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By M. Kataoka, Y. Obara

It is known that compressive strength and tensile strength of rocks vary significantly with specimen size. Rocks are composed of crystals and grains in a fabric that includes flaws such as microcracks, grain boundaries and pores. As the likelihood of including severer flaws becomes greater for a larger specimen, the strengths are small. On the other hand, the size effect in the fracture toughness of rocks has not been made clear until now because there are few studies focused on it. In this paper, Semi- Circular Bend (SCB) test was performed using Kimachi sandstone with various specimen sizes. A shape of the specimen is a semi-circular disc with an artificial notch. The specimens were prepared with various thickness t and radius r as the following two groups; t was changed from 10 to 37.5 mm with r = 37.5 mm in the specimen of group (a), and r was changed from 12.5 to 150 mm with t/r = 0.8 in the specimen of group (b). As a result, there was no significant change in the fracture toughness with different t. On the other hand, the fracture toughness increased with increasing r and converged on a certain constant value in a range larger than approximately 70 mm of r. Consequently it was clear that the size effect in the fracture toughness of the sandstone exists.

Jan 1, 2015

By T. Verdel, Y. Gunzburger

Rockfalls are major and essentially unpredictable sources of danger, particularly along transportation routes (roads and railways). Thus, the assessment of their probability of occurrence is a major challenge for risk management. From a qualitative perspective, it is known that rockfalls occur mainly during periods of rain, snowmelt, or freeze-thaw. Nevertheless, from a quantitative perspective, these generally assumed correlations between rockfalls and their possible meteorological triggering events are often difficult to identify because i) rockfalls are too rare for the use of classical statistical analysis techniques and ii) all intensities of triggering factors do not have the same probability. In this study, we propose a new approach to investigate the correlation of rockfalls with rain, freezing periods, and strong temperature variations. This approach is tested on three French rockfall databases, the first of which exhibits an outstandingly high frequency of rockfalls (approximately 950 events over 11 years), whereas the other two databases are more typical (approximately 140 events over 11 years). These databases come from (1) the national highway RN1 on La Réunion Island, (2) a railway in the Bourgogne-Franche Comté region, and (3) a railway in the Auvergne region. Whereas a basic correlation analysis is only able to highlight an already obvious correlation in the case of the “rich” database, the newly suggested method appears to detect correlations even in the “poor” ones. Indeed, the use of this method confirms the positive correlation between rainfalls and rockfalls on La Réunion Island database. This method highlights a correlation between cumulative rainfalls and rockfalls in the Bourgogne region, and it detects a correlation between the daily minimum temperature and rockfalls in the Auvergne region. This new approach is easy to use and also serves to determine the conditional probability of rockfall function of a given meteorological factor. This approach will help to optimize risk management in the studied areas based on their meteorological conditions. Nevertheless, even if some rockfalls are correlated to meteorological factors, other seems to occur independently of these factors, which highlights the unpredictability of rockfall hazard.

Jan 1, 2015

By L. D. van Dyk, G. S. Tshofu

Iron ore fines are by-products of iron ore mining operations. Unlike iron ore lumps, fines cannot directly be used in conventional iron making processes, and consequently large quantities accumulate around the world. Pelletizing and sintering can be used to convert iron ore fines into agglomerates or briquettes for processing with lump ore, but these techniques are energy intensive and produce greenhouse gases. This research investigated the extraction of iron from iron ore fines using acetylacetone (a ß-diketone) as an environmentally friendly alternative process for fines utilization. A 2k factorial experiment design was used to identify the significant extraction variables. It was found that the reaction temperature and solid to liquid ratio had significant effects on the extraction process. The extraction kinetics were studied at different temperatures and the highest iron extraction (97 %) was obtained after 48 hours at 413 K and 0.025:1 (g:mL) solid to liquid ratio for a particle size range of +106 to -150 µm. The extraction products were easily separated from the unreacted acetylacetone by flash distillation and iron(III) acetylacetonate crystals were recovered. An economic evaluation showed that selling the crystals was profitable. Alternatively, the crystals can be reduced with hydrogen to iron particles and acetylacetone (for reuse).

Jan 1, 2015

By Nobuzwe Makhotla, Sasha Boskovic, Steve Hearn

"Mineral separation efficiency in flotation depends, to an extent, on the type of frother used. Huntsman develops and manufactures unique frothers which are suited for mineral processing applications. This paper discusses the Huntsman approach to understanding the industry’s flotation frother requirements to optimise frother selection and introduce the Huntsman’s POLYFROTH® frother range. Specific case studies where the frothers are used are discussed. INTRODUCTION Froth flotation is a process of using bubbles to separate minerals based on their relative affinity for water. Bubbles are induced in the slurry through aeration. Chemistry is used to aid the flotation process and chemical reagents are added to enhance the separation process. The flotation reagents include frothers, collectors, surface modifiers and pH regulators that control physical and chemical conditions of solid, air and liquid phases, respectively. As described by Harris (1976), the key effect is that of bubble size control by way of preservation of the generated bubble size, which is attributed to the coalescence inhibition by the presence of the frother on the bubble surface. Following this, the frother must stabilize the froth phase. Frothers are also added to create optimal conditions for bubble creation and stability by decreasing the surface tension of the water. Depressants may be added, depending on the ore treated, to assist the hydrophilic particles to stay in the water phase. Clay particles may need to be dispersed to prevent them from attaching to the bubbles. Hydrophobic particles attach to the bubbles and are carried to the surface of the slurry where froth is formed. It is important for these bubbles to have the mobility to carry the mineral to the launder where the concentrate is collected. Types of Frothers There are generally three main groups of frothers used in froth flotation. Alcohol Type These frothers have a molecular structure that usually includes 5 to 8 carbon atoms in a hydrocarbon chain and their solubility in water is limited. Methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) belongs to this category and is widely used in the industry. The weaker alcohol-type frothers are more selective and typically suited to finer particles. There are three sub-categories under this group: aliphatic, cyclic and aromatic alcohols."

Jan 1, 2015

By C. L. Peng, F. F. Min, S. X. Song

"Using a parameter representing the degree of hydration of particles in a liquid called hydration index I, which we derived based on Einstein’s viscosity equation, we evaluated the degree of hydration of fine montmorillonite particles in different aqueous solutions by measuring the viscosities of the montmorillonite dispersions and plotting relative viscosity against volume fraction of dry montmorillonite particles in the dispersions. We investigated the effects on the hydration of montmorillonite in aqueous solutions of (1) the type and (2) the concentration of electrolytes in the solutions and (3) pH. For the same concentration of electrolytes, the hydration index I of montmorillonite was found to increase in the order of Na+ > K+ for monovalent cations and Mg2+ > Ca2+ for divalent cations, and to decrease with increasing valence of cations in the order of Na+ > Ca2+ > Al3+. For both Na+ and Ca2+, the hydration index I first increased with increasing concentration of electrolytes and then decreased after a certain concentration. The hydration index I increased with increasing pH. IntroductionClay minerals have the distinctive ability to adsorb water molecules and hydrated cations in aqueous solutions, resulting in hydration on their outer surfaces and in their interlayer spaces. Many investigators (Jurinak, 1963; Anderson and Tice, 1971; Costanzo et al., 1982; Israelachvili, 1992) had found evidence of ice-like structures of water on clay minerals.This phenomenon of hydration plays an important role in the dispersion and sedimentation of clay minerals in aqueous solutions. To understand clay hydration, numerous experimental and simulation studies have been carried out since 1933, including the recent ones of Hawkins and Egelstaff (1980), Skipper et al. (1995), Karaborni et al. (1996), Salles et al. (2013) and Morrow et al. (2013). Among the factors that can influence a clay mineral’s hydration characteristics are chemical composition, type and degree of isomorphous replacement in its structure, and number and nature of associated exchangeable cations."

Jan 1, 2015

By Syd Peng

"As the International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (ICGCM) enters its 35th year in 2015, it is time to look back and identify the areas that need to be emphasized and to look forward to see what areas need to be researched in the future. In the past three decades, ground control has made a tremendous advancement, and many case studies published in the 36 volumes of proceedings have demonstrated its important role in the daily mining operations. However, there is still plenty of room for improvements. This paper discusses the research needs in 12 subject areas, including mine geology, rock property, zones of disturbance in overburden, computer modeling, underground stress measurements, research method, roof bolting, coal pillars, failures, subsidence, shield supports, and coal bumps.INTRODUCTIONThe International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (ICGCM) was founded in 1981. Since then, 1,546 papers have been published in the 36 conference proceedings, including the three surface subsidence workshops held in the 1981, 1986, and 1992. All types of topical areas regarding mining, from geotechnical core loggings in the exploration phase through backfilling after mining to finally spoil piles stability on the surface, have been addressed. A review of these papers, and other related literature as well, indicate that ground control has developed to become an inseparable part of mine design and a problem-solving tool for safe production.After 34 years, it is time to look back and identify the areas that need to be emphasized and to look forward to see what areas need to be researched in the future. There is no doubt that the conference series has achieved the goal for which it was originally designed: to provide an annual forum for the exchange of information among the researchers, government regulators, equipment manufacturers, consultants, service providers, and—above all—mine operators. There have been many papers addressing the application of ground control techniques for successful mine design and safe production, and, without these papers, many projects would have failed. In fact, the conference emphasis on application types of papers may have steered too far toward the application side. A review of the conference papers shows that papers have been leaning mostly toward the applied side, leaving most, if not all, fundamental issues behind in nearly every topical area. This paper addresses research needs in 12 topical areas: mine geology, rock property, zones of disturbance in overburden, computer modeling, underground stress measurements, research method, roof bolting, coal pillars, failures, subsidence, shield supports, and coal bumps."

Jan 1, 2015

By Luis R. Fonseca, C. Raimat, C. Wendeler, A. Sanz

"Rockfall barriers are widely known as proven efficiency element to protect infrastructure by catching the rock blocks in the falling direction and absorbing the energy generated by them.It’s common in the project design phase and during installation, fix rockfall barriers for catch a high percentage of the falling blocks and in many cases consider as valid the solution when the barrier can capture all of them. However, in many cases it’s possible to consider the use of these protections, simply to guarantee a secure shed for the traffic and intercept simply the blocks that theoretically hit the road surface.The results of the high-energy rockfall protection barriers type GBE which protect GC-200 road in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are shown in this paper.The topographic data should be especially detailed observed and even more if you want to apply the technique of ""shadow zone"" with a flexible gallery system. It should be drawn from detailed topographic maps and drawings (photogrammetric restitution) to the scales 1/1000, 1/500, or 1/200; and it is important not to ignore the presence of vertical cuts, tracks, small slopes that modify the trajectories (trampoline effect, hard points that favor the rebounds) and which are not always presented in the drawings.The ""shadow zone"" is defined as the protected area, located at a lower elevation to the line created by the rockfall barrier to except of trajectories of rocks and free from the influence of the deflection of the system under the maximum energy level for which it was designed (MEL)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Keith A. Heasley, Christopher R. Newman

"Originally developed in 1993, LaModel has aided mining engineers and researchers alike in improving the design and safety of underground single- and multiple-seam mining operations (Heasley, 1998). Through the years (Heasley, 2011), the use and capabilities of the LaModel program have grown immensely while adapting to ground control concerns and problems within the mining industry. Presently, MSHA specifically mentions the use of LaModel for the analysis of, “complex non-typical roof control plans,” defined as either room-and-pillar retreat mining greater than 1000 feet, bump- or bounce-prone mines, or other criteria considered unusual by the District Manager (Stricklin, 2013).With an ever increasing number of users and an increase in available solution options and complex analyses, there is now a significant demand for better education and training in the practical application and detailed analysis using LaModel. This paper presents the development of an electronic user’s manual and comprehensive online training course created in an open online learning environment in order to better inform and train industry professionals as well as engineering students and new users. The development of both the user’s manual and online training course will ultimately increase the ground control design effectiveness of mining engineers, leading to safer and more productive mine designs.INTRODUCTIONOver the past 20 years, mining engineers and researchers have used the LaModel program for improving the design and safety of single- and multiple-seam mining operations. LaModel uses a laminated, displacement-discontinuity, boundary-element method which simplifies the overburden into a stack of frictionless homogeneous laminations and limits the detailed analysis to the seam itself. This approach is fundamentally simpler than either finite-element, finite-difference, or discrete-element approaches; and, therefore, the program provides a significant reduction in computational time and efficiently calculates the displacements, stresses, pillar safety factors, multiple-seam interactions, subsidence, etc. for thin-bedded deposits such as coal, salt, potash, limestone, etc. (Heasley and Salamon, 1996; Heasley and Agioutantis, 2001). The laminated overburden model in LaModel is different than previous homogeneous elastic formulations and more realistically represents the natural flexibilities of the stratified sedimentary overburden typically associated with coal seams (Heasley, 2008)."

Jan 1, 2015

By H. Karakul

Determination of P-wave velocity (Vp), which is closely related to intact rock, is a nondestructive, easy and less complicated procedure. Due to these advantages, there is an increasing trend to predict the geomechanical properties of rocks from Vp. In addition to mineral content, cementing material and porosity, degree of saturation (Sr) are also other factors influencing geomechanical properties of the intact rock. However, up to the present, in the studies on the prediction of geomechanical properties of rocks from Vp, the effect of Sr has not been investigated. By considering this issue, in this study, it was aimed to correlate strength properties (uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths) and Young’s modulus with Vp of various rock types under different degrees of saturation. In addition, geomechanical properties of rocks were estimated from theoretical P- and S-wave (Vs) velocities, which were calculated based on their mineralogical compositions. For this purpose, fourteen different rock types were collected from several parts of Turkey and a comprehensive laboratory testing program was conducted. In the statistical analyzes, a series of different prediction relationships were developed by using independent variables such as Vp, Sr and effective clay content (ECC). Simple regression analysis results indicated that although prediction of the geomechanical properties of rocks from Vp at different degrees of saturation was possible, the equations developed would yield some under- or over-predictions. On the other hand, the multivariate equations developed have very high prediction performances and are very useful tools to estimate the geomechanical properties from the measured Vp at any Sr value. In addition to mineralogy, the variation in geomechanical properties with increasing Sr is also associated with the combined effect of porosity and clay content, which is first described in this study by the term Effective Clay Content (ECC). It is also noted that strength properties of rocks at any Sr may also be estimated using the empirical relations based on the theoretical Vp and shear-wave velocity (Vs) values, which are calculated from their mineralogical compositions.

Jan 1, 2015

By N. Demirel, O. Gölbasi

Draglines are massive machines extensively utilized in opencast mines for overburden stripping. The demanding working environment induces fractures, wear and tear, and fatigue failures in dragline components and eventuates in extended maintenance, lengthy downtimes, and loss of production. The bucket is the main source of external loads on the machinery, since interactions with ground materials take place in this region. This study aims to develop a generic finite element model of the stress on an operating bucket. This entails (i) three-dimensional modelling of a dragline bucket, (ii) analytical estimation of resistive forces in the bucket movement, (iii) three-dimensional simulation of the moving bucket using finite element analysis (FEA), and (iv) sensitivity analysis to examine the effect of formation characteristics on stress variation. Simulation results imply that the drag hitch and digging teeth are the elements of the bucket that are most prone to failure. In addition, sensitivity analysis indicates that internal friction angle of the formation is the dominant parameter leading fluctuations in stress values. Changes in stress level are least influenced by formation density.

Jan 1, 2015

By C. Legote

"This paper investigates the conditions leading to the indefinite termination of production in four critical primary panels at an underground coal mining operation, the observed shortcomings in the mining approach, and the proposed strategy to mine through the affected panels. Initial assessment of the abandoned panel conditions indicated time-dependent strata failure,(i.e. bolted roof failure overrunning intersections), which occurred from mere minutes to up to four weeks post-production, with and without prior warning of failure. This prompted the constant re-supporting of back areas, which raised safety and productivity concerns. Investigation of the initial mining conditions revealed that the failures were due to a critical combination of factors, the chief of which was isolated horizontal stress. Other factors that were initially overlooked by the mine (i.e. influence of hydraulic stress, misinterpretation of borehole data), resulted in the conditions being described as abnormal. Remedial actions were determined, and in so doing, a new strategic approach was formulated to thoroughly address all failure concerns. The four panels were explicitly planned to serve as the main intake and return airways for the recently commissioned secondary ventilation shaft, as well as providing access to millions of tons in proven coal reserves. It is thus imperative to mine the panels. A feasibility study showed that the proposed strategy set for implementation would be financially viable. Paper written as project work carried out in partial fulfilment for BEng(Mining Engineering) degree"

Jan 1, 2015

By Jürgen Antrekowitsch, Harald Osthof, Stefan Steinlechner

"In the case of feasibility assessments or feasibility studies, an important point of discussion is often how to calculate the capital (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) of a plant. Generally, there is also the request to know how the CAPEX varies when the size of the plant is increased. Nowadays, many databases give an indication of specific equipment costs in relation to the production rate. These data are based on cost information from equipment suppliers and have to be continuously updated by the owner of the database. The approach presented here is a model which allows sizing of process equipment, for example a leach tank, based on process data in combination with the calculation of mechanical properties. Furthermore, it calculates the CAPEX based on construction material cost and adequate machining surcharges. Thus, a single cost model for a leach tank is adequate for both copper and other hydrometallurgical plants and stays valid with changing construction material prices. To summarize, the advantage of this model is the more versatile approach and thus the flexibility due to the inclusion of design aspects, process and mechanical engineering aspects and an updatable database. The database, which is in regard to material cost and is the basis for the cost estimation, is easily updatable from commonly accessible data. This model thus approaches the procedures of an engineering company when designing a plant and executing a cost calculation. INTRODUCTION Hydrometallurgy nowadays plays an important role in processing of primary and secondary resources. In copper metallurgy, hydrometallurgy accounts for roughly 20 % of worldwide primary production, especially in the case of oxide or low copper-containing ores. Zinc smelters changed their method of production from a pyrometallurgical-dominated concept decades ago to mainly hydrometallurgical routes today. Gold production processes using leaching, especially, have a long history without any development which would not be competitive if not based on hydrometallurgical concepts (Pawlek, 1983; Winnacker-Küchler, 2006)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Ho-Sung Yoon, Jyothi Rajesh Kumar, Chul-Joo Kim, Sung-Don Kim

A recovery process for rare earths (REs) such as dysprosium and neodymium from the leach liquor of permanent magnet scrap (PMS) was developed. The two hydrometallurgical routes namely liquid-liquid extraction (solvent extraction) and selective stripping were implemented. The present study deals with the separation and recovery process development by using organo-phosphorous based extractant di-(2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as reagent for REs processing. Initial studies considered the influence of time on the extraction process, as well as pH and extractant concentration effects. This suggested the aqueous mechanism and separation factors played a role in process during development. McCabe-Thiele diagrams for extraction isotherms were developed. Counter current extraction (CCE) using various phase ratios influenced metals separation. Maximum loading capacity of the D2EHPA was determined. The loaded organic generated by the CCE process was water washed followed by a scrubbing process to remove the other metal ion from targeted metal. Finally, a stripping process was tested using various mineral acids.

Jan 1, 2015

By Roberto Folchi, Hans Wallin

Having so many norms and technical content of legislation to deal with is a problem that an explo-sives engineer has to face, especially when working at an international level. Each country has its own norms and legislation, sometimes even each other region or state, as if the physics of explo-sions, rock, concrete, and masonry characteristics would change across the borders. Both norms and laws are frequently out of date, being mainly developed at the beginning of the previous century and adjusted, piece by piece, to a technical and political context that is constantly changing, with adjustment being frequently adopted in a hurry, due to a problem arising such as that of internation-al terrorism. Sometime also, norms are not harmonized with those they intend to amend, so required explanations and new adjustments lead to a vicious circle that increases confusion, complexity and depresses the explosive industry.

Jan 1, 2015

By A. J. Martin, M. J. Peoples, D. J. Adams, A. Opara

"The weathering of coal mine waste rock releases iron, calcium, sulfate and associated trace elements like selenium (Se). Nitrogen species are also found in association with coal-mining drainages mainly due to the leaching of residual blasting compounds. Elevated concentrations of Se are a ubiquitous occurrence in coal-mining environments in British Columbia. A major concern with waterborne Se in British Columbia is the potential for its bioaccumulation in aquatic food chains.Treatment to remove Se from coal-mining waste waters has proven to be challenging for conventional water-treatment technologies. Compounding this challenge, many streams are characterized by high flows and low selenium concentrations. Conventional membrane and ion exchange treatments produce concentrated brine streams that are difficult to treat or require disposal. Conventional biotreatment systems use excess nutrients to provide the required electrons to compensate for inefficient and variable electron availability, as well as to adjust reactor chemistry.This paper's electro-biochemical reactor (EBR) technology provides a controllable and consistent supply of useable electrons to the microbes directly at a low voltage potential (1-3 V) and low current. In this manner, the EBR technology overcomes the shortcomings found in conventional systems, as it reduces the required nutrient addition and provides a more controllable, efficient, economical and robust biotreatment system. Additionally, the EBR process does not produce excess solids or biomass; therefore, solids management post-treatment is not required.Laboratory EBR bench-scale and on-site pilot-scale systems were used to treat five British Columbia coal-mine waste waters; influent Se concentrations ranged from 35 µg/L to 531 µg/L. Se treatment targets for the tested waters ranged from 5 to 10 µg/L. Mean Se concentrations in EBR effluents ranged from 0.5 µg/L to 1.4 µg/L, while reducing sulfate concentrations. The test data demonstrate that the EBR technology is an effective Se removal option for British Columbia’s coal-mining waste waters.IntroductionSelenium in Mining. Selenium (Se) is a naturally occurring trace element, which is an essential nutrient in small amounts (Thompson and Robinson, 1980; Brown and Arthur, 2001). However, it is also toxic to aquatic life, birds, and humans at very low concentrations. A major concern with waterborne Se is the potential for its bioaccumulation in aquatic food chains, resulting in acute and/or chronic toxicity to fish, water birds and amphibians (Besser et al., 1996; Conley et al., 2009)."

Jan 1, 2015

"Exploitation of an ore deposit can be optimized by adapting the beneficiation processes to the properties of individual ore blocks. This can involve switching in and out certain treatment steps, or setting their controlling parameters. Optimizing this set of decisions requires the full conditional distribution of all relevant physical parameters and chemical attributes of the feed, including concentration of value elements and abundance of penalty elements. As a first step towards adaptive processing, the mapping of adaptive decisions is explored based on the composition, in value and penalty elements, of the selective mining units.Conditional distributions at block support are derived from cokriging and geostatistical simulation of log-ratios. A one-to-one log-ratio transformation is applied to the data, followed by modelling via classical multivariate geostatistical tools, and subsequent back-transforming of predictions and simulations. Back-transformed point-support simulations can then be averaged to obtain block averages that are fed into the process chain model.The approach is illustrated with a ‘toy’ example where a fourcomponent system (a value element, two penalty elements, and some liberable material) is beneficiated through a chain of technical processes. The results show that a gain function based on full distributions outperforms the more traditional approach of using unbiased estimates."

Jan 1, 2015

By K. Huttu, A. van Wageningen

"The Kittila underground mine is extracting one of the largest known gold deposits in Europe and has an estimated mine life through 2034. The Kittila mine is located in the Lapland region of northern Finland, approximately 900 kilometres north of Helsinki and 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. The ore at the Kittila mine is refractory, making gold extraction relatively difficult because the gold is generally locked inside the two main sulphide minerals – arsenopyrite and arsenic-rich pyrite. The orebody consists of a complex pinch-and-swell structure including up to 100 different gold mineralization lenses. Fluctuating gold prices and other economic considerations increase the need to maintain and update the mining plans more frequently. Over 3,000 stopes need to be designed and optimized once a year for the LOM-plan and more frequent updates are needed for mid- and short term plans as well as production studies. As a large part of ore body is very sensitive to cost and gold price changes, stope optimization is crucial to find the best possible production scenario for every moment. Kittilä has gone through several methods for stope design and optimization. Most recently the Deswik Stope Optimizer (Deswik.SO) has been successfully used. Dewsik.SO has helped Kittilä to design and optimize stopes in a timely and cost efficient manner. Together with the Deswik suite of planning tools, reliable and auditable plans are created. This paper describes the methods used for stope design and optimization at Kittilä. THE KITTILÄ MINE The Kittila underground mine in northern Finland is extracting one of the largest known gold deposits in Europe. Kittila achieved commercial production on May 1, 2009, becoming Agnico Eagle’s first mine to open outside of Canada. The Kittilä orebodies were initially mined from two open pits – Suuri and Roura – and underground operations were added in October 2010. The pits were mined out in November 2012, so mining is now entirely underground in the Suuri and Roura deposits. Additional, small open pits will mine any remaining near-surface reserves in the future. The Kittila mine is located in the Lapland region of northern Finland, approximately 900 kilometres north of Helsinki and 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. With a mine life estimated through 2034, Kittila is Agnico’s longest-life mine. The mine’s proven and probable reserves contain 4.7 million ounces (32 million tonnes at 4.6 g/t gold). Ore has been mined from underground since 2010. The original 3,000-tonne-per-day operation underwent an expansion project to increase the throughput capacity of the mill by 1,000 tonnes/day, starting by the end of 2014. The region around the Kittila mine is underlain by mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Kittila Greenstone Belt oriented nearly vertical. This greenstone belt is similar to those hosting Agnico Eagle's Canadian deposits in Quebec’s Abitibi region and Nunavut. At the contact point between iron-rich and magnesium-rich rocks lies a 100- to 200-metre-thick structural zone known as the “Suurikuusikko Trend”. This trend hosts the Kittila deposit, where multiple mineralized zones have been traced over a strike length of more than 25 kilometres."

Jan 1, 2015

By Yun-Soo Lee, Su-Hyeon Kim, Hyoung-Wook Kim, Joon-Hyeon Cha

A7075 aluminum alloys have high strengths but poor corrosion resistance. In order to improve the corrosion resistance, a clad sheet is suggested, that is the A7075 alloy sheet bonded to A1XXX or A6XXX aluminum alloy sheets which are surface layers with good corrosion resistance. Mechanical properties of the clad sheets are determined by the combination of the component layer sheets, and thermomechanical treatment should be precisely designed when the strengthening methods of the core and the surface alloys are quite different. In the present study, three-layered A6022/A7075/A6022 clad sheets were fabricated by roll bonding process. Simplified processes incorporating a twin roll casting were also suggested in order to reduce the processing cost. Several temper methods composed of rolling, annealing, solution treatment, and aging were suggested in order to optimize the mechanical properties of the sheets. The strengths of the clad sheets were compared with the bare A7075 and bare A6022 sheets.

Jan 1, 2015

By S. Feinstein, I. Reznik, Y. H. Hatzor, O. Shitrit, Y. O. Rosenberg, H. J. Vinegar, S. Nguyen

"We report the effects of porosity and total organic carbon (TOC) content on the mechanical behavior of organic-rich chalks, based on laboratory measurements. The organic-rich chalks are from the Senonian Ghareb and Mishash formations. This deposit is an immature oil-prone source rock, about 300 meters thick, situated at shallow depths (several hundreds of meters) in the Shefela basin in central Israel. The study is based on core data collected from the Zoharim borehole.Three main phases comprise the bulk volume of this rock: 1) carbonate mineralogical phase (predominantly calcite); 2) pores (mostly saturated with brine); and 3) solid organic phase (type IIS kerogen). The mechanical effects of porosity (23-45%) and TOC (4-19%) are evaluated based on bulk incompressibilities vs. volumetric fractions analysis. Volumetric fractions of mineralogical and organic phases were obtained by porosity, density and TOC measurements. Saturated rock bulk moduli were measured through ultrasonic velocity measurements. Saturated rock bulk moduli correlate best with the sum of kerogen and pore volume fractions, rather than each of them separately. The volumetric fractions were also used to define the range of bulk modulus of the organic-rich chalk, using the Hashin-Shtrikman upper and lower bounds. Based on Marion's Bounding Average Method (BAM), the normalized stiffness factor of the chalk averaged at w=0.197, indicating a soft pore geometry. Using the average normalized stiffness factor, the BAM predictions showed excellent match with the saturated rock bulk modulus and the sum of kerogen and pore volume fractions. Based on our findings, it is inferred that kerogen grains do not support the solid skeleton but are distributed between the minerals grains. We also propose here a straightforward approach for calculating the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, based on TOC and porosity measurements. The mechanical effects of porosity and TOC indicated here are very important for the understanding of the influence of immature kerogen presence in highly porous chalks, as the Ghareb and Mishash formations."

Jan 1, 2015

By H. Huang, R. N. Gow

"The reactivity of an enargite mineral electrode was investigated spectroelectrochemically under conditions typically found in alkaline sulfide leach solutions, with pH 11-13 and Na2S additions of 50 and 250 gL-1. A bulk enargite electrode was cycled between 0 and -1,000 mV for each set of solution conditions. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine and compare surface formations against species in mass-balanced EH-pH diagrams generated using STABCAL. Previously, it was determined that arsenic could be selectively leached under alkaline conditions at an average solution potential of -300mV, across the pH range 11-13. Operating under such conditions allowed for the selective leaching of arsenic with elemental sulfur formation. From several of the voltammograms obtained during this current testing, the formation of elemental sulfur appeared at increasingly reducing conditions with increasing sulfide concentration. At high concentrations, copper started to dissolve, possibly as a bisulfide complex, reducing the selectivity of the leach, unlike previous studies. However, the presence of the higher sulfide concentration is also anticipated to prevent passivation by consuming any surface formation of elemental sulfur. This study provides insight into the operating parameters of alkaline sulfide leaching in regards to the selectivity of arsenic leaching, as well as guidance for control of reagents and solution potential and, of course, the need for water treatment afterwards.IntroductionEnvironmental limitations on the pyrometallurgical processing of arsenic-bearing concentrates have forced operations to consider other solutions. Attempts to hydrometallurgically process enargite (Cu3AsS4) fall into two categories: the co-dissolution of arsenic and copper under acidic conditions, and the selective leaching of arsenic under basic conditions. The authors believe that the selective leaching of arsenic is more amenable because it produces a solid copper phase, preferably chalcocite (Cu2S) or covellite (CuS) that could then be processed using conventional methods already in place in the copper and gold industries. Potential leaching methods include alkaline sulfide leaching (Achimovicovica et al., 1999; Anderson and Twidwell, 2008a,b; Tongamp et al., 2009 and 2010), hypochlorite leaching (Vinals et al., 2003; Curreli et al., 2005; Mihaljovic et al., 2007), ammoniacal leaching (Gajam and Raghavan, 1983), and acid leaching (Gow et al., 2014b) with or without fine grinding to mechanically activate the enargite surface and increase normally slow leach reaction kinetics (Achimovicova et al., 1999; Balaz et al., 2000; Balaz and Achimovicova, 2006). In this study, the reactivity of enargite under alkaline sulfide leach conditions was examined."

Jan 1, 2015