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By B. R. Stewart, L. W. Zelazny

The exclusion of coal fly ash from regulation as a hazardous waste has led to increased interest in returning ash to the coalfields for co-disposal. A multi-year column study used coal refuse with high potential acidity (4% total-S), and two alkaline ashes in various bulk-blends. The unamended refuse acidified rapidly, producing acidic (pH 1.7) leachates, high in dissolved metals. Treatments blended with sufficiently high amounts (20 to 33%) of alkaline ash produced alkaline (pH >8.4) leachates with low metal levels, while lower ash blending rates acidified over time to produce metalliferous leachates. Examination of solid materials indicated that pyrite oxidation was occurring to some extent in all treatments. A regression equation (r2 = 0.95) was developed to estimate time to net acid release for mixtures of these materials. Ash alkalinity and refuse potential acidity must be balanced to insure water quality for co-disposal environments, or the ash materials should be isolated away from acidic drainage waters.

Feb 24, 1997

By K. Heasley, A. Yassien, A. Khair, S. Peng

There are three major components of a fully grouted roof bolt which primarily determine its ability to develop and sustain load: the steel rebar, the resin annulus, and the rock/grout interface. The untensioned, fully grouted roof bolt is subjected to loading only when the surrounding rock deforms. Vertical rock deformation is generally a result of strata sagging and bedding plane separation, whereas horizontal deformation is typically a result of bedding plane sliding. These two types of deformation create different types of internal loads with-in the roof bolt, tensile stress for vertical rock deformations and shear stress for horizontal rock deformations. Also, as a result of the mutual load transfer between the rock and bolt, shear stress will be developed along the grout/rock interface. According to the exact bolt loading conditions, different failure modes may occur: bolt axial failure, bolt shear failure, and shear failure along the grout/rock interface. Understanding these possible failure modes and their root causes is the key to eliminating roof failures in underground mines employing fully grouted resin bolts. Using ABAQUS 5.8, a finite element model was developed to simulate the components of the fully grouted bolt and its interaction with the surrounding roof strata. Several models were conducted to investigate how load transfer occurs between the rock and the bolt under different geological and mining conditions. The effects of bed-ding plane location and properties, and strata sequence on bolt stability were studied. Also, the effects of hole roughness on bolt stability were discussed. Bolt axial failure was not observed within the range of the studied parameters; however, a combination of high overburden depth, a bedding plane located at 2 to 3 ft from the roofline or a low coefficient of friction along the bedding plane caused strata sliding and shears failure in the bolt. Also, in the case of a weak immediate roof, the shear stress at the grout/rock interface could exceed its ultimate capacity lead to slippage.

Jan 1, 2004

Baja Mining is currently constructing the Boleo metallurgical plant in Santa Rosalia, Mexico to recover copper, cobalt, zinc and possibly manganese products from the Boleo ore. The process involves an acid seawater leach of the whole ore followed by solid-liquid separation and washing of the leach residue. Solvent extraction is used to separate copper, cobalt and zinc from solution. Copper and cobalt are recovered as cathode metal products and zinc as a zinc sulphate monohydrate. Manganese may be directly precipitated as manganese carbonate which can be used as a feedstock for manganese metal production. Laboratory testing has continued to refine various aspects of the process including iron removal, cobalt and zinc solvent extraction, cadmium cementation, cobalt electrowinning and manganese metal electrowinning. The results of this testing are reported in this paper.

Jan 1, 2012

By Remo Grandori, Manfred Jaeger, Fabrizio Antonini, Luis Vigl

The EVINOS-MORNOS tunnel project with its 30 km of length is one of the longest hydraulic tunnel in the world realised with TBM method. The adverse geological conditions, the high cover and the short construction schedule were a great challenge for the successful construction of this tunnel. The paper will describe: the criteria adopted for the tunnel design, the selection of the construction methods and equipment, the productions of the 4 TBMs adopted and the comparison of the behaviour of the different type of TBMs in the various rock conditions, including special conditions, the characteristics of the adopted in situ and precast linings, a comparison between the foreseen and actual construction schedules, the contractual implications of realising a tunnel in such a severe and complex conditions.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. B. Rasmussen

As part of a purchase of a fleet of Caterpillar 785 trucks, Round Mountain Gold Corp., Cashman Equipment Co. and Caterpillar Inc. entered into a four-year contract for the major maintenance of the fleet of trucks. This contract includes fixed costs and guaranteed availability. The results have been excellent, and the fleet of trucks performs well. History The Smoky Valley Common Operation is a unique mine. Through a mixture of diligence and foresight, it has become the largest open-pit, heap leaching gold mine in the world. This was no small feat considering the remote area surrounding the mine. Round Mountain is located in north-central Nye County, NV. To the east of the town and mine lies the Central Toquima mountain range. To the west is the Toiyabe mountain range. Between them is the Big Smoky Valley, a flat expanse of sagebrush, salt grass and fine dirt.

Jan 1, 1991

By J. Hollow, D. Walsh

The Fort Knox Mine is located in Alaska’s interior, where the average ambient air temperatures range from -24oC in January to 16oC in July. The mill processes a free milling gold ore utilizing both a gravity recovery circuit and a conventional cyanide leach/carbon-in-pulp circuits. Mathematical models have been developed to accurately predict the impact of leach circuit slurry temperature on gold leach, carbon adsorption and cyanide destruction kinetics. Additionally, an energy balance approach has been used to model the seasonal variations in slurry temperatures throughout the Fort Knox mill. The energy balance model, combined with the kinetics models previously developed to predict plant performance, was used to justify a tailing thickener installation at the Fort Knox Mine. This paper describes the development of the energy balance model and its prediction of plant performance assuming a tailings wash thickener to reduce heat loss from the mill. Also presented is an analysis of the post project plant performance that validates the model and shows the mine produced an additional 596 kg (19,155 ounces) of gold, while reducing mill reagent costs by $6,302,000 during the first 38 months of operation.

Jan 1, 2007

By Chester M. F. Peters

The opportunity to make a close study of the available geologic data existing along the line of the California Aqueduct crossing of the Garlock fault in the Tehachapi Mountains was brought about first by my involvement in the prebid examinations, and later with contractors' claim cases. The California Aqueduct crosses through the western end of the Tehachapi Mountains and cuts across the Garlock fault zone at a location about 9 miles east from its junction with the San Andreas fault zone. This is about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 38 miles southeast of Bakersfield (Fig. 1) (1). This map was published after the tunnels were started and shows the corrected geology. At the crossing the fault has north and south branches which extend northeastward for about 22 miles before converging. In the vicinity immediately east of the tunnel line the north branch of the fault starts to converge toward the west. After crossing the line it passes under the upper plate of the apparent easterly extension of the Pastoria thrust fault, so the actual junction with the south branch is obscured. The aqueduct design called for the expected active slip zone of the north Garlock fault branch to be crossed by the 2,800 foot long Pastoria siphon, which connects with the north portal of Tehachapi Tunnel No. 3. The tunnel would extend through the western end of Genghus Ridge which lies between the north branch and the main south Garlock fault zone in Beartrap Canyon. Here again the

Jan 1, 1997

By I. S. Parrish

One of the most common errors uncovered while performing a reserve, or resource, audit is not in the geological modeling or grade problems due to poor sampling, prepartion or assaying. The error most commonly found is in tonnage or, more specifically, in the tonnage factor - that factor applied to volume to derive tonnage. Tonnage factors In the metric system, the tonnage factor is the density, or specific gravity. Specific gravity (Sp.g.) is defined by Dana (1947): • "The specific gravity of a mineral is the ratio of its density to that of water at 4° C (39.2° F). • "Density is the mass of the unit volume or weight of the body divided by the weight of an equal volume of water." When Sp.g. is multiplied by the metric volume it yields metric tonnes. In the English system, the tonnage factor is usually expressed in cubic feet per short ton (cu ft/st). When the volume in cubic feet is divided by cu ft/st, the resulting figure is in English short tons. Table 1 gives the cu ft/st factors equivalent to specific gravities from 1.6 Sp.g. to 5.8 Sp.g. The table is based on the following equation: cu ft/st = 0.9072 divided by Sp.g. times 0.02832 The blase attitude that most geologists have toward tonnage factors is echoed in the prevailing definitions of Reserves and Ore, as provided by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (S.C Form S-18), Canadian National Policy 2A and the SME Proposal for Reporting Terminology (SME February 1991). In each case, it is stated that "quantity" (SEC, SME), or "tonnage" (Can.2A), "is computed from dimensions revealed in...." etc. Unfortunately, "dimensions" do not directly yield tonnage. Dimensions must be factored by density to derive tonnage.

Jan 1, 1993

By Steve Kral

The upswing in prices for base and precious metals, industrial minerals and coal has allowed the global mining industry to ramp up production at existing mines and begin construction of proposed projects. In addition to satisfying shareholders, the industry is also providing good paying jobs and creating needed infra-structure in places that previously did not have either. However, the industry has learned that the prospect of jobs and infrastructure is not necessarily a guarantee that communities will allow mines to be built. The industry must maintain even higher environmental and reclamation standards. And mining companies must help communities plan for life after a mine is closed and the company moves out.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. F. T. Agapito

OCI Wyoming mines two flat-lying trona seams that are 3- to 3.5-m- (10- to 11.5-ft-) thick, about10 m (33 ft) apart and 250-m- (820-ft-) deep at its Big Island Mine in Wyoming. Continuous miners and a yielding-pillar system have contributed to improvements in resource recovery and productivity. The use of yield pillars minimizes the stresses transmitted from the upper to the lower seam. However, yielding must not impact the good, long-term stability needed to prevent subsidence for a large portion of the mine beneath the Green River channel.

Jan 1, 2000

By T. E. Bernard

Occupying a refuge alternative (RA) is an accepted practice in mine fires and explosions when escape is not feasible. MSHA has promulgated a final rule on refuge alternatives that includes a recognition that thermal environment is an important consideration. To this end, an environmental index was specified. The question remains about how to test a refuge shelter to demonstrate that it meets the final rule. The analysis followed five activities: A. Provide an estimate of heat generated by an individual refuge alternative occupant; B. Evaluate the Steadman Apparent Temperature criterion of 95°F; C. Discuss simulations based on body temperature or skin temperature limits; D. Suggest method of simulating human heat generation during refuge occupancy; and E. Suggest alternative methodologies/criteria for evaluating heat and humidity survivability inside a refuge alternative.

Feb 27, 2013

By Kenneth N. Han, Peter Nam-soo Kim

A kinetic model for leaching of particulate metals in a batch system has been developed. The leaching mechanism has been analyzed by solving a series of ordinary differential equations relating heterogeneous reaction kinetics at the solid/liquid interface to mass transfer of reactant and products. Special emphasis has been given to the effect of changing of the surface area of the leaching substrate and initial particle distribution on the overall leaching rate. The dissolution of gold powders in acidic solution with bromine as an oxidant has been used as a model system. The effect of particle size, chemical reaction order, rate constant and mass transfer coefficient on the overall rate of dissolution of metal powder has been analyzed and discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. C. Judd

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines investigated solvent extraction methods for recovering gallium from filtrates produced from sulfuric acid leaching of hydrometallurgical zinc residues. These filtrates typically had pH values of 0 to 0.5, too high an acid content for effective gallium recovery by traditional extractants. Of the nine extractants studied in batch tests, 0.3M octyl phenyl acid phosphate (OPAP) in a kerosene diluent was the most effective extractant for gallium recovery, extracting up to 99.9 pct of the gallium. This high extraction was possible when the iron in solution was maintained in the reduced ferrous state. Batch tests also showed that a 1.5M-H2SO4 strip liquor recovered 98 pct of the gallium from the loaded OPAP. A continuous solvent extraction system was designed and operated based on McCabe-Thiele analyses of equilibrium loading and stripping isotherms. When 12 L of leach filtrate containing 0.32 giL Ga and 20 giL Fe were pumped through the system in 32 hr, results showed that 95 pct of the gallium was extracted in four stages at an A:O ratio of 1:1. Stripping the loaded solvent with a 1.5M-H2S04 liquor recovered 94 pct of the gallium in four stages at an A:O ratio of 1:4. A two-stage, 50-pct-phosphoric acid strip successfully removed ferric iron from the OPAP, allowing high gallium extractions to be maintained.

Jan 1, 1990

Characterization of ore and waste-rock material using automated quantitative micro-mineralogical techniques (e.g., QEMSCAN® and MLA) has the potential to complement traditional acid-base accounting and humidity cell techniques when predicting acid generation and metal release. These characterization techniques, which most commonly are used for metallurgical, mineral-processing, and geometallurgical applications, can be broadly applied throughout the mine-life cycle to include numerous environmental applications. Critical insights into mineral liberation, mineral associations, particle size, particle texture, and mineralogical residence phase(s) of environmentally important elements can be used to anticipate potential environmental challenges. Resources spent on initial characterization result in lower uncertainties of potential environmental impacts and possible cost savings associated with remediation and closure. Examples illustrate mineralogical and textural characterization of fluvial tailings material from the upper Arkansas River in Colorado.

Feb 27, 2013

By Chikaosa Tanimoto

INTRODUCTION Bratislava is located at the intersection of important traffic routes, including motor-ways, roads, railways, air traffic, trading, and inland waterway with an important harbour. The construction of the D2 Motorway Bratislava, Lamacska cesta Stare grunty was the last missing section of D2 Motorway and its completion linked the Czech Republic through Bratislava to the Hungarian Republic. Traffic was obliged until its completion to use the Lamacska Road and Mlynska Dolina, which were the most heavily trafficked roads in the city. The section of D2 Motorway to be completed in 2006 was 3,300m in length, of which the SITINA Tunnel was approximately half the length. After putting into operation the transit traffic(motorway) and urban traffic was separated. Transit traffic by passing the town was eased. The junctions D2 with Lamacska Road (Harmincova) and Mlynska Dolina also allowed better use of the motorway for the urban traffic The tunnel construction was specified by the features with the highly weathered and thermally altered granitic rock formation with the overburden of Quaternary sediment of 2?4 m thick, very thin overburden, severely controlled deformation limit and environmental protection. The tunnel had to be excavated beneath and nearby the academic complex area and the zoo, where sensitive facilities exist and animals live in. The tunnel consisted of two tunnels (Tunnel A and B) with the length of 1,415 and 1,440 m, respectively. The overburden thickness was in the range from 10?30 m. The standard cross-section and the one with invert arch were 79.5?81.5 m2 and 92.1?93.3 m2. The excavation took 21 months from September 2003 to May 2005. The construction was based on the concept of NATM. The SITINA Tunnel was the third application of NATM in Slovakia, following the BRANKISKO Tunnel (commenced in July 2003) as the first and the HORELICA Tunnel (in October 2004) as the second NATM practice. To protect the surrounding structures and citizens from tunneling operations, seismic monitoring was performed in association with blasting. The allowable limit of blasting vibration was fixed to be under the particle velocity of 15 mm/sec. The tunnel excavation cleared this limit as expected before construction. In driving through the difficult geological situation the excavation work hit 49 faults, and some of them occasionally caused serious face instability. In principle, the rock formation has been affected by the high hydrothermal effect and the resultant clay filing along faults and joints. The auxiliary reinforcement with the 4?8 m long pipe roofing was needed to protect the vicinity of mining face area. This operation extraordinarily required additional works and time which had not been expected before construction.

By T. Gupta, T. Ghosh

Rare earth elements (REEs) and their compounds are essential in a multitude of mundane and sophisticated applications such as renewable energy technologies, catalysts, medicine, and defense applications. The global supply deficit could be attributed to the destabilization of REE market that has, as a result, incentivized indigenous production of REEs. Cost-effective and environmentally benign opportunities are being explored for the production of REEs from non-conventional mineral sources including coal and coal by-products to stabilize the supply chain. Coal from Healy coal mine and Wishbone Hill deposits in Alaska have been quantified for REEs and were found to possess elevated total REE concentrations as compared to world average levels (60– 70 ppm). The objective of the study was to concentrate the REEs in the froth phase by froth-flotation of the fine size fraction (< 75 μm). A Box-Behnken design of experiment was employed to ascertain the main and interaction effects of operational parameters on response variable by analyzing 3D response surfaces. Experiments were carried out to maximize REE recovery and concentration by modeling and optimization of three operating variables (frother dosage, pulp density (% solids), and collector dosage). Based on the results, the optimum flotation conditions for maximum recovery at an elevated concentration of REEs in the froth fraction was obtained at 4.2% solids and 32.7 ppm of frother dosage for Healy sample and 10% solids and 37.9 ppm of frother dosage for Wishbone Hill coal sample. The quadratic relationship between the input and response variable was found to be independent of collector dosage suggesting good surface hydrophobicity and floatability of the two coal samples.

By K. L. Lownie

For research and test data to serve a useful purpose, it is essential that it be derived from some known standard test procedure that allows for comparative analysis as well as independent replication and verification. Fan performance data provided by manufacturers is not absolute, and is influenced by the geometry of the test installation. For these reasons, fan test standards have been prepared in order to establish a clearly defined test procedure that allows for comparison of different fan designs, and also allows for the independent verification of test data. Internationally recognized Standards such as BS848, ISO5801, and AMCA 210 etc. are highly prescriptive, and precisely specify test duct configurations, measurement procedures, measurement planes and instrumentation to be used. Provided the laboratory tests are conducted strictly in accordance with the relevant Standard, the performance data will accurately reflect fan performance within the appropriate tolerances for efficiency, pressure and flow when tested in the defined configuration. Major differences in performance exist between a fan tested in accordance with a Fan Test Standard, and an identical fan installed in a mine ventilation system. The aerodynamic performance of any fan will be influenced by the quality of the fan manufacture, the flow system within which it is operating, the location of measurement planes, and the system stability. The flow distributions present in a standardized Laboratory test are unlikely to be repeated in mine ventilation systems, and this will also disadvantage fan performance. Unless the fan supplier takes all of these influences into account, there will an inevitable reduction in fan aerodynamic performance, and the end user will experience a shortfall in expected flow through the mine. The effect on fan performance can range from minor inconvenience to catastrophic fan failure resulting in major rectification costs and significant loss of mine production.

Jan 1, 2009

By U. Heuer, B. Rathmann

Many mining operations have gained an impressive expertise in trouble shooting and maintenance with their existing fleet over the years. Whether it is an in-house maintenance group or an external service group - most of the systems weak points are well known and can be corrected by maintenance personnel. As some of these issues get more and more serious each year, too much time is lost in unscheduled downtime, often taking hours to be repaired and to find the failure with obsolete diagnostic tools (Fig. 1.). Many of the breakdowns result from failures that cannot be detected in advance. The maintenance system is much more reactive than preventative. The state of the art of mining equipment today uses advanced, efficient, and reliable systems for electrical drives, control and diagnostics of the machines. The demand for highly sophisticated solutions on such mining equipment is well known. Mining operators need to ensure the highest level of productivity, lowest operating costs, least maintenance and highest reliability in a drive system. The paper will introduce you to the state of the art of drives technology for dragline (Fig. 2) and shovel mining equipment (Fig. 3).

Jan 1, 2007

By Hans W. Schreiber

Most geologic and mining engineering consulting firms* began to experience the recession with declining billing levels, number of inquiries, and proposal requests in late 1981 or early 1982. As of today, most of them have been functioning at reduced income levels for nearly a year. And while many consulting firms have apparently reached a stabilized income level, they can see little prospect for attaining normal (pre-late 1981) billing levels and income for the remainder of 1983. A few firms have escaped being affected by the recession. Such com panies almost without exception are small (fewer than 20 personnel), offer a limited range in technical capabilities, and tend to be highly specialized in a particular niche. They include those specializing in the heap leaching of precious metals ores, in ground water testing programs, and in the derivation of computer-aided programs to monitor particular mineral processing functions. Those firms affected by the economic downturn have instituted a variety of policies and undertaken actions to cope with significantly reduced incomes to bring fixed costs in line with the depressed demand for services. These changes fall into the following broad categories: • management and management practices; • markets and market definition; • marketing and the pursuit of assignments; and • administration and personnel relationships. Not all of the perceived changes have necessarily been instituted by every consulting firm, and any one appears sporadically instituted. Management and Management Practices In favorable times the managers, and often the owners of the equity, of consulting firms tend to concentrate their attention on the part of the business they find most satisfying and enjoyable. For some, this means acting as project or assignment leaders, even undertaking a specific technical aspect of the job. For others, it means constant marketing with the associated heavy travel and entertainment schedules. In unfavorable conditions, such as the current recession, managers tend to spread themselves far more thinly, expending time and effort on all facets of the business including marketing, proposal preparation and cost estimating, budgeting, general administration, accounting and cash flow monitoring, project/assignment overview, and actual client work. The manager who in favorable times concentrated on client work is now less billable. The manager who concentrated on marketing is somewhat more billable. The manager now needs to pay attention to and expend equal effort on each facet of the business just to keep all the facets in relative balance. Falling behind schedule on a client job or carrying an unduly large percentage of accounts receivable exact a cost to the firm. Clearly the absolute cost to the firm is the same whether demand for service is good or slack. But in periods of slack demand the firm is frequently less able or even unable to bear such costs. Marketing and Market Definition Markets appear to have undergone some significant changes: • Federal and state governments have assumed a greater importance as providers of work vis-a-vis both industry and private groups. • Projects with increase-in-capacity aspects have given way to projects with maintenance or reduced operating cost aspects. • Projects searching for new deposits of minerals in generally new locations have given way to projects reviewing known mineral districts or known deposits. • Industrial mineral and mining companies have exhibited a great propensity to cut back the use of consultants and to undertake as much work as possible in-house. Further-more, a number of industrial mineral and mining companies have entered the competitive arena with consulting firms, submitting proposals (usually to the federal government) in an effort to keep their staffs intact and occupied. In response, consulting firms have reevaluated their capabilities by reviewing old work and reassessing personnel. The purpose is to broaden the services offered and the potential client base, thus redefining the available market. For example, a firm specializing in assessment of technical and cost parameters of a deposit would normally assist a prospective lender in judging the deposit&apos;s suitability for project financing. That same company could easily expand into the field of analyzing production costs for an individual operation -something that is needed in periods when lower prices reduce profit margins. Similarly, a firm that has confined such economic assistance to commercial banks could expand to provide its expertise to other lending and even equity buying in-stitutions such as insurance companies. Marketing and the Pursuit of Assignments With few exceptions, consulting firms have significantly increased their

Jan 2, 1983

By V. I. Kefeli

Public-private partnership efforts are working to create green landscapes from abandoned industrial sites. Fabricated soils, potentially an essential element of such landscapes, are designed to substitute for topsoil on the areas free from ground cover and plant community. The aluminosilicate matrix and humus form the soil micelle - the primary unit of any soil complex. Humus formation is a process based on carbon-nitrogen interaction. Sources of carbon can be materials rich in easily composted products like cellulose and polyphenols (plant leaves) or aged lignin polymers (saw dust from different woody plants). The pathways of carbon-nitrogen complexes are discussed. Properties of the fabricated soil components were examined by bio-tests and plant models.

Jan 1, 2002