group element deposits naturally fall into different categories according to the recovery process best suited for them, viz. those amenable to gravity separation, those amenable to flotation, and those where platinum-group elements are by-products of base metal sulphide, chromite and miscellaneous other deposits."

Jan 1, 1979

By M. Kozlowski, I. Candy, S. Kashani-Nejad

The production of ferronickel and matte from nickel laterite ores is dominated by the Rotary Kiln, Electric Furnace (RKEF) process. Over time, major improvements have been made to kiln operation. In particular, kilns are now required to perform substantial amounts of reduction of the metallic oxides, thereby reducing the load on the electric furnace and substituting less expensive fossil fuel for electrical energy. To the basic refractory lined cylinder have been added: internal features such as dams and lifters, aimed at changing residence times in different sections of the kiln and enhancing gas/solids interaction, on-board fans to introduce tertiary air and on-board scoop mechanisms to allow reductant coal additions to be made at advantageous locations along the kiln. Many of these advances in design have been made on a trial and error basis and by 'borrowing' technology from related kiln processes, supplemented by proprietary modeling to various levels of sophistication. This paper presents a conceptual review of modeling components for the development of a computational model for granular material flow, combustion and heat and mass transfer in a nickel laterite kiln. These components include: granular material flow and segregation models for the simulation of bed motion, heat transfer models that simulate heat transfer by turbulent diffusion and radiation and the distribution of this thermal energy within the bed, and fluid flow models for the prediction of combustion aerodynamics.

Jan 1, 2005

By S. Malopheyev, I. Vysotskiy, R. Kaibyshev, S. Mironov

"In this work, the effect of pre-strain rolling on the annealing behavior of friction-stir welded 6061-T6 aluminum alloy was studied. To this end, the as-welded material was rolled to 10 or 20 pct. of thickness reduction prior to the standard post-weld T6 heat treatment. Three rolling directions were the 3-mm thick sheet were considered: along the welding direction, perpendicular to the welding direction, and at the angle of 45° to the welding direction. At relatively low pre-strains (10 pct.), the annealing behavior was found to be very sensitive to the rolling path, and rolling along the welding direction was most effective in suppressing abnormal grain growth. On the other hand, increasing the pre-strains to 20 pct. of thickness reduction inhibited abnormal grain growth irrespective of the rolling path.INTRODUCTION Heat-treatable wrought Al-Mg-Si alloys are widely used due to attractive combination of strength, ductility, excellent corrosion resistance and low cost (Polmear, 2006). To provide the optimal balance of mechanical properties, these materials are typically commercially available in appropriately work- and precipitation-hardened conditions (Polmear, 2006). During conventional fusion welding, however, the prior strengthening effect is totally lost due to elimination of the work hardened structure and dissolution of the strengthening precipitations. An innovative friction-stir welding (FSW) technology may partially overcome this problem. Due to the solid-state character of this process, which involves very large strains, the welded material is characterized by fine-grained microstructure with moderate-to-high dislocation density, and thus the prior work hardening effect may be preserved or even enhanced (Threadgill et al., 2009; Mishra & Ma, 2005). However, heat input associated with FSW inevitably leads to dissolution and/or coarsening of strengthening precipitates, thus giving rise to the undesirable material softening. In an attempt to restore the strength of the friction-stir welded material, the standard T6 post-weld heat treatment has been applied, but this approach was found to lead to abnormal grain growth (Malopheyev et al., 2016; Mironov, 2013, Mironov et al., 2015)."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. Koster, V. Maurel, S. Dezecot, Szmytka. F.

The aim of this work is to clarify the role of microstructure heterogeneity in the initiation and growth of cracks in a lost foam cast A319 for low cycle fatigue (LCF) loading condition. Because 2D analysis fail to establish the scenario of damage events, this study is based on 3D in situ analysis using synchrotron X-ray tomography during LCF test performed at 200°C. If X-ray tomography is now an established technique to study damage development in 3D, its application for relatively high temperature cyclic tests has never been done so far. Initial 3D observations of damage show that the cracks that lead to fracture initiate near large pores and propagate into the hard particles 3D network of the eutectic regions.

Jan 1, 2015

By Z. Zhao, B. Li

"Fractures are the key channels for fluid flow and mass transport in fractured rocks of low/negligible matrix permeability. In single rock fractures, surface roughness causes fluid flow in tortuous paths, and reduces the overall fracture conductance. A number of empirical models have been proposed to relate the reduced hydraulic aperture to the mechanical aperture due to surface roughness, which were revisited and compared. Using two of those relationships between hydraulic apertures and mechanical apertures, we studied the influences of local surface roughness of fractures on fluid flow and solute transport processes at the macroscopic scales of fracture networks. The results show that fracture roughness can affect the flow rates and residence time to varying extent, mainly depending on the empirical models between hydraulic apertures and mechanical apertures. However, fracture roughness has negligible influences on the general patterns of fluid flow (channeling) and solute migration (e.g., travel paths and shape of breakthrough curves). This is because the connectivity of a fracture network is mainly determined by other geometrical parameters (fracture positions, orientations, and lengths), rather than roughness or apertures. INTRODUCTIONIn fractured crystalline rocks of low or negligible matrix permeability, fluid flow and contaminant migration mainly occur within the connected fractures. An understanding of fluid flow and contaminant migration in fractured rocks is a crucial issue in many deep underground projects, e.g. underground repositories for radioactive waste, CO2 sequestration, enhanced geothermal systems, oil and gas production, etc. Rock fractures are typically rough-walled, and surface roughness appears to have first order control on the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of single rock fractures (Boutt et al., 2006).It is well known that the mechanical aperture of a rock fracture is usually larger than its hydraulic aperture, due to fracture surface roughness (Tsang and Witherspoon, 1983). However, for naturally fractured rocks including numerous discontinuities, the effects of this reduced hydraulic aperture in local fractures on macroscopic fluid flow and solute transport in complex fracture systems still remain unclear. Many previous studies assumed identical hydraulic and mechanical apertures in discrete fracture network models for simplicity (Min et al., 2004; Zhao et al., 2011). Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the influences of local surface roughness of fractures on fluid flow and solute transport processes at the macroscopic scales of fracture networks, by employing the empirical models that relate the hydraulic aperture to the mechanical aperture."

Jan 1, 2015