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By R. V. Ramani

One area of study in the Coal Mine Injury Analysis project was to illustrate and enhance the ability of mine safety management personnel to apply analytical techniques to injury experience data and to justify requests for funds for safety enhancement actions on a cost/benefit and other quantitative basis. Four volumes of this final project report detail (1) the objective and scope of the mine safety management research, (2) the results of literature review, and case studies, and (3) models developed for mine safety management. The four volumes are titled as Volume III: Mine Safety Management, Volume IV: Analytical Techniques for Mine Safety Management; Volume V: Mine Safety Management Case Studies and Volume IX: Training Cost Model. In this volume, the following material is presented: (i) review of related literature, (ii) mathematical models to perform quantitative analyses of accident/ injury experience data using the tools and techniques of risk analysis, time series analysis, and the Markov process, and (iii) descriptions of the HDBSEL and ACIM programs which are used to perform accident/injury experience analyses and cost analyses, respectively.

Jan 1, 1993

By Peter Radziszewski

"Typical mining operating costs can be divided between extraction (30 % to 70 %), comminution (30 % to 50 %) and separation (5% to 20% ). Cornminition process costs, representing an important contribution to mining operating costs, can themselves be divided roughly between energy (50 %) and linerkharge wear (50 %). Developing the ability of predicting mill wear will allow a more accurate estimation of wear costs. However, total media wear in a given ball mill grinding process is a product of three recognized wear mechanisms those being abrasion, corrosion and impact. Further, the contribution to total media wear of each of these wear mechanisms has not been well established. In this paper, a overview of abrasive, corrosive and impact wear mechanisms is made from which an empirical wear prediction procedure is proposed. Further, future directions in wear prediction research is outlined. INTRODUCTIONTypical mining operating costs can be divided between extraction (30 % to 70 %), comminution (30 % to 50 %) and separation (5 % to 20 %). Comminition process costs, representing an important contribution to mining operating costs, can themselves be divided roughly between energy (50 %) and lined-charge wear (50 %). With respect to wear, world wide steel consumption as grinding media is estimated at over 600 000 tomes per annum (Malghan, 1982). As such, developing the ability of predicting mill wear will allow a more accurate estimation of wear costs.Charge media wear prediction is actually estimated using the Bond abrasion test. From Bond abrasion index tests, it is possible to determine a wear rate using the following function:"

Jan 1, 2000

Despite the recovery of approximately six million ounces of alluvial gold from the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand during the last 140 years, a great deal of this having been obtained via sluice boxes and riffle tables, there has been little advance in riffle table technology during this period. In this paper contemporary riffle table design and current operational practices are examined. Studies of gold loss to undersize tailings are described. In addition recommendations derived from recent research carried out in North America are contrasted with gold saving strategies adopted by West Coast miners.

Jan 1, 1992

By D M. Marques, J F. C L Costa

The estimation of process plant head grade is not trivial and is a source of constant dispute within the mining industry. Grade estimates informed by the short term mine planning are frequently not reproduced by sampling the continuous flow of ore at the plant. Head grades are normally obtained by periodically sampling the continuous flow during a day or shift, and taking the average of the multiple increments collected. The standard error of this mean grade depends on the ore variability and the frequency (number) of aliquots extracted. The more increments are taken the higher is the precision on the calculated mean. Variographic experiments are normally used to map grade variability along a certain period of time and the extension variance is derived from this variogram. This experiment is time consuming, expensive and cumbersome. Mining industry personnel rarely apply this approach. Additionally, a temporal variogram can vary from day to day as different ores are mined along the life of the mine. This paper investigates a novel approach based on simulating the grades feeding the processing plant. In situ 3D grade models are built using geostatistical simulations. Grade spatial continuity and variability are reproduced in models that mimic the real deposit. These models are used in mine planning and scheduling transforming a 3D block model into an one dimensional string of values feeding the plant (one dimension flow). These grades have the statistical characteristics of the unknown real grades and can be sampled to emulate a variographic experiment. The results showed consistency and adequacy to estimate the sampling error (Gy, 1998 p 31) for various sampling intervals using the simulated grades. Also the results show a variographic experiment can change significantly from time to time, as ore changes and a selected sampling protocol can become obsolete if not adjusted for ore variability.CITATION:Costa, J F C L and Marques, D M, 2012. Defining a sampling strategy for a continuous flow supported by geostatistical simulations, in Proceedings Sampling 2012 , pp 3-8 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 21, 2012

By H. C. LIVINGSTON

At the Hanna No. 4-A mine of The Union Pacific Coal Co. a new system of trackless mining is being utilized to extract a 26-ft coal seam. By using shuttle cars and a conveyor belt for haulage in the rooms and panel entries instead of pit cars and panel hoist a saving of 12 cents per ton is expected. Mining is conducted in a 26-ft coal seam laid down on a synclinal structure with active workings on a pitch of approximately ten to twelve degrees. The coal seam is interbedded between a shale bottom and sand- stone top. The coal is friable, high in moisture, and subject to spontaneous combustion. The mine is rated gassy by the State Coal Mine Inspection Department. Mining is conducted at the present time by unbalanced rope haulage an main slopes spaced on approximate 4300-ft centers with the three-entry system driven to boundary lines, strike entries being turned on approximate 1300-ft centers. Panels are driven to the rise between entries at approximately 750-ft intervals with panel rooms driven on the strike 500 to 600 ft long, leaving 150 ft of barrier pillar between each block of panel rooms.

Jan 1, 1949

By R. L. Guerguerian

Nowadays, most grinding mills driven by a wrap-around ring motor are operating successfully. Some of the earlier problems could be attributed to the lateral stiffness and stability of their bearings. As a result, modifications to the bearings included the rearrangement of the shoes, or the addition of more shoes, closer to the horizontal centerline. This technical paper reports a study of the effects of bearings on the lateral stiffness of grinding mills driven by a wrap-around ring motor. The discussions cover the design of the four shoe trunnion bearings and examine the effects of the angular location of the shoes.

Jan 1, 2000

By A. G. Mayton

Vehicle vibration exposure has been linked to chronic back pain and low back symptoms among agricultural tractor drivers. The objectives of this study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were to assess driver whole body vibration (WBV) exposures and recommend interventions to reduce the risk of back related injuries, particularly relative to vehicle jarring/jolting (the transient mechanical shock components of WBV). The methodology included collecting, from two independent samples, ?eld data and health and work history data of farm equipment operators. Data were collected during mowing, raking, baling, chiseling, tilling, and road travel for different model tractors. Spraying using a sprayer and shrub removal with a skid steer loader were also included. Based on ISO 2631 (1985), the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, threshold limit values, presents 0.5 m/s2 as the action level recommended by the Commission of European Communities for overall weighted total RMS acceleration (vector sum for axes x, y, and z) [ACGIH, 2006. Threshold limit values and biological exposure indices. Cincinnati, OH]. WBV measured at the operator/seat interface exceeded this action level. The roughest rides and highest vector sum accelerations occurred with small utility tractor mowers (3.3 and 2.8 m/s2) and a skid steer loader (1.7 m/s2). Major ?ndings from health and work history data showed 96% of participants reported having to bend or twist their necks, although 24% reported neck symptoms. Sixty four percent of participating operators reported experiencing back symptoms (e.g., pain, aching, stiffness, etc.). Recommendations included: specifying a seat that ??better?? isolates operators from jars/jolts with new tractor purchases; maintaining the seat/seat suspension and replacing worn or damaged cushions with NIOSH tested viscoelastic foam padding; using larger diameter tires with radial ply instead of bias ply construction, particularly on small utility tractor mowers, to aid in attenuating ride ??roughness??; using a swivel seat to reduce the stress on the neck from bending or twisting; and improving efforts to educate owner/operators of the adverse effects of WBV exposures. Since the data presented in this paper were collected from two independent samples, the authors were unable to draw any correlations or etiological inferences from the study. However, results were compared and contrasted with other studies which included similar vibration measurements in agriculture.

Jan 1, 2008

Disseminated gold mineralization in the Vunda River area 12 km SE of Lautoka in Viti Levu occurs sporadically in shoshonite volcanics within an alteration area of some 6 km2. No definite intrusions have yet been located though possible intrusions occur toward the centre and on the eastern margin of the area. The nature and distribution of alteration suggests the presence of a co-magmatic mineralizing stock just below the surface.The gold occurs within close spaced fractures and occasionally around the c1asts of breccia and agglomerate.Various types of alteration compatible with porphyry mineralization occur, but to date show no zoning or defined correlation with incidence of gold which occurs in various alteration facies.It is suggested that the gold and trace copper mineralization at Vunda arises from the sub-volcanic intrusive phase (monzonite) of the Sambeto shoshonite (5 m.y.) and is part of an E-W zone of porphyry-type mineralizationtrending easterly to the Kingston porphyry copper deposit at Navilawa.There is a close similarity between the Vunda mineralization and some of the porphyry deposits of alkali affinity in British Columbia, Canada.

Jan 1, 1978

By John E. Tilton

Real copper prices during the past several decades display two striking characteristics. First, they are highly volatile. Within a year or two, copper prices can rise or fall by 30% or more. Second, over the longer term, they are falling. Indeed, since 1970, the secular trend price for copper is down by more than 50%. Figure 1 highlights both of these characteristics. It shows the average annual US producer price for copper since 1970 measured in constant 2001 US dollars. While the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price is not shown, it and the US producer price have for some time moved more or less together. So pronounced short-run fluctuations around a significant long-run decline describe copper prices, not only in the United States, but around the world.

Jan 1, 2002

In the latter half of 1973 a contract was given to Roberts-Holland Joint Venture for the stripping of the southern exhaust airway.The contract was carried out efficiently and relatively cheaply. It was completed 2 months ahead of schedule.The sinking stage and in particular the drilling jumbo proved to be a success and helped produce an above schedule stripping rate.No major problems were encountered with ground conditions or ventilation. A survey of the shaft showed the diameter to be within the set limits of 5·49 m ± 0·15 m.

Jan 1, 1974

WHILE in the employ of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters and the Electrolytic Zinc Oompanies at their South Melbourne Research Station, the writer was detailed to investigate the principles underlying the Parkes Process with a view of determining:1. The Interdependence of the variables:(a) Quantity of zinc required per charge,(b) Temperature of stirring of each zincing,(c) Silver content of the bullion after first zinculg,(d) Silver content of the bullion after second zincing,(e) Silver grade of the crusts produced for retorting, with reference to the method of working the Parkes Process then in operation at Port Pirie.2. The possibility of effecting improvements in the Port Pirie practice of desilverising, especially with respect to:(a) Silver grade of the crusts produced for retorting.(b) Quantity of zinc required per charge.The method of desilverising in practice at Port Pirie was a two-stage zincing.In both zincings the bullion was cooled to its solidification temperature and the silver crusts which separated from the lead were completely removed.The crusts from the first zincing were retorted, and the crusts from the second zincing were returned to the first zincing of the next charge.

Jan 1, 1925

By D. S. F. Silva

A survey of 120 recent NI 43-101 technical reports was conducted to evaluate the current state of practice regarding resource classification techniques. The most common classification techniques are based on search neighbourhoods (50% of recent reports), drill-hole spacing (30% of recent reports), and/or kriging variance (6% of recent reports). Two new techniques are proposed. The first is based on kriging variance and involves removing one or more drill-holes with the highest weights while performing kriging and using the resultant kriging variance for classification. This technique has the advantages of variance-based techniques and reduces artifacts. The second technique is based on conditional simulation and uses a moving window approach for classification at the desired selective mining unit resolution based on larger production volume criteria. This technique has the advantage of accounting for heteroscedasticity, which is a common characteristic in mineral deposits, and also reduces artifacts since a production volume scale is considered for the actual classification. The drill-hole spacing, search neighborhood, kriging variance, and simulation-based techniques are described and compared for 2D and 3D examples with regular and irregular drilling patterns to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Jan 1, 2014

By Paul Gribbon, Julius Strid, Greg Colzani, Jim McDonald

Portland, Oregon’s $370 million West Side Combined Sewer Overflow Tunnel Project has completed the final phase of construction and commissioning. The construction contract, which began in September 2002, was a reimbursable cost plus fixed fee contract that followed a qualifications-based contractor procurement process and apre-construction planning phase. This paper addresses the final results of the contracting method and provides a lessons-learned case history. Specific items addressed include the benefits realized from the contracting method, areas of improvement, final costs compared to the original contract estimates, design changes and schedule impacts, and subcontract management issues.

Jan 1, 2007

The two candidates in the upcoming presidential election in the United States each say that they have their own solution to the nation?s energy problems - solutions that will increase the amount of energy available, lessen the nation?s dependence on foreign sources and reduce the amount of pollution released to the atmosphere. Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama and Republican candidate Sen. John McCain both advocate research funding for coal-to-liquids and clean coal technologies. McCain also supports increased oil and gas drilling offshore. And Obama has even made some noises in that direction, although his plan leans heavily on the increased use of renewable energy sources. The energy debate is not new to this election. Congress and whichever party is in the White House has for years been trying to craft a comprehensive energy policy. One difference in this latest debate is that the increased use of nuclear energy has gained more attention. Current President George W. Bush has said he favors the increased use of nuclear power as part of the nation?s energy package. And McCain said he supports the building of more nuclear power plants. Obama has not said much about that. The American public is also showing signs of changing its stance on nuclear energy. To be sure, images of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are still alive in some minds. However, the American public has said it wants cheaper energy and they want it produced more cleanly. With nuclear, the nation can have both. In the United States, nuclear accounts for slightly less than 20 percent of the electrical power used (see interview with Gary Steele of Energy Fuels on page 27). Globally, that figure is about 15 percent. And there are several nations that derive better than half of their power from nuclear sources. Add to that the world?s increasing need for more energy and the future of nuclear is bright.

Jan 1, 2008

By J L. Mauk

The Sovereign, Jubilee, Scotia and Jasper Creek prospects occur in an area of ~3.0 km by 2.5 km (~7.5 km2) in the Hauraki goldfield. The prospects are hosted by andesitic to dacitic flows, autoclastic breccias and localised pyroclastic and air fall deposits. Jubilee and Sovereign prospects lie along the northern and southern parts of the Waitekauri Fault, respectively, whereas Scotia is located ~1 km to the E, and Jasper Creek a further ~1.2 km to the ENE. Wall rocks are typically intensely altered, although the degree of alteration becomes more variable east of Scotia and at Jasper Creek. Alteration minerals include quartz, adularia, albite, chlorite, pyrite, illite, interstratified illite-smectite, smectite and calcite. Several of these minerals have distributions that show distinct zonation with adularia most abundant at Sovereign and Jasper Creek, but restricted to shallow levels at Scotia. Illite occurs throughout Sovereign and Jubilee plus the western margin of Scotia where it grades into interstratified illite-smectite; smectite predominates at Jasper Creek. Veins are uncommon and typically narrow, but show distinct zonations. Quartz veins are more abundant at Sovereign and Jubilee, whereas calcite veins are more abundant at Scotia and Jasper Creek. Laumontite veins occur at Scotia, and rare clinoptilolite, mordenite and stilbite veinlets with calcite occur at Jasper Creek. Fluid inclusion in quartz and calcite homogenised between 141¦ to 272¦C and trapped a dilute solution with an apparent salinity of less than 2.6 weight percent NaCl equivalent. Homogenisation temperatures are hottest at Sovereign (average 241¦C) and Jubilee (average 239¦C), cooler at Scotia (average 204¦C) and coolest at Jasper Creek (average 162¦C). Calculated paleowater table elevations suggest the water table was 680 m to 750 m above sea level at Sovereign and Jubilee, 450 m at Scotia and 225 m at Jasper Creek. The current data suggest three scenarios that can explain why Sovereign and Jubilee are deep and hot, whereas Jasper Creek is cool, shallow and marginal; 1.   some or all of the prospects may represent separate overlapping hydrothermal system, 2.   a high-relief hydrothermal system on the side of volcano with an inclined water table and outflow towards Jasper Creek, and 3.   a low-relief hydrothermal system that has been either tilted or block faulted with greatest uplift and erosion to the west.

Jan 1, 2005

All development proposals have to run the gauntlet of the approvals process. Major resource projects are generally subject to particularly intense scrutiny. The key element in the approvals process is that it is about making decisions that take into account the benefits or otherwise to society as a whole - the interests of any one group do not take precedence. Most groups tend to see their relatively narrow interests as representing those of the broader society. Each group develops their arguments for or against a project in isolation, and then presents these to an arbiter in an adversarial situation. From this mire of argument and counter-argument it is often difficult to discern just what the real benefits of a project are, and opportunities for agreement and constructive modification of proposals to meet real concerns are often missed. The contention made in this paper is that the inevitable differences between these various viewpoints should be harnessed to help the proponent to come up with a proposal that is clearly of overall benefit to society and which gains approval. It is better to accept that no one group has a monopoly on wisdom in this area and to engender an environment of creative tension in which the pros and cons can be broadly considered and good planning and design used to produce a proposal that has a high chance of success. There are a variety of ways in which this approach can be implemented. Some of these options will be discussed in terms of their likely applicability to energy projects and their potential for success.

Jan 1, 1992

By M. Poirier, J. H. Mbouche

"The research question of the present work is the following: at which speed should a rotary sample divider operate in order to produce representative samples of iron ore concentrate? In order to solve this problem, the representativity of a rotary sample divider treating iron ore concentrate from Iron Ore Compagny (IOC) Carol Lake mine in Labrador City was studied in the laboratory of mineral processing of “CEGEP de Sept-Îles”. The rotary sample divider speeds tested are: 20, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100%. The results show differences in both weight and particles sizes distributions with respect to the various rotation speed used. 20% has shown to be the speed that generates an almost normally distributed samples for both weight and particle size. As the speed of the rotary sample divider increases, the polygon of frequency for weight distribution progressively becomes a two modal distribution curve. 40, 50 and 100% speeds generate normal samples distribution curves with respect to particles size only. 60 and 80% are the speed to be avoided since they generate multiple modal distribution curves for both weight and particles size.IntroductionIn the mining industry, samples representativity is part of the key elements for management decisions. In fact, “Sampling provides vital information to plant operators, clients and geologists to profitably run and operate iron ore mines and plants” (Kevin Thorne et al. 2007). At the laboratory scale, several types of techniques’ are currently used to perform sampling. This include: grapping, alternate spading, quartering, riffles divider and rotating divider etc.. Among all these instruments, rotary divider is the most commonly used. Nevertheless, the usage of a rotary divider is not a guaranty for samples representativity since the results have shown to be related to running speed of this instrument. For the present research work, the idea is to use iron ore concentrate to quantify the representativity of a rotary sample divider. In other words, the research idea is to determine the speed at which a rotary sample divider produces representative samples while treating iron ore concentrate from Carol Lake mine. The present report will give an overview of the methodology used and the principal results obtained."

Jan 1, 2016

By Jonathan S. Kelly

Effective control of respirable dust is one of the most serious problems associated with longwall mining in the United States. This report describes the development and the underground evaluation of ventilated cutting drums, on a double ended ranging drum shearer. The ventilated drum uses high pressure (1,500 psi) water sprays to draw air (3,500 cfm) through 12 airmoving tubes mounted in the drum hub. The sprays draw dusty air from the face side of the drum, scrub the air, and discharge the clean air on the gob side of the drum against a deflector plate. During a three week underground evaluation, the cutting drums reduced shearer generated dust levels at the shearer operators position by 40%, at the shield operators downwind of the shearer by 55%, and at the tailgate by 55%. Cutting and loading performance of the drums were superior to the mine?s conventional drums. After the evaluation, the mine continued to use the ventilated drums to finish mining the panel. During this 3 month period, there were no mechanical or seal failures demonstrating excellent system reliability.

Jan 1, 1987

By H. D. Mellom

The direction of the optic or "C" axis of a uniaxial metal crystal can be found with the metallurgical polarizing microscope by examining two planes of section on the crystal. Complete orientation of the crystal can be determined if a twin crystal is common to both surfaces of section. Examination of Uniaxial Metals in Polarized Light-Rotation of a uniaxial crystal surface, properly prepared,' shows four extinction positions 90 deg apart, provided that the surface is not close to a basal section. One of these two extinction directions corresponds with the projection of the optic axis on the surface of section. This direction can be found if the 'sign of the rotationr2 for the metal is known. To find the direction of the optic axis, the crystal is rotated on the stage 45 deg from an extinction position. With a crystal of negative sign, to produce extinction the analyser must be rotated towards the optic axial direction and vice versa. All sections, other than basal, of a uniaxial crystal have the same sign of rotation and, since there is no change in sign with wave length, white light can be used for these measurements. U the sign of the rotation is not known the presumed direction of the optic axis can be determined assuming a positive sign. A third section cut normal to the presumed optic axis will show basal extinction if the assumption is correct. It is convenient to use the edge between the two planes of section as a fiducial direction common to both surfaces. The optic axis can be related to this direction. If the above measurements are repeated on the other plane of section and the angle between the two section planes measured, stereographic projection can be used to determine the orientation of the crystal optic axis. Determination of Complete Orientation—The complete orientation of a uniaxial crystal can be determined provided that a twin crystal is common to both surfaces of section, and the twin law is known. The orientation of the twin crystal optic axis can be determined in the same way as for the main crystal

Jan 1, 1962

Large deposits of manganiferous iron ores, representing several million tons of metallic manganese, occur in the United States. The Minnesota deposits of such ore are of outstanding importance because of their size, state of development, ease of mining and proximity to the Great Lakes, which permits water transportation to steel centers. In view of the fact that our steel industry requires large quantities of manganese, for which no satisfactory substitute has been found, and because our reserves of ferro-grade ore are comparatively small, the development of methods that will make our large deposits of manganiferous iron ores available as a source of ferromanganese is an important problem. Realizing the importance of this problem, some years ago the North Central Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines and the Minnesota School of Mines Experiment Station undertook jointly the development of methods for recovering the .manganese content of manganiferous iron ores in a form suitable for the production of ferromanganese, the 80 per cent. alloy indispensable in producing steel. Two types of manganiferous iron ores have been described in previous reports.' The brown ores are higher in iron and lower in manganese than the black ores; the black ores are more siliceous but contain less phosphorus. The utilization of the iron content of the brown ores in the production of steel appears to furnish the best basis for their treatment. The method of attack has been to work out modifications in iron and steel practice so as to recover manganese in the form of slag comparable to ferro-grade ores. The greater part of the experimental work has been conducted with a 6-ton blast furnace and a 1/2-ton basic open hearth. This paper is devoted mainly to open-hearth tests in which high-phosphorus spiegel

Jan 1, 1930