Search Documents

By G. F. Friel, G. S. Morrow, J. C. Edwards

An experimental program in the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Safety Research Coal Mine evaluated the effects of dead end crosscuts on the transport time of CO along a mine entry. The presence of carbon monoxide is a characteristic of a fire in its incipient stage, and is significant in the determination of a fire location in a mine from the analysis of arrival times of pre-set concentrations at CO monitors. In this investigation two entries, with a total of ten crosscuts, connected by a room were instrumented with CO sensors as part of a real-time monitoring and data acquisition system. Controlled release of 1% CO was monitored as the contaminant traveled the entries for several different configurations of CO sensors and exhaust fan settings. In addition to the normal longitudinal dispersion of CO due to turbulent mixing at the front of the CO wave, the induced rotation of air established within a crosscut by the entry flow diluted the CO concentration through entrainment. It was determined experimentally for the entry and crosscut configuration considered that the transport time for a specified CO concentration was 27% greater than the predicted time based upon entry volume only, but 13% less than the predicted time based upon entry and total crosscut volume. The proper interpretation of the measured transport time of a specified contaminant concentration between sensors is important for mine safety in the isolation of a fire and plans for miner evacuation.

Jan 1, 1993

By W. F. Hahnert, T. L. Ward, K. E. Stoll, P. A. S. Ralston

Fuzzy logic is well suited to the control of non-linear, time-varying, and/or any system for which it is difficult to obtain an exact mathematical model. To design a good fuzzy controller, a thorough understanding of the desired process behavior is required. Many papers have suggested that fuzzy controllers are robust. If they are, it is reasonable to explore whether or not they respond better than conventional controllers to errors in the feedback signal due to imperfect measurement or sensor degradation. It may be the case that simpler or less expensive sensors could be used in some processes. The research presented here relies on an integrated array of computer programs that model and simulate (1) the process to be controlled, (2) common feedback instrumentation, and (3) both fuzzy logic controllers (FLC's) and conventional controllers. Various types of feedback sensor imperfections are imposed upon the system, and the performance of the two controllers is compared. Each controller is tuned to its optimal performance in response to a setpoint change using perfect feedback measurement.

Jan 1, 1993

By P. J. Stewart, S. Tracy

This presentation describes the operation and features of the WCC Carbon Reactivation Kiln. Particular emphasis is placed on minimizing carbon losses, corrosion resistance, fuel efficiency and the fate of mercury during reactivation in the multiple-tube vertical retort. Detailed laboratory work indicates that there is complete vaporization of mercury in the kiln, no refluxing in the upper sections and distinct advantages in using this type of kiln when sizing collection equipment.

Jan 1, 1993

By Patrick R. Taylor

The hydrometallurgical fundamentals review did not arrive in time for publication in the May issue. Papers presented at the SME Annual Meeting, in Phoenix, AZ were available as preprints. The EPD Congress 1992 from The Metallurgical Society had several papers related to hydrometallurgy. Minerals Engineering 1992 was published in Minerals Engineering and contains several papers related to hydrometallurgy. In addition, a conference was held to honor Ernie Peters. The proceedings contains a large number of hydrometallurgy papers. Precious metals Gold extraction in the potassium cyanide-primene JMT sulfate-Xylene system was studied by Caravaca and Alguacil (Hydrometallurgy). Adams, Friedl and Wagner presented results on the mechanism of gold cyanide adsorption onto activated carbon (Hydrometallurgy). Adams also studied the adsorption of silver cyanide and used an IR method to evaluate adsorbed aurocyanide species on activated carbon (Hydrometallurgy).

Jan 1, 1993

By Jones A

Today there is a vast amount of information available relative to the performance of tunnel boring machines, and associated systems. The data referred to here consists of project reports, manufacturer's equipment literature and papers concerning almost every aspect of the excavation process. Why is it then, that many projects that employ full face tunnel boring machines (TBMs), on average perform significantly less than the peak performances reported in this industry?

Jan 1, 1993

By A. Gupta, S. C. Srivastava, K. K. Saroj

Bacterial degasification of methane and conventional methane drainage for generation of power have become accepted practice. Comparative economies of both the techniques have been described. Authors have discussed an alternative technique, involving complete methane biocycle. The first stage of the entire process involves gasification of coal using a consortia of bacteria to generate methane. The generated methane has been proposed to be pumped,as in conventional methane drainage. Technique described is basically similar to underground coal gasification, with the difference that in place of coal combustion, degradation of coal to lower molecular weight compounds by one set of bacteria and then methanogenesis by methanogens, producing methane have been described. Brief account of communities of bacteria that may be employed have been dealt with. Three arguments in favour of proposed technology as an alternative to conventional coal mining are: 1.Total elimination of hazardous operation. 2.Availability of power plants based on methane drainage, assuring comparative economies. 3.Possibility of utilisation of fuel cell technology for power generation giving higher efficiency. All the three phases of complete blocycle viz (1) methane generation from coal (ii) conversion of methane to hydrogen and oxygen (iii) conversion of products so obtained to methane, thereby completing the cycle have been discussed. INTRODUCTION Drainage of methane by conventional pumping process (Boxho,et.al.,1980) not only is helpful in maintaining safe extraction of coal, but with utilisation of extracted gas for power generation, also helps in over all economy of coal mining. This is gradually becoming standard practice for mining of coal in highly gassy mines. An alternative technique (Thakur et. al., 1991) of bacterial degasification of coal seams is also gradually gaining ground. The bye products of this process that is carbondioxide and water, do not contribute towards economy of coal extraction process. However the technique has its own advantage particularly in goaf area for avoiding fire hazard and drainage of methane from coal seams prior to initiation of mining operation. Either of these techniques could be applied in specific situations with success.

Jan 1, 1993

By Prof. Dr. T. R. Boulos

The Egyptian marine phosphorite of Sebaiya West, the Nile Valley, consisting of both non-oxidized hard siliceous and oxidized leached friable ore types, is subjected to a roughing-cleaning silica flotation circuit for production of wet-process phosphoric acid concentrate. Operating at its maximum capacity of 268 t/hr, the following were the main problems encountered during the early stages of running the plant: 1. The tremendous amount of slimes generated by scrubbing the crushed ore causing turbidity in the plant thickener after a short time of operation, regardless of the added flocculant. 2. Rod mill choking leading to inefficient performance of all other equipment and poor flotation results. 3. The drastic increase in imported oleic acid price. Pulp density and slurry flowrate measurements at different points of the plant as well as ore microscopy, size distribution analysis, chemical analysis and x-ray diffraction analysis of representative ore samples coupled with Work Index measurements of feed samples showed that the wide variation in the ore's hardness was responsible for such problems. Application of the locally produced non-edible rice bran oil as a substitute to imported oleic acid in flotation resulted in total saving of U.S.$2 million in 1990. The total unsaturated fatty acid content of the oil is high, ranging from 75.2 to 81.5 mole % of which the C18-unsaturated fatty acid content ranges from 72 to 79 mole %.

Jan 1, 1993

By Whiten WJ

Although cone classifiers have received little attention in the modelling of mineral processing units they are one of the oldest non-mechanical classifiers. Their use has enjoyed a revival in recent years because of their low cost of installation and operation. In this paper the development of models for cone classifiers is reviewed and a new model is proposed. The experimental work, data collection and analysis are briefly described, and the new model is presented and discussed. The data used in the model development are made up from three distinct experiments using different units in each case. There are 21 data sets from a 3 m cone treating the tailings in a copper concentrator, 24 data sets from a 0.3 m pilot-scale cone, and 29 data sets from a laboratory glass funnel (0.(Y73 m diameter) used as a cone classifier, giving a total of 74 data sets. The model structure was developed from an analysis of particle settling in classifiers, using specialised model building software. The size of a particle settling in a separator and the forced flow through the apex of the cone were related via hydrodynamic dimensionless groups to the operating conditions of the unit. The model predicts the separation efficiency using the following four parameters: efficiency curve shape factor, cut-point, underflow density (per cent solids) or underflow pulp velocity. The model covers a range of feed flowrates from 1.2 to 5000 1/min.

Jan 1, 1993

By Bernard J. Scheiner, R. J. Wesely, Cy E. Jordan, A. D. Zunkel, Gary M. Wilemon

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has investigated leaching of off-grade western United States phosphate deposits using sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the presence of methanol. A combination of ore grinding followed by sulfuric acid in methanol leaching extracted over 80 pct of the phosphate. This leaching technique significantly limited the dissolution of iron, aluminum, and magnesium impurities and produced a phosphoric acid that was well within the desired limits for these impurities. The dissolution rate of phosphate rock in the sulfuric acid methanol system was significantly slower than the conventional aqueous sulfuric acid dissolution. Initially dissolution of the phosphate particle was controlled by the amount of surface area available to the sulfuric acid reactant. After about an hour of leaching, phosphate dissolution was slowed almost to a stop, limited by the rate of ion diffusion through the calcium sulfate barrier layer surrounding the unreacted phosphate particle. Consequently, the ore was ground below 38-pm to increase the particle surface area available and improve the overall dissolution kinetics and extraction. In addition, the sulfuric acid was slowly metered into the reactor to prevent any excess heat from the mixing of acid with the methanol from simulating the formation of methyl sulfates. The formation of methyl sulfate ultimately lowered the overall phosphate extraction by exhausting the supply of available sulfate ions for the dissolution reaction. Subsequent evaporation of the methanol from the product acid decomposed the methyl sulfates leaving undesirable sulfate ions in the product acid. Slow acid addition to the reactor provided high phosphate extraction and limited the amount of sulfate in the final product acid.

Jan 1, 1993

By Broderick E. Davis

Each year, about 45 Mt (50 million st) of flotation tailings are discarded in Florida phosphate operations. These tailings only contain about 4% of the phosphate in the ore. However, more than half of the phosphate in the tailings is concentrated in the +600 µm (+28 mesh) size fraction at grades of up to 20% P205. Many phosphate producers have attempted to solve this problem by floating the +425 µm (+35 mesh) flotation feed separately. However, phosphate recoveries in these circuits are typically only 60%. For seven sampled phosphate operations, the phosphate content of the +600 µm (+28 mesh) fatty acid tailings ranged from 15% to 25% P205. In every case, the +600 µm (+28 mesh) fatty acid tailings was higher in grade than the overall flotation feed. Attempts to efficiently recover this coarse phosphate have apparently been unsuccessful at these seven phosphate operations. Recovery of this coarse phosphate would provide an additional 900 kt to 2.5 Mt (I to 2.7 million st) of phosphate annually and add an additional year to the reserves of these important deposits. A typical central Florida phosphate matrix is composed of three different mixtures of minerals. The +1.18 mm (+ 16 mesh) portion is chiefly phosphate pebbles and is beneficiated by sizing. The -106 µm (-150 mesh) portion contains virtually all of the clay minerals and is discarded in the hydrocyclone overflow. The -l mm +106 µm (-16 +150 mesh) material is a mixture of quartz and phosphate minerals.

Jan 1, 1993

By Bruce W. Downing, Philip G. Claridge

"The availability of environmental data is a major concern in the development of an exploration project through the permitting and feasibility stages. The collection of these data should ideally start very early in a major exploration program. Although a large proportion of the environmental data can also be used for exploration purposes, (e.g. stream-sediment, soil, and rock analyses), environmental sampling will rarely have been initiated at an early date. For the Windy Craggy project, a major environmental concern is the potential for generation of acid rock drainage from waste-rock piles. The project is reviewed with respect to the environment of the deposit, deposit geology, mineralization and reserves, the sequence of exploration activities to the present, the potential for the development of acid rock drainage, the geochemistry and water quality, and the integration of exploration and environmental databases and their application to environmental planning. IntroductionIn the classical sense of exploration of a mineral deposit, the efforts throughout exploration are routinely directed at confirming the existence of the deposit and defining its extent, grade and continuity. Environmental issues are usually tackled separately, possibly by different personnel at a later date. When that is the case, an opportunity is lost to build, from an early date , a comprehensive database that (I) will satisfy the needs of conventional exploration and environmental monitoring, and (2) is usable as a predictive tool for environmental impact assessment.The concept of environmental geochemistry is not complex. The availability of environmental data is a major concern in the development of an exploration project to the feasibility and permitting stages. The collection of data should ideally start very early in any major exploration program. In many cases a significant proportion of the geochemical exploration data gathered early in the life of a project will also be used later for environmental purposes (e.g. stream-sediment, water, soil, and rock analyses). Rarely, however, will the data gathered in a geochemical exploration program provide information as complete as that attainable if environmental objectives had been considered in scoping the work.A knowledge both of local and regional geochemical processes can lead to a better understanding of environmental impacts. This understanding is the basis upon which good environmental management practices may be built. Geddes Resources Limited has undertaken a major study of the natural environment in the Windy Craggy area which includes geology, surface and underground waters, soils, stream sediments, glaciers and geomorphology (Geddes Resources Limited, 1990). This paper deals with the building and integration of the exploration and environmental databases."

Jan 1, 1993

By Nelson G

The construction and placement of tunnels by means of jacking is continually advancing. This paper presents an outline of the construction of a major highway tunnel placed by a combination of mining and progressive placement by hydraulic jacking of precast units. Features of the project were the relatively shallow ground cover between rail and road routes over the tunnelling and jacking operations and also the weight of tunnel sections to be moved into position.

Jan 1, 1993

By W. H. Strickland, R. H. King

Ultrasonic ranging sensors are inexpensive, have no moving parts, have no lenses to clean, are normally small and unobtrusive, and can measure distances through moderate amounts of dust, smoke, and humidity, so they are well suited to underground mines. In the work reported here, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, researchers tested ultrasonic ranging sensors for their abiity to define rib line features for computer-aided navigation of underground mine mobile equipment. The investigation began with laboratory tests of field of view, angle of incidence, intersensor variation, and ranging accuracy of the individual rangers in a ring array produced by Denning Robotics of Wilmington, MA. The results showed that the sensors have good accuracy and low variability. Additional experiments at AMAX's Henderson Mine showed the sensors could accurately and reliably measure the distance to mine features, including convex and concave corners and rib intersections. The results showed that when used properly, the ranger data are accurate enough for reliable mine vehicle navigation When used incorrectly, ultrasonic rangers do not provide the anticipated data. Therefore, this report explains the principles of ultrasonic range measurement, describes the ranger's strengths and weaknesses, and explains proper ranger use and data analysis.

Jan 1, 1993

By Reichardt Y

Fine feed fractions in the size range from 1 to 40 ¦m of materials with different hardness as limestone and silicon carbide have been stressed in two different devices. A tungsten-carbide-blodc allows a single stressing with a pressure up to 2000 MPa and a 4-piston-block enables a multiple stressing procedure in which the material bed is stressed in alternating directions with a pressure up to 700 MPa. The experiments show energy absorption as the major factor for the interparticle breakage of hard material, like quartz, zircon silicate, silicon carbide and smelted oonindum, pressure, however, does not influence the results within the investigated range from 100 to 700 MPa and even up to 2000 MPa for corundum. But the breakage of the middle-hard limestone depends on the pressure so far as more fineness can be produced if the same energy is introduced at a lower pressure level. The creation of very fine and microfine fragments decreases strongly with increasing hardness of the feed materiaL The energy consumption for producing microfine material with a multiple stressing procedure on a particle bed is much lower than that one of a usual milling process. But this procedure needs a classification with a seperation cut at a couple of microns, which is not easy to accomplish.

Jan 1, 1993

By Robert E. Moore

Synthetic spinel is proving to be a highly effective refractory for specific applications, but its cost limits applications. Formation of spinel from a raw material such as diaspore or bauxite could provide a simple and less costly starting material. In the study reported here, finely ground (-325 mesh) diaspore from Missouri and bauxite from Guyana and China are combined with hard burned MgO (-325 mesh) in appropriate proportions to yield spinel and spinel with secondary phases. A classical sintering and dilatometer study was completed, followed by a microstructure study to determine completeness of the reactions and morphologies of the reaction products.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. D. Grove, M. F. Elliott, R. L. Weigel

The control of Florida phosphate flotation plants is largely based on the visual observations of experienced operators, both in recognizing good and bad froth conditions and in making judgments about the composition of feed, concentrate and tailing streams. Chemical analyses lag the process by at least two hours and therefore only assist in recalibrating the operators' vision when major deviations occur. An image analysis system has been developed by IMC Agrico Company (IMCA) to improve upon the accuracy and precision of the composition estimation process. It still relies upon the operator taking a representative sample, but provides a measurement in about 15 minutes after that sample is obtained. This paper describes the system and its use and presents comparative results for various process streams.

Jan 1, 1993

By G. F. Raymond

Discussion by G.F. Raymond Knudsen's study presents two curious conclusions: • The kriging of blasthole assays can systematically overstate mill head grades by as much as 21% as a result of unbiased sample variance. • No estimation method is able to reduce this bias to a small margin. The study is based on a simulation using real data and what are presumed to be actual variogram parameters from a real deposit. Although I have no doubt that the first conclusion (21% overestimation) is correct for the author's simulation, I do not believe this represents a realistic mining situation. Over the past 15 years I have done extensive comparisons between exploration drill-hole assays, blasthole assays and mill head grades on seven major open-pit mines, including some very erratic gold deposits. Commonly, nugget effects on blasthole variograms were 10% - 20% higher than on exploration variograms. And in one extreme case, the difference was 50%. Even in the extreme case, ordinary kriging on blastholes agreed well with the mill head grade over the long term. In Knudsen's simulation, the blasthole nugget effect is assumed to be 200% higher than exploration data's. He supports this by variogram plots from each. My guess is that the apparent, large difference between these variograms results from a failure to account for the proportional effect (blasthole assays are likely from a higher-grade area). A simple check would be a comparison of the variance of exploration samples nearest blastholes. As for a nearly conditionally-unbiased estimator of a large random error, the arithmetic mean of all of the data certainly qualifies, provided there is an even data spacing. As a corollary, so does simple kriging, which would include, in this case, a large weighting to the arithmetic mean. Similarly, using a large number of samples with ordinary kriging or indicator kriging would significantly reduce the bias in the case of a large nugget effect for the variogram.[ ] Reply by H. Peter Knudsen Raymond questions two conclusions in the paper. First, he wonders whether a 21 % overestimation represents a realistic mining situation. I agree that 21 % is high, but overestimation in the range of 10% to 15% is certainly common in my experience. Furthermore, several years ago I consulted on a gold mine that was experiencing a 45% overestimation due, predominantly, to poor blasthole samples: In further questioning of the 21 % value, Raymond wonders whether the nugget effect of the blastholes is really so much larger than the nugget values of the exploration data. It is consistently larger throughout the deposit. In my experience with six Nevada gold mines, the high nugget value is not unusual. In fact, for some reason, nugget values for blasthole samples are typically about 0.0005 (opt squared). I am of the opinion that this high nugget effect observed at many gold mines is predominantly due to the inherent inadequacies of the blasthole sample and subsequent sample preparation. The second conclusion Raymond questions is the inability of the estimators tested to reduce the conditional bias. In fact, the conditional bias is extreme with the polygon estimator and greatly reduced by ordinary kriging. However, it was not eliminated. Raymond suggests using simple kriging, or perhaps a larger number of samples, to reduce the conditional bias. The technique of simple kriging may be less affected by the random errors in the data, but I did not test the technique. Using a larger amount of data presupposes that too few samples were used initially. In ordinary kriging and indicator kriging, the screen effect comes into play and ensures that samples beyond the second screen are given zero weight. Hence, increasing the sample size does not change the estimates nor the conditional bias. The main point of my paper is that the random unbiased errors (a fact of life in blasthole samples) cause a conditional bias in our estimates. The mechanics by which the conditional bias is introduced are nicely explained by Springett. My paper simply shows that the bias is also present when working with linear estimators, such as ordinary kriging, and even with nonlinear estimators, such as indicator kriging.[ ]

Jan 1, 1993

By J P. Ashby

Compared with elsewhere in the world, New Zealand quarries have tended to be mostly small. The reasons for this are a combination of the relatively high transport costs, low population density and a pioneering, self-employed attitude. The small size of the operations is reflected in low productivity, a tendency to repair and rebuild equipment rather than replace it, designed flexibility in the processing plant, minimal reserves investigation or development planning and a versatile and innovative work force who are generally not professionally trained. The Resource Management Act and the Health, Safety and Employment Act as well as a customer driven demand for higher quality and consistent products will have even greater influence upon future direction of the Industry. The trend will be towards fewer quarries operated by companies and professional managers that can adapt to the new demands.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. W. Pugh, S. L. Ma

"High carbon rods are typically used as the grinding media in rod mills. Usually an AISI I 090 grade of steel is used which provides the high hardness needed for abrasion resistance and sufficient toughness to prevent rod breakage.Work to improve performance in the past has mainly concentrated on increasing the hardness for improved abrasion resistance. This has been accomplished by adding alloys to the steel which uniformly increase the hardness across the rod section.However uniformly increasing the hardness of the rod produces a more brittle product and at high hardness l1evels can lead to rod breakage problems. Heat treatment processes can be used to selectively increase the surface hardness to high levels while maintaining the core at lower hardness levels to give a product that wears slower without breakage. AltaSteel has developed and mill tested a higher hardness heat treated grinding rodThis paper describes the development of a simple model to predict performance improvement with different hardness profiles and the AltaSteel heat-treated grinding rod process. Mill characteristics of the Endako operation are summarized and predicted performance improvements based on hardmess are compared to the approximate 25% achieved in trials running since July, 1991 at this mill. Early results of other mill trials are also presented.INTRODUCTIONAltaSteel, in Edmonton is a major supplier of grinding media. We have a strong desire to continually increase the quality and performance of our products and thereby improve the efficiency of our customers' processes. In the area of grinding rods, we wanted to produce a product with a significant improvement in wear rate. Second to energy, rod consumption usually represents the next highest cost in processing. This paper presents our development of a heattreated grinding rod that has reduced consumption by about 25% in trials to date."

Jan 1, 1993

By Charles P. Lazzara, Alex C. Smith, Richard W. Pro, Mark W. Ryan

The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a study to determine if commercially available automatic sprinklers could withstand the high static pressures in deep underground coal mines without leaking and if exposure to the mine environment affected their leak pressures. New sprinklers and sprinklers exposed to the mine environment were subjected to increasing pressures until leakage occurred. The average leak pressures of the new sprinklers ranged from 640 to 2,300 psig and were significantly different for sprinklers from different manufacturers and for different types of sprinklers. Different for sprinklers from different manufacturers and for different types of sprinklers. Generally, standard-response sprinklers withstood higher pressures than fast-response sprinklers. The results indicated that most commercially available sprinklers would withstand the high static pressures in deep underground coal mines; however, they would not provide the same reliability and safety factor as sprinklers used aboveground at or below their rated pressure of 175 psig. The average leak pressures of the sprinklers exposed to the mine environment ranged from 740 to 1,180 psig. The mine environment affected the ability of 66% of the sprinklers to withstand high static pressure New sprinklers were also evaluated at pressures of at least 500 psig for 30 days to determine their ability to withstand long-term exposure to high static pressures; no leakage was observed.

Jan 1, 1993