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By Schwartz M.

Madagascar's democratic election has led to a return to its position as a preferred trade partner with the USA and a priority market with Canada. Michael Schwartz takes a look at two key mining projects in this recently reinvigorated country

Feb 1, 2015

By M. J. Matos, W. Patruk

The correct version of Equation 1 is represented and Tables 3 and 6 are revised to consider all size fractions, including those coarser than 300 micrometres, in calculating the total liberation from King's fractional liberation

Jun 18, 1905

By G. E. Pearse, comp.

Questions from the conference delegates and replies by the papers' authors are summarised for sessions on hydropower, metro/rail and water/waste tunnels, tunnel-boring machines, environmental issues, research and case histories, design, and tunnel machinery, with reference to papers on tunnels in Lesotho, Nova Scotia, Italy, UK, Sweden, Kenya, Massachusetts, Germany, Norway, Taiwan, Switzerland, Greece, Malaysia, Australia and Texas.

Dec 1, 1994

By Ruddle R. W.

Although copper has been smelted for many years, relatively small attempt has been made in the past to examine the fundamental physical chemistry of the processes involved. Therefore, technological developments apart, slow progress has been made with the development of improved or new principles of smelting. The methods at present in use in the majority of the world’s smelters are essentially those employed at the beginning of the present century; it is significant that many of the textbooks on copper smelting, written some 50 years ago, are still regarded as standard works. The book is divided into seven chapters. In the first the fundamentals of modern smelting processes are briefly outlined for easy understanding of the subsequent sections, while the next two chapters are confined to the more theoretical aspects of the constitution of mattes and slags. Some problems of considerable practical importance are discussed in the remaining four chapters; these are (1) magnetite formation, (2) copper losses during smelting, (3) the recovery of sulphur from the smokes produced during smelting, and (4) the elimination of impurities. A collection of thermodynamic data relevant to copper pyrometallurgy is presented in an appendix, and, for the convenience of readers not well acquainted with thermodynamics, a brief explanation of the thermodynamic terms and methods employed is given in a second appendix

Jan 1, 1953

By T. Bennett

Geothermal energy has the potential to provide 20% of the UK's annual average electricity generation capacity requirement. This article discusses the costs and potential benefits.

Jun 1, 2015

By Hirsch H. H.

Further discussion at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 3rd June 1916, on the paper published in Trans. I.Min.E., vol.LI, 1916, p.61-71, comprised the author's written reply to comments at the April meeting

Dec 1, 1916

Jan 1, 1947

By M. P. O'Reilly

A personal overview and assessment is given of the 42 papers delivered over the three days of the symposium. As well as 18 from the UK there were presentations from 16 other countries; 20 were on rock tunnels, 13 on soft ground and 3 on both; there were 17 case histories and 16 discussions of tunnelling machines but, for the first time in the conference series, almost no papers on tunnelling for mining purposes. Some projects, such as the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and the London Ring Main, attracted a number of papers addressing their different aspects

Jun 16, 1905

By H. L. Willett

The self heating of coal, or spontaneous combustion, has been a problem for centuries. This symposium addresses the issue.

May 23, 1905

By T. From

The organisation's mission is to promote research and technological development in processes relevant to the minerals industry by providing expertise, developing and managing jointly funded projects, undertaking commissions and education and establishing and maintaining research and development networks. It was responsible for the administration of the Mining Technology 2000 national programme to reduce production costs per metallic unit by 50% over 5-8 years, which involved 120 projects in all. Technical areas included ore characterisation/delineation and mine planning, rock fragmentation, rock mechanics, maintenance, energy and ventilation, automation and information systems, cut and fill, bulk mining methods, drifting and production-face development. Other projects have been the Ore Geology Related to Prospecting (PIM) programme to raise the standard of ore geology research in Sweden and promote exploration for volcanogenic massive sulphides in three key regions, and a joint research project on ventilation control according to requirement, including development of fan and gas monitoring systems and an improved, adjustable and intelligent fan

Jun 17, 1905

By F. G. Bell, S. E. T. Bullock

The investigation was undertaken as part of the environmental management programme that must be implemented on mine closure. It involved sampling and analysis of water from boreholes, the tin mine workings, trenches and pits as well as soil and dumps. Both ground- and surface water in the immediate vicinity of the mine was found to have been affected to varying degrees, mainly due to acid drainage from the pyrite dumps. Metal ions and toxic salts are taken into solution with increased acidity and precipitated in the soil when the pH rises again; there are concentrations of metal ions in the soils around the main dumps, but these do not seem to pose a major threat in a regional context. The low groundwater gradients, together with the dyke system in the vicinity of the main dumps and the impermeable nature of the Boschoffsberg rocks, make it unlikely that affected groundwater will migrate further than 1 000 m to the north and north-east. Nonetheless, it has been decided to remove the pyrite dumps

Dec 1, 1995

By P. K. Kaiser, R. K. Brummer

Paper presented at the conference Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, 23-24 March 1994. A risk-based decision-making procedure has been developed for selecting rockburst-resistant tunnel support in burst-prone mines. The method is based on a risk-cost-benefit analysis and uses support cost data, costs associated with the risk of support failure or excavation loss, costs associated with accidents, injuries and deaths, and the benefits achieved by installing rockburst-resistant support. It takes into account the risk of damage to the support systems due to rockbursts, potential loss of production and the need to rehabilitate in the event of a damaging rockburst. A practical example is provided to illustrate the principles involved in the decision process

Jun 17, 1905

It was intended to show a film on Dust Suppression in the South Wales Coal-mines. Unfortunately, owing to a breakdown, only a small portion of the film was shown.

Jan 1, 1947

By A. L. W. Lips, T. J. R. Barclay, E. Rothery, S. H. White

Paper presented at the conference Economic geology in Europe and beyond II, models for mineral deposits in sedimentary basins, held in Keyworth, UK, 13-14 April 1994 (originally entitled: The Broken Hill base metal deposit - a tectonically transported and modified basinal deposit within the Proterozoic Willyama fold and thrust belt). A regional structural study was undertaken which incorporated the role of shears. Their positions were identified from earlier mapping, from regional aeromagnetic data and by additional field work. Kinematic studies determined movement histories and petrological studies of the fault rocks formed within the shears identified the relationship between the movements and regional metamorphism. It was found that the shears formed a part of an earlier, major thrust event with transport from NW to SE and a later, minor one in the reverse direction. Neither had any significant effect on the mineralisation apart from local displacement, but the shuffling of the basin stratigraphy adds to the difficulty of recognising the original volcanic and sedimentary protoliths of the metamorphosed sequence. The mineralisation at Broken Hill mine is confined to a single recognisable thrust slice within a shear corridor. It is stratabound with locally transgressive remobilisation due to the high-temperature thrusting and some metasomatic alteration as a result of the retrograde shearing. This variation accounts for the different genetic models applied to the deposits in the past

Jun 17, 1905

By R. T. Grant, C. Bazin, D. Hodouin

It is shown that most of the variation in the results of semi-batch flotation tests is related to the unavoidably stochastic nature of the flotation process. The preparation and analysis of flotation samples and, to some extent, operator error in performing the flotation test procedure are responsible for a small proportion of the observed variability of the calculated flotation performance indices

Jun 17, 1905

By G. Richards

Application of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies - the interconnection of uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within the existing internet infrastructure - to the mining industry is discussed. IoT technologies are aimed at making projects safer, better optimised and more economic and are applicable to current or new underground or open-pit mines, regardless of size. Two examples are presented of successful implementation of IoT technologies, the Chelopech gold, copper and silver mine in Bulgaria, where production has increased from 500 000 to 2 000 000 tonnes/y and communication costs have been reduced by US $2 500 000 over 2 y, and the Pilbara project in Western Australia, where remotely controlled wirelessly connected autonomous trucks have covered ca. 3 000 000 miles and hauled almost 250 000 000 t of ore since 2008

Apr 1, 2015

By J. J. Mackay

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the UK's Department of Transport introduced the symposium, approved its emphasis on environmental planning and the mitigation of environmental impact, discussed the publicity resulting from the recent opening of the Channel Tunnel as well as the role of private financing, and pointed out the leading role played by the Department of Transport in the introduction of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method to projects such as the Jubilee Line extension and the Heathrow Express (an editor's footnote, however, mentions with regret the Heathrow subsidence that occurred just before the journal went to print)

Jun 16, 1905

Paper presented at the conference Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, 23-24 March 1994. Sensitivity analyses based on financial variables are now routinely applied to the forecast financial results of mining projects especially during the feasibility stage. Risk analysis is gaining acceptance but is still almost universally confined to the effects of variations in financial variables. The single most sensitive factor in almost all mining projects is the ore reserve, but it is either ignored or improperly used in sensitivity and risk analyses. Unlike financial variables, the components of the ore reserve (grades and tonnages of mining blocks) are a function of location within the orebody. Physical (mining) access to these components is therefore a function of time which has a crucial effect on forecast cash flows. It is critical that these fundamental concepts are included in risk analyses of mining projects. The effects are considered of the uncertainty of the ore reserve on feasibility studies and open-pit mine design for a small gold mining venture. Geostatistical simulation is used as a method of quantifying the risk in using grades and tonnages estimated from sparse data

Jun 16, 1905

By W. Doherty, P. C. Lightfoot, V. A. Fedorenko, N. S. Gorbachev, V. I. Kunilov, A. J. Naldrett, Z. Johan

Paper presented at the conference Economic geology in Europe and beyond II, models for mineral deposits in sedimentary basins, held in Keyworth, UK, 13-14 April 1994. A model is presented which regards the Lower Talnakh- and Talnakh-type intrusions as part of the plumbing system for the overlying lavas. As magma ascended along the Noril'sk-Kharayelakh fault it was forced to spread out within sedimentary strata immediately beneath the obstruction of the accumulated volcanic sequence. Here it was severely depleted in chalcophile elements by sulphides, which were then trapped by their high density and remained behind in the main arteries to form the central, elongated zone of maximum thickness. Subsequent magma also lost Ni, Cu and PGE to the sulphides as it flowed through. The Lower Talnakh-type intrusions represent part of the plumbing system that became blocked at an early stage, before the influx of much mokulaevsky-type magma rich in chalcophile elements. The model accounts for the high metal content of the ores in comparison with the size of their associated intrusions, the extensive metamorphic aureoles, the chalcophile depletion of some overlying volcanic suites, the presence of the ore in near-surface intrusions rather than deep magma chambers, and the sulphur isotopic composition of the ore

Apr 1, 1995

By D. L. Buchanan, M. J. Jones

In May, 1982, the University of Western Australia in Perth hosted a three-day international conference on nickel sulphides, followed by a ten-day field excursion to the Western Australian nickel sulphide deposits. The conference was arranged by Professor D. I. Groves, C. M. Lesher and Dr. R. E. T. Hill under the auspices of the International Geological Correlation Programme's Projects 161 ("Sulphide deposits in mafic and ultramafic rocks") and 91 ("Metallogeny of the Pre- cambrian"). This volume contains a selection of the papers that were presented at the Perth conference. Most of the papers are related to the nickel sulphide deposits of Western Australia, but contributions with settings in North America, Finland, Vietnam and Southern Africa have also been included.

Jan 1, 1984