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By Robert S. Shank

Introduction The Pinto Valley open-pit copper mine is located in southern Arizona, 11 km (7 miles) west of Miami. Production at Pinto Valley began in 1974. About 350 Mt (386 million st) of ore and waste was removed by the end of June 1982. At that time, the mine was using more than 90 major equipment items with a total mobile fleet numbering 320. Some of the major equipment consisted of four Marion M4 rotary drills; six P&H 15, 11.5- and 19.1-m3 (15- and 25-cu yd) shovels; and 24,136- and 154-t (150¬and 170-st) Wabco haulage trucks. This equipment was used to move more than 139 kt/d (154,000 stpd) of ore and waste. The mill was processing more than 50 kt/d (55,000 stpd) of mine ore. Shutdown A two-week vacation shutdown began in July 1982. Maintenance jobs were scheduled, and most employees left for the vacation. During the vacation period, copper prices fell below $1.32/kg ($0.60 per lb). Inventories remained at alarmingly high levels. At this point the mine was losing more money operating than it would by being shut down. The vacation shutdown was first extended to five weeks. But, after further evaluation, the mine was shut down indefinitely. In Dec. 1982, Cities Services Co., owner of Miami Operations (which included the Pinto Valley mine and mill), was acquired by the Occidental Petroleum Corp. On March 1, 1983, Occidental sold the operations to Newmont Mining Corp., and Newmont created Pinto Valley Copper Corp., as a wholly owned subsidiary. Copper continued to be produced by the Pinto Valley solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX- EW) plant because of its low cost per pound of production. To ensure proper equipment care during the shutdown, maintenance management was given three goals; • maintain the SX-EW plant; • maintain the environmental and pollution control systems such as domestic water pumps and mine dewatering; and

Jan 4, 1985

By Carlos F. Perucca, Maria Virginia Ramírez A.

"Chile based SQM S.A., exploits potassium chloride rich salts at the Salar de Atacama, in northern Chile. The process includes the solar evaporation of natural brines existing in the Salar salt bed, followed by conventional flotation to recover Muriate of Potash (MOP) for fertilizer use.This paper describes a structured method developed to aid in understanding the metallurgical response of the solar evaporated salts to conventional flotation. The method uses classical metallurgical data analysis combined with laboratory and plant-scale testing, and rudimentary mineralogical studies.As a result of the study, several changes were made to the flotation circuit which produced an operation that is much more consistent and easier to control, and has an increased recovery. An optimized circuit, currently being financially evaluated, has also been conceptually designed based on the findings of this work.INTRODUCTIONSQM S.A. is the world’s largest producer and distributor of specialty fertilizers, iodine, lithium, as well as a wide array of industrial and specialty chemicals. SQM is a public corporation whose shares are traded in the Santiago and the New York Stock Exchanges.SQM S.A. exploits the mineral rights at the Salar de Atacama in northern Chile. Its production processes involve the solar evaporation of natural brines existing in the Salar salt bed, aimed at the recovery of Potassium, Lithium and Boron compounds."

Jan 1, 2004

By T. F. Tomb

Although the number of operating longwalls (approximately 100) has remained relatively constant over the last five years, longwall production levels have significantly increased and have in some cases more than doubled. As a result of the increase in production, control of respirable dust continues to be a problem. Therefore, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Pittsburgh Health Technology Center, Dust Division, initiated a study to investigate the availability and adequacy of technology for controlling dust on longwall mining operations. The study involved 23 longwall mining operations in three different Coal Mine Safety and Health Districts. Each operation was visited for a full shift. Respirable dust samples were collected on face personnel and at fixed locations along the face. Parameters in place to control dust were noted with special emphasis being placed on obtaining quantitative data relative to ventilation, headgate dust controls, cutting drum sprays, external machine sprays and cutting sequence. Attempts were made to correlate dust control parameters in place at the time of the visit to dust concentrations measured at the tail, on the tail shearer operator and to the average concentration of dust determined from averaging all the measurements from the occupations sampled. The parameters in place to control dust were also compared to the gamut of technology known to be available to control dust. This paper presents a discussion on the effectiveness of the parameters in place to control dust and on the availability of technology for the control of dust on longwall mining operations.

Jan 1, 1990

It is widely accepted that particles stabilise flotation froths and that stable froths result in improved flotation performance. Predicting the effect of particle addition on froth stability is, however, challenging. Dynamic surface tension measurement using maximum bubble pressure presents an attractive technique to investigate the effect of surfactant and particles at the air-water interface. The range of bubble lifetimes that can be studied (typically 0.1 to 60 s) is analogous to variations in air rate in flotation cells, and the corresponding changes in surface tension give an indication to the diffusion and adsorption rates of particles at the interface. In this paper, we use dynamic surface tension measurements to investigate the effect of particles on bubble surfaces at the microscale and link this to bulk froth stability measurements carried out using a froth column. Using the maximum bubble pressure method, the results show that the addition of particles results in lower surface tension, both at the dynamic (i.e. short) bubble lifetimes and towards equilibrium (i.e. 60 s bubble lifetime). This corresponds with the bulk froth stability measurements, where the three-phase system yielded more stable froths than the surfactant only system. Furthermore, increased particle loading at the air-water interface, whether through higher surfactant concentrations or lower air rates (longer bubble lifetimes), gave lower surface tension and higher froth stability. This demonstrates the link between bubble loading and froth stability. It is proposed that the maximum bubble pressure technique can be used to predict froth stability for two- and three-phase systems, enabling the effect of particle loading to be accounted for and quantified. Moreover, the technique has the potential to allow rapid determination of particle and surfactant diffusion at the air-water interface and prediction of the corresponding effect on bulk froth behaviour.

By Conny Postupack

The first principle one usually learns about blasting is that competence in this field is best gained by experience in making blasts rather than by reading a book or by listening to a lecture. The reason for this is that there are a large number of variables affecting blasting results and not all of these can be accounted for by a few rules or a few sets of equations. Even an experienced in a new area, may have co make one or two himself to the new conditions with which he blaster when operating shots just to acclimate is faced.

Jan 1, 1991

By G. B. Shea, R. A. Cattell

This resume of the work of the Petroleum and Natural - Gas Division of the Bureau of Mines for the fiscal years 1940 and 1941 is the second of a series. of progress reports . It brings forward from the 1939 annual report information on the course of activities of the division in carrying out its objectives of increased conservation and better utilization of petroleum, natural gas, and related resources through a coordinated program of research and fact - finding . It discusses, also, special assignments. executed for other Government agencies, which in recent years have constituted a considerable part of the division's work ." . In the present national emergency, in which petroleum is so essential , many of the Bureau's research activities bear directly on the availability, conservation, and use of petroleum for national defense . Accordingly, during the past year attention has been focused for the most part.on.problems associated with the needs of national defense . Several long-time researches , which in themselves are potential sources of desirable knowledge , were judged to be of secondary importance under present conditions and accordingly were suspended . Studies also were oriented in line with rapidly changing conditions to meet the demand for accurate findings on short notice . The Petroleum and Natural - Gas Division has experiment stations at Bartlesville , Okla . , and Laramie, Wyo . , a field office at Dallas , Tex . , and a field office and laboratory at San Francisco , Calif . It also operates the Government helium plant near Amarillo , Tex. In addition to the helium operations , some of the petroleum and natural - gas research activities are conducted at the Amarillo plant .

Feb 1, 1942

By Kray Luxbacher, Erik Westman, Peter Swanson

Three-dimensional time-lapse velocity tomograms were generated to image stress redistribution around a longwall panel to produce a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to ground failure. Mining-induced microseismic events provided passive sources for the three-dimensional velocity tomography. Surface-mounted geophones monitored microseismic activity for 18 days. Most similar studies have utilized active sources including longwall shearers, controlled explosions, and hammer blows. These active sources generally require a person to initiate and measure the location and time of the source, and are not conducive to continuous monitoring. This method utilizes mining induced microseismic events as passive sources and lends itself well to continuous monitoring. Two event location methods were compared in order to move toward quantification of tomographic results in terms of ground conditions. Additionally, LAMODEL was utilized to determine the expected stress distribution around the longwall panel and compare these images to the velocity tomograms. Eighteen tomograms were generated, one per day, and high velocity regions in the set of tomograms generated from the initial location algorithm correlated with abutment stress redistribution predicted by numerical modeling. This research is significant as it has the potential to improve safety in underground mines and is the only example of long term passive velocity tomography implementation for the purpose of inferring stress redistribution around an area of active mining. Though still immature, this technology has the potential to allow mine personnel to image areas of active mining on a regular basis and detect areas with anomalous velocity distributions indicating potential safety hazards.

By Thierry Bernard, Guy Gagnon

Blasting at very close proximity to urban areas is typically a situation where both local communities and mining stakeholders get nervous. The context becomes logically even more tensed when the blasting operations have to be performed above an old underground mine. When mitigating subsidence risks requires firing the largest possible shots, the nuisance control (flyrock, vibration, and noise) required by local and national regulations, contrarily urge for being more conservative.

Jan 1, 2014

The reconstruction of the world after the present war must inevitably be profoundly influenced by the rise and progress of New China.The principle of Chinese mathrity has been admitted by Great Britain and the United States by their abjuration of extra-territorial tights, and by the withdrawal of the Maritime Customs Administration. The United States admits equality by her declaration that Chinese are eligible for American citizenship, and the reaction to this will be swift enmity to such peoples as may impose humiliating restrictions upon Chinese citizens.Finally, the decisions of the Moscow Conference and the recent meeting of National leaders in Cairo give partnership rights to this new State in post-war reconstruction, and open the way for a rapid realization of her destiny.It seems certain that China, if so she wills, can become, within a generation or so, one of the considerable forces of the world. The toad she wiII follow will be lighted by her own inherent and intrinsic genius. Her speed of progress can no longer be forcibly influenced by other nations and the attitude towards her of somewhat contemptuous patronage hitherto adopted by the European communities bordering the Pacific Ocean must be radically modified.It is doubtful whether the European will ever reach full understanding of Chinese mentality. The Chinese "way of life" since the dawn of her civilization has been totally divergent from that of the European, but the enormous potential strength, due to the simplicity of their requirements and their steadfast industry, is a function of that "way of life." On the other hand the trend of reorganization must obviously be towards Western standards; and a wide knowledge of the potential strength of the Chinese is possible and will be essential in our post-war world. The following, necessarily inadequate, notes are therefore offered, as an indication of the obstacles to be overcome and the capacity of the Chinese executives and operatives to overcome them.For 'thirteen centuries the political and social structure of China proper (ie, excluding Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet) has been rigidly shaped by the philosophy of Lao Tze and the ethics' of Confucius. This Taoism, which is described as the "way of harmony" with its three jewels of character, gentleness, economy and humility, advocates the minimum of social, economic and political organization and still gives the key to the Chinese character.The Mongol and Manchu conquests of the 12th and 17th centuries, respectively, could hardly be dignified with the name of war, but the superior intelligence and harder mentality of the unwarlike Chinese finally absorbed...

Jan 1, 1944

By Robert Bachus, Jamey B. Rosen

"Abstract Large scale In Situ Barrier Wall Construction projects, specifically those related to earth dams, dikes, and levees, frequently require stringent quality control measures to ensure the success of the wall. This presentation discusses the applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to capture information from multiple data streams and provide geotechnical feedback, quality control, and project control feedback. Techniques used to geospatially analyze verticality data from secant piles and panels will be demonstrated. Examples will be presented from barrier wall installations at two sites owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): the Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky, and Center Hill Dam in Tennessee.IntroductionDeep foundation installations require contractors to collect a substantial amount of information over the course of a project, both for internal quality control of construction progress and for demonstrating compliance with customer or owner specifications. Methods of collecting information are constantly improving, bringing with it the need for a systemic approach to managing the increasing amounts and types of data. Handling these diverse types of data presents challenges with both budget and schedule demands. This paper discusses some techniques for adding or increasing quality control in barrier wall constructions by consolidating, visualizing and analyzing data using relational database and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, collectively referred to as Information Management System (IMS) development. The IMS concept is designed to facilitate the collection, transfer and processing of data and provide an easy way to remotely access and visualize construction progress.The remainder of this paper presents the needs and objectives of an IMS applied to quality control in barrier wall construction, the components and data flows involved, the capabilities and user interfaces of the systems and the benefits for the end users. Examples are presented throughout from case study projects including: a pile barrier wall applied in the rehabilitation at the Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky (under contract to the Treviicos-Soletanche Joint Venture), and a secant pile barrier wall currently under construction in the rehabilitation of the Center Hill Dam in Tennessee (under contract to Bauer Foundations Corporation) (both owned by the Nashville District of the USACE)."

Jan 1, 2014

By Paramguru R. K, Jena P. K

Increasing demand for copper, lead and zinc with continuous depletion of good grade ore reserves, warrants the need for utilization of lean and complex ores of these metals. There is worldwide effort to develop suitable processes for these purposes. The present paper deals with the chloride leaching of complex base metal sulphide concentrates of two Indian deposits. A two stage leaching process is suggested keeping selectivity of metal dissolution in view.In the first stage most of the lead and zinc are reacted with dilute FeCI3 (0.3M) solutions at a temperature ono°c where major portion of the lead remains in the residue and zinc reports in solution. After taking out lead chloride by brine leaching, the residue has been treated for copper dissolution. A concentrated FeCI3 leaching at boiling temperature as well as ambient aqueous chlorine leaching have been separately tried to dissolve out the copper from the residue. Based on the results obtained, a flowsheet for the proposed process is presented.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. Scheetz

The Brewer Gold Mine is an open-pit, heap leach operation that processes about 122 kt/m (135,000 stpm). The mine is operated by Brewer Gold Inc., a subsidiary of Westmont Mining Inc., and is located near Jefferson, SC, about 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Charlotte, NC and 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Columbia, SC (Fig. 1). All of the ore to date has been produced from a breccia body of hydrothermal origin and a related smaller body of fault-controlled ore, known as the B-6. Reserves at the time the mine commenced production were 4.6 Mt (5.1 million st) grading 1.4 g/t (0.042 oz per st) gold. History Although some reports of a pre-Revolution War shaft at the Brewer are in the literature (Lieber, 1856, Nitze and Wilkens, 1897), gold was first produced in earnest from the Brewer Mine in 1828. Production occurred primarily from placer deposits south of the present mine workings. Lieber noted in 1856 that “every branch, gulch, ravine or even declivity of the main hill has been washed and rewashed.”

Jan 1, 1991

By R J. Wood

Raise drilling (or raise boring) is not a new technology or methodology. The first raise drilling machine was developed by The Robbins Company (TRC) of the USA in 1962. TRC manufactured the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) in 1952 and Jim Robbins, the founder of the company wanted to ‘turn the TBM concept on its head’ so to speak.Many improvements have ensued in the 50 years since the first machine. Such improvements include advances in the drill rod and thread design, cutters and reaming heads. Raise boring would not have been possible without the development of the tungsten carbide insert cutters and there have been big advances in both the carbide technology and in the mechanical design of the cutters.Over time mines have developed deeper with a greater use of diesel equipment resulting in greater ventilation requirements. This in turn means larger and deeper ventilation shafts. There have also been improvements in directional drilling techniques. This all combines with the need and ability to construct larger shafts using the safe method of raise drilling. With suitable geotechnical conditions the RBR900VF is capable of drilling shafts to a diameter and depth of greater than 8 m and 2000 m respectively. Greater diameters are possible over shorter lengths with suitable ground conditions.The RBR900VF was designed and manufactured to specifications developed by Macmahon. This machine has the greatest thrust and torque capability of any machine in the world. It enables cutters to be more heavily loaded in the larger diameter heads and this is essential for efficient rock excavation. Additional features of the new machine include minimal manual handling to provide a safer working environment and higher strength steel for the drill rods providing additional safety margin.CITATION:Wood, R J, 2014. A revolution in raise boring – the development of the RBR900VF, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 171–178 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

By M. C. Bhulose

Paper written on project work carried out in partial fulfilment of B. Eng (Mining Engineering) degree The purpose of this project was to identify constraints that could occur in the current sub-decline shaft at Turffontein Shaft should an increase in production take place. Particular attention was to be paid to the transportation of men and materials and to the broken rock and ventilation capacity of the shaft. This project is an in-depth evaluation of the logistic capacity of the sub-decline system at Turffontein Shaft in order to determine by how much production can be increased in this area to replace tonnages from the vertical shaft area, where ore reserves are rapidly becoming depleted.

Jan 1, 2004

At Copper Refineries Pty. Ltd., Townsville, two reverberatory furnaces of 420 tonnes capacity are used to melt 210000 tonnes/year of copper for subsequent anode casting. When the refinery commenced production in1959, these furnaces were of 300 tonnes capacity. The original furnaces featured a silica brick hearth, magnesite and chrome magnesite side 'walls, and a sprung silica brick roof, but were unsatisfactory because of thelow refractory life and high costs. With continuous expansion in production and the incentive to increase furnace life and capacity the design of these furnaces has changed greatly since that time.The present furnaces feature all basic brick, a flat suspended basic brick roof, very extensive use of watercooled copper sections, and are of substantially increased (420 tonnes) capacity. Particular attention has been concentrated on high wear areas such as the taphole, side walls, and charging door jambs. Each furnace in its 24 h cycle, is charged, the copper melted, impurities skimmed off, metal "poled" prior to casting, and cast.The service condition during each of these operations is important in considering furnace refractory life.The improvements in operating practices and furnace 'construction which enabled the capacity of the furnaces to be increased are discussed. The life between major repairs to side walls has increased from 90 charges to300 charges.The scope for future improvement is considered and areas for development are suggested.

Jan 1, 1977

By Masaki Kitazume

"Abstract The wet type and dry type of deep mixing methods have been developed and widely applied for on-land and marine constructions in Japan. The quality assurance (QA) of the methods has been usually carried out by unconfined compression test on field stabilized soil sampled by core boring in Japan. In some other countries, stabilized soil excavated by the wet grab sampling instead of core sampling is often subjected to unconfined compression test for quality assurance. There are several merits and demerits in each method, but few studies have been carried out to compare the stabilized soil strength of these two types of specimens to discuss their applicability to practical construction. The author has conducted a series of field and laboratory tests to compare the stabilized soil strength and discuss the applicability of wet grab sampling to QA for wet and dry types of deep mixing method.In this study, the wet grab sampling was carried out at two road embankment construction sites where the wet type and dry type of deep mixing were applied. The cement stabilized soil was excavated at the three depths by a wet grab sampler soon after the DM column construction. The test result is compared with the other test data in the previous study to discuss the applicability of the web grab sampling method for QA of cement stabilized soil.IntroductionThe Deep Mixing Method (DMM), an in-situ soil stabilization technique using cement and/or lime as a binder, is often employed to improve soft soils (Kitazume and Terashi, 2013). A variety of factors and their interactions affect the eventual strength of a deep-mixed column, while some of which are controllable (e.g. binder type and dose) by engineers while the others are not (e.g. soil types, ground temperature, etc.; Babasaki et al., 1997). In addition to laboratory mix tests, which in essence are a parametric study to estimate the influence of these factors on a particular soil’s strength, the quality assurance (QA) practice in Japan usually involves unconfined compression test on sampling cores from the stabilized columns after a given curing period. It has been recognized, however, that the ‘field strength’, or the strength of the retrieved core, quf is on average lower than the ‘laboratory strength’, qul, evaluated by laboratory mix test. Also allowing for the inevitable variability, existing guidelines (for example, PWRC, 2004 and CDIT, 2008) recommend the design quf /qul values of, for example, 0.5-1.0 for the CDM (Cement Deep Mixing; a wet-type technique, in which binder is added as slurry) and 0.2-0.33 for the DJM (Dry Jet Mixing; a dry-type technique, in which binder is added as powder)."

Jan 1, 2014

By Yong-Moo Cheong

When the zirconium pressure tube(PT) is in contact with the calandria tube(CT) in the pressurized heavy water reactor(PHWR), the temperature gradient between the inner and outer wall of the PT results in a thermal diffusion of hydrogen(deuterium) and hydride blisters are formed on the outer surface of the PT. Since Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes have a high risk for the formation of blisters during their operation in a PHWR, there is a strong incentive to develop a method for the non-destructive detection of the blisters grown on the tube surfaces. However, because there is little mismatch in an acoustic impedance between the hydride blisters and zirconium matrix, it is not easy to distinguish the boundary between the blister and the zirconium matrix with the conventional ultrasonic methods. This study has focused on the development of an ultrasonic method to detect the hydride blisters formed on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes. Hydride blisters were grown on the outer surface of a Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube using a cold finger attached to steady state thermal diffusion equipment. Ultrasonic velocity ratio method as well as conventional ultrasonic parameters with an immersion technique was developed to detect small hydride blisters on the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. B. Harris

It has long been appreciated that chloride chemistry has a number of advantages over the more traditional sulphate route for both extracting and separating metals. Modern materials of construction, coupled with the development of a more cost-effective and efficient hydrochloric acid regeneration technology mean that chloride-based processes are now more competitive and attractive. Such processing routes are able to recover more of the contained metal values in a feed, including iron in a benign and/or marketable form, and particularly the so-called rare and rare-earth elements which are increasing in demand in our electronic age. These factors, therefore, add appreciably both to the overall economics of a project, but also offer a much more sustainable approach to our dwindling natural resources. Additionally, chloride-based flowsheets can be much more environmentally-friendly, offering practical alternatives to two of the biggest headaches faced by the industry, namely cyanide usage and the generation of red muds. This paper presents a brief theoretical background, focusing on the latest developments of ferrous iron oxidation and the low-temperature, selective hydrochloric acid regeneration process, which is the key unit operation for any chloride flowsheet, and discusses in general the advantages of the chloride approach. Several recently-developed flowsheets, which have been tested at the miniplant level, are presented for gold, base metals, titaniferous magnetites and lead-silver ores wherein the advantages of considering a chloride approach are highlighted.

Jan 1, 2014

By O. Konovalov, M. Zhuravkov

In report the results of performance of research works on building up of the connected geoecological and geomechanical monitoring system for modelling and study of a state of mining massif in a region with large-scale underground mining works are discussed. The connected geoecological monitoring requires radical change of methodology of carried out works. To carry out modelling and researches it is impossible without construction of the integrated connected information model of region. Basis of construction of information systems and databases for all sections of Earth Sciences is the set of the approaches, among which, for example, methods of remote sounding, GIS- and GPS-technology etc. Computer technologies are basis on the "supercomputer" technology. The results of performance of some researches for regions of excavation of deposits of potash salts in Russia and Belarus are presented.

Jan 1, 2005

Antimony ore samples (mean assay 18·7 per cent antimony) from Endeavour Inlet, Marlborough Sounds New Zealand, were tested for upgrading by flotation to a saleable product (60 per cent antimony).The effects of activating agents, collectors, frothers, pH, conditioning time, and particle size on the recovery and grade of a stibnite flotation concentrate were determined using HaIlimond tube and laboratory flotationcell test apparatus. Optimum flotation conditions for the ore were thereby established. A stibnite concentrate grading 63 per cent antimony and an overall recovery of 90 per cent is obtainable in a two-stage process.

Jan 1, 1977