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By J. Kunze, R. Degal

During the last 100 years, the submerged arc furnace has been one of the most amazing diversified melting units. These furnaces have found their application in more than 20 different main industrial areas such as iron, ferro alloy, chemical industry, lead, zinc, copper, refractory, titanium oxide, recycling, phosphorus etc. Such an evolution was only possible because of tremendous efforts in research and development and due to the large range of design solutions. The worldwide strong competition also forced the industry and plant suppliers to develop highly efficient, economically balanced units in optimized sizes and with long lifetimes, to adapt to the market conditions. Regarding the environment, the plants improved significantly in terms of water treatment plants and off-gas treatments as well as on site recycling units. This paper will give a short overview regarding the history of the furnace and the latest developments in today?s main application fields: ferro alloys, non-ferrous, special application and recycling. In addition new activities in research and developments are briefly discussed.

Jan 1, 2004

THE Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act (30 U.S.C., 321-325, and amendments) became law April 5, 1944, and a period of intensive research and development in this field was begun by the Federal Bureau of Mines. As part of this program, bulletins were published on pressure hydrogenation,3 the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis,4 and nil stifle.5 The. Bureau also has published a short bibliography on coal gasification,6 mostly of a theoretical nature. Because anal gasification is prerequisite to either the Fischer-Tropsch or coal-hydrogenation processes, publishing this sizable collection of technical information in this form Will Ire valuable. The material will he presented in three parts. as follows I. United Stares Patents. II. United Kingdom, Australian, Canadian, and South African Patents. III. Other Foreign Patents. Part I appeared in early 1960. Part II follows.

Jan 1, 1962

By P. Ulrich, V. Svalbonas

The early to mid 1980s was a period of mining consolidation, and many senior design engineers retired from the mill industry. Similar conditions have existed in the last few years. This creates a loss of a tremendous amount of experience. This paper is a look back by two senior mill designers who survived the dips in both time periods. From a continuous design practice of over 25 years, mill designs and fabrication practices are surveyed with a view of identifying what works, and is necessary, and what doesn’t, or is not necessary, in the creation of a safe, economic, long-lived grinding mill.

Jan 1, 2001

By E. Henry, C. Mayer, H. Rott

Hangingwall deformation monitoring at Kiruna mine is a major concern for Luossavaara- Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) since underground production is deepening toward the town of Kiruna. In the quest for more effective monitoring techniques, LKAB decided to evaluate the ability of satellite-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry to monitor ground subsidence by generating continuous deformation maps from satellite radar images. While adopted by other geoscience-related industries, SAR interferometry is still relatively untested in the mining industry. This paper describes the basic principles of SAR interferometry and describes how subsidence is monitored at Kiruna mine. The encouraging results are discussed as well as the benefits (continuous deformation mapping, low cost, fast, etc.) and limitations (sensitivity to snow and vegetation cover) of the technique.

Jan 1, 2004

By William R. Yernberg

What a difference a year makes. One year ago, the iron mining industry and the steelmaking industry in the United States were in trouble. Many companies were in bankruptcy, and talk of plant and mine shutdowns was rampant. At that time, it seemed difficult, if not impossible, to remain competitive with imported steel. In addition, the World Trade Organization declared as illegal the tariffs placed on imported steel. And many questioned the viability of the ironmining and steel industry in the United States. At that time, global economic conditions were the main contributors to the industry’s problems. However, since last year’s meeting, changes in global economics have actually helped the steel industry in the United States. Heavy global demand for steel has caused raw-material shortages worldwide. Much of the increased demand is a result of the economic boom in China. In addition, because of a weak U.S. dollar and higher international freight rates, steel imports into the United States have been reduced to about 50 percent of recent levels. These factors have contributed to a rebirth of the U.S. iron mining and steel industries.

Jan 1, 2004

As part of its research and development activities concerning coal mine operational/emergency communications sys terns, the Bureau of Mines commissioned several contractors to conduct electromagnetic (EM) noise studies and measurements that would aid the development of improved coal mine operational/emergency communications systems. The bulk of the noise studies and measurements were conducted in 1971. The Pittsburgh Mining and Safety Research Center (PMSRC) inherited the responsibility for monitoring the electromagnetic noise activities by mid-to-late 1971, and initiated a review and evaluation of the current and planned electromagnetic noise work. Arthur D. Little, Inc., (ADL) was asked by PMSRC to assist it in performing this review and evaluation by placing stronger emphasis on certain tasks of existing Contract No. H0122026. This technical memorandum report presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of our review and evaluation of the electromagnetic noise measurements of the five contractors we were asked to examine. Our review and evaluation effort included meetings and telephone discussions with technical staff of each contractor; serving as Technical Discussion Leader of a "Contractor's Round Table Meeting on EM Noise, Surface and Subsurface, Operating and Non-Operating Mines" called by the Bureau of Mines; examination and discussion of contractor reports and relevant open literature; sample verification calculations; and the documentation of our findings, conclusions, and recommendations by this report.

Jan 1, 1972

By D. M. Doyle, P. J. Hannon

"The Canada/Nova Scotia Mineral Development Agreement (M.D.A.) is a subsidiary of a five-year Economic and Regional Development Agreement, signed on June 11, 1984. The objectives of the M.D.A. are to strengthen and diversify the Nova Scotian mineral industry and to coordinate federal and provincial policies and programs. The agreement outlines the activities and responsibilities of each government, including the division of the cost (60:40, federal: provincial) between governments. The agreement established a framework for joint planning to avoid overlap or duplication of programs.The M.D.A. programs are broadly divided into five sectors (Table 1 and Fig. 1): Geoscience, Minerals Technology, Development, Firm Specific and Public Information. Each sector is administered by a subcommittee composed of one federal member and one provincial member. The subcommittees report to a Management Committee. The Canada/Nova Scotia Mineral Development Agreement (M.D.A.) Management Committee is made up of Dr. Jack Reeves from EMR and Dr. Richard Potter from the NSDME.The Geoscience subcommittee, co-chaired by Peter Giles (NSDME) and William Poole (EMR), manages the regional geologic, geochemical and geophysical studies in the province. Included in this sector are studies into mineral deposits and the basic geological relationships between mineral deposits.The Mineral Technology sector is co-chaired by the authors, Don Doyle (CANMET) and Pat Hannon (NSDME). This sector of the M.D.A. conducts studies into mineral processing, sampling, deposit byproduct commodities and project feasibility analysis."

Jan 1, 1987

The cost of power is an important matter to mining companies generally and this thought that the members of the Australasian Institute of Engineers, as well as the engineering and mining professions generally would be interested in any proposal for the reduction of that cost has led to the presentation of this paper.The writer trusts that the description will be found clear and increase the interest in this interesting subject. In the up of the electrical arrangements touched on in this paper, the author has had the able assistance of his friend Mr. Mars, to whom he offers his hearty thanks. The selection of the best class of power plant for a mine is a very difficult and large problem and it is quite out of place to dogmatise that anyone of the many systems that offer is better than another, eg that the all electrical is better than the partly direct steam-driven and partly electrical, or that a gas plant is better than a steam plant. Such a selection is one that calls for very careful and close consideration, in each particular case, of a large number of before it is possible to arrive at a proper decision.

Jan 1, 1912

By A Hollweg, K H. Esbensen, M Lischka

Two new splitter designs for intercepting moving streams of matter are presented, the variable cross-stream splitter (vCSS) and the rotary stream splitter (RSS), which are intended for implementation in a fully automated modus. The vCSS facilitates obtaining up to three subsamples with different splitting ratios from automated laboratory flow paths, while the RSS divides the intercepted sample into 16 equal analytical aliquots. The splitters can process a wide range of dry, granular and free-flowing materials (<5 mm). The required weight for each subsample can be set without mechanical adjustments in the case of the vCSS. Typical applications are subsampling/splitting for X-ray fluorescence pelletisation (or fused beads) or splitting for average shift composite sampling or grain size analysis. The vCSS combines the advantages of riffle splitting (three user-defined subsample masses) with miniature bed blending and can accept up to 15 kg in total incoming sample mass. In practice, the automated vCSS can deal with unlimited ingoing mass fluxes, while the RSS is designed to operate at a user-defined fixed subsampling rate (1/16th in the tested version). Both splitters have the potential to be optimised and evaluated according to an application/user-defined total sampling error (TSE) + total analytical error (TAE) threshold. Both splitters were tested under adverse conditions and with compositions involving three components with properties representing typical mass fluxes and components concentrations in industrial and technological systems: phosphate concentrate 89.00 per cent (<500 µm), slag ten per cent (>2 mm) and glass spheres one per cent (750–1000 µm). The slag particles vary widely in particle shape, aspect ratio and surface roughness, while the glass spheres are extremely prone to bouncing and segregation (spillage). This test system is extremely difficult to split and thus constitutes a realistic worst-case scenario. While the vCSS does not comply strictly with Theory of Sampling demands for correctness, both splitters may well be able to deliver fit-for-purpose representative results if/when tested properly. Average relative mass deviations ranged from 1.89 per cent for phosphate concentrate (relative standard deviations of 20-fold repeated splitting) to 4.72 per cent for glass spheres and 13.04 per cent for slag. For the RSS, the average replication experiment splitting variation was 2.89 per cent for phosphate concentrate, 4.82 per cent for glass spheres and 11.1 per cent for slag. Both new automated online splitters would therefore appear to be able to be tuned to fit-for-purpose representivity (defined here as maximum relative reproducibility <5 per cent) for many non-extreme materials; however, it is always imperative to test every new type/class of material empirically. There is a wide commercial potential for important materials and commodities sectors, including food, feed, drugs (pharmaceutical), secondary raw materials, recyclates, agricultural products and seeds.CITATION:Lischka, M, Hollweg, A and Esbensen, K H, 2017. New online/atline splitter designs for laboratory automation – feasibility results, in Proceedings Eighth World Conference on Sampling and Blending , pp 159–166 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2017

By Percy Chávez

Dado el avance de la globalización, las empresas mineras latinas se encuentran expuestas ante el poder de las empresas transnacionales -en tanto estas utilizan información estructurada, verificada y centralizada para tomar las decisiones más acertadas y tener el control de las condiciones operativas. En este sentido, el presente texto señala la experiencia realizada en la Cía. Minera Atacocha aplicando la información centralizada para el desarrollo de proyectos de infraestructura en sus operaciones mineras.

Aug 25, 2002

By Miguel Gutiérrez

This paper will seek to provide an awareness of the challenges the permitting process presents to the engineering design for open pit mining projects in Perú. This awareness will create a better understanding of the permitting process within the several groups in mining companies that are responsible for getting the mine project started or continue its operations.

Sep 21, 2013

Plant based on the New Jersey refluxing process was installed at the Cockle Creek Works of Sulphide Corporation Pty. Ltd. to refine portion of the zinc output from the Imperial Smelting furnace.Refining of impure zinc is effected by distillation in two stages in vertical columns comprising a series of superimposed silicon carbide trays designed such that ascending zinc vapours and descending liquid metal are in intimate contact. In the first stage, portion of the zinc and its cadmium content are distilled from impure feed metal, condensed, and while still molten, fed to the second column in which zinc is boiled under controlled refluxing conditions to remove the cadmium content.The resultant zinc has a purity in excess of 99·995 per cent zinc.The availability of refined zinc has made possible the production of a number of zinc alloys for marketing in addition to the basic grades of zinc.

Jan 1, 1970

This paper forms the second of a series, in which it is proposed to communicate the results of an extensive research into the influence of alloying elements on the physical properties of lead, now being carried out in the Metallurgy School of the University of Melbourne.Some general comments on this research were made by the present writer as an introduction to the first contribution by R. S. Russell*: It was there pointed out that it was the intention to prepare lead as pure as possible, to determine its properties and then to make alloys with the various elements added singly, and in various combinations, in order to determine the effect of each. This line of action is still being pursued.It occurred to the writer, however, that this fundamental attack might, with advantage, be accompanied by a parallel investigation in which lead of commercial purity would form the basis material. In this way, using a standard *Professor of Metallurgy, University of Melbourne.

Jan 1, 1934

By S. C. Tennant, G. M. Steed

Paper presented at Mineralisation in the Caledonides, the Mike Gallagher memorial meeting held in Edinburgh, 27-28 June 1996. Immobile-element lithogeochemistry is providing a detailed chemostratigraphy of the submarine Ordo-Silurian volcano-sedimentary sequence. Primary lithologies and magmatic affinities of the sericitised and silicified volcanics are determined from binary plots of Nb, Zr, Y, TiO2 and Al2O3, while mass-change calculations using immobile-element anchors can identify and quantify zones of significant hydrothermal alteration. Stratiform polymetallic mineralisation at the western margin of Parys Mountain, around the Penymynydd fault zone, has been shown to have a distinct hanging-wall and footwall stratigraphy. These ore zones are probably part of a homoclinal, north-younging volcano-sedimentary sequence. The apparent stratigraphic complexity results from primary lithofacies variations and pervasive alteration, with the modifying role of the Caledonian orogeny much less than previously suggested

Jun 19, 1905

By Peter D. Bell

The paper describes the geology of the gold deposits of the Yanacocha district, Northern Perú. The Yanacocha District is located 20 km north of the city of Cajamarca, whose deposits are located in the Andes of norther in Perú. Gold production may have occurred as early as Incan times, but modern exploration that began in the 1960’s targeted only copper and silver. Current mining is entirely by open pit methods with heap leach recovery. Production in 2003 was from the Cerro Yanacocha deposit and the La Quinua fluvioglacial deposit. La Quinua is not discussed in detail in this report. However, Yanacocha is described as a high-sulfidation epithermal deposit occurring in pyroclastic rocks. The success of Yanacocha has made this type of target among the most sought after by exploration companies worldwide. The important characteristics of the geology of Yanacocha are reviewed below, along with some specifics of exploration techniques used in the district.

Sep 12, 2005

By Lloyd Rowson

??Several factors have led to a review and reoptimization of the Midwest uranium deposit by AREVA Resources Canada Inc., the project operator, on behalf of the owners ??The current proposal is to mine the deposit using open pit methods and then transport the ore by truck on a dedicated road linking the Midwest site with AREVA?s McClean Lake Operation (JEB mill) for processing ??A decision has been made to begin mining the deposit by 2010 (pending regulatory approvals)

May 1, 2008

By Mech B

This paper gives a general description of mining practice at The Zinc Corporation Ltd., Broken Hill, New South Wales.The basic mining methods are those which have been common in Broken Hill for many years and have been well described in previous Proceedings. The main object of this paper is to indicate developments which have occurred in recent years and to describe changes in layout, mining methods and equipment which are taking place at present.The following headings have been adopted: History Geology and general characteristics of the orebodies, Geology, The lead lode, The zinc lode, General characteristics, Ore reserves, General mining method, Exploration and diamond drilling, Shafts and shaft sinking, Main shaft, Old main shaft, Block 5 shaft, New upcast airway, Development, Level interval, Level layout, Driving and crosscutting, Winzing, Rising, and Stope preparation.

Jan 1, 1946

By Anderson Ayres Bittencourt

O monitoramento de sistemas e ativos de automação sempre existiu de forma rudimentar e descentralizada. A análise desses dados tanto quanto sua obtenção é um desafio para as empresas atuais. Foi a partir deste princípio que nosso projeto foi desenvolvido.Este trabalho tem como objetivo demonstrar a solução de Monitoramento online e preditivo implementada na ArcelorMittal Aços Planos da América do Sul, onde desde o início de sua implementação pudemos capturar benefícios operacionais, melhoria dos processos, otimização, eliminação e/ou diminuição de indisponibilidade de plantas, entre diversos outros retornos que serão apresentados.

Oct 30, 2017

By A. L. Mular, R. P. Edwards

"The operation of flotation circuits is often regarded as a combination of art and science. Expert systems offer a method by which the art may be captured and supervisory control of flotation circuits fully realized. Operating knowledge, the art, can be consistently employed to enhance regulatory control through the judicious application of an expert system. Using an expert system, a supervisory control routine was developed, and successfully implemented, in the copper flotation circuit at Brenda Mines Ltd.The expert system ran in conjunction with regulatory PI controllers on a personal computer. The expert system received assays via an on-stream analyzer and adjusted regulatory loop setpoints as required in real-time. From its commissioning in November 1989, to the end of the mine's operation in June, 1990, the ES was enthusiastically embraced by the operators and attained operating levels superior to those achievable manually.INTRODUCTIONExpert system (ES) software springs from research into artificial intelligence and is currently making significant inroads into business and industry. Proponents of ES's make many attractive claims; they are a means of capturing the knowledge of experts and they can be programmed by non-programmers. To date, most uses of this software in the process industry are in off-line applications, meaning that the applications are not tied directly to operating (on-line) environments. Moreover, in on-line environments, they are typically employed as advisors and only suggest changes. Human operators are required to close-the-loop to the process. Yet, ES's should be applicable to operating environments and, if the claims of the proponents are valid, should also be better than existing tools. As an intelligent controller an ES must use the knowledge of experienced operators, apply it directly to a process and do this without the intervention of human operators. On-line applications have been successfully employed in the closed loop control of SAG circuits (Herbst et al., 1989) and flotation circuits (Hales, 1989). Harris and Kosick (1988) detail an implementation for flotation control at the Polaris Mine."

Jan 1, 1991

By M. Lombardero, J. Garcia-Guinea, J. Taboada, B. W. Roberts

The structural, textural and mineralogical properties of the slate formations of NW Spain make it the most important district in the world for quarrying roofing slates. Over the past 10 years the introduction of new methods has increased yields from 2 to 13%. The main factors affecting quality are quartz grain size less than 75 micrometres, homogeneity of slaty cleavage and S0-S1 intersection angle, very low metamorphic grade, absence of secondary foliation, beds 10-12 m thick and low content of oxidisable Fe sulphides. The two main controls on fissility are lithology and deformation accompanied by metamorphism. The minimum natural block size should be 0.6 m3 but this volume can be reduced for modern cutting tools such as diamond wire, chain and circular saws. Structural analysis is crucial in exploration and quarrying, as shown by the prospecting methodology applied at Dominio de Truchas in central Spain and the computer analysis of rock mass discontinuities at Casaio quarry

Jun 19, 1905