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By Charles E. Wait

IT is said by some that the occurrence of a deposit of sulphide of antimony in Southwestern Arkansas has been known for fifteen or twenty years. Whether or not such is the case I am not prepared to say, but I am not able to find any record of such a discovery, or any analysis of antimony ore obtained from that section, published at so early a period. The present discoveries, that seem to be attracting some attention, date back to the winter of 1873-74. At that time a vein of ore was found by Mr. Robert Wolf, in honor of whom the vein was named, and still is called, "the Wolf lode." At the time of the discovery the ore was unknown to the prospector, and its composition was not thoroughly understood in that locality until samples were sent to several analytical chemists, who pronounced it sulphide of antimony-stibnite. Since the discovery of this ore there have been three mines opened, and a number of interesting minerals of the antimonial series have been found. I have had an unusually good opportunity to collect specimens from these mines; and it is owing to the constant inquiry concerning the character of these ores that I have collected for publication the results of quite a number of analyses, sufficient I trust to clearly point out their composition. This is one of the few localities in the United States where antimony ore is found in workable quantities; I say workable quantities, because two different shipments of ore have been made to English reduction works, and in both cases excellent returns were made. The discovery of these deposits will, it is hoped, give rise to a prosperous and remunerative industry at no distant day, and when fully developed they may yield ore in sufficient quantity to supply the regulus for the home demand, thus adding wealth not only to those interested, but also to the State of Arkansas. The three mines are situated in the northern part of Sevier County, and may be reached by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway to Fulton, thence by wagon-road to Columbus, Nashville, Centre Point, and to the mines. During most seasons of the year the

Jan 1, 1880

By Seal. Thom

Large heap leach operations around the world contain significant under-leached metal values that present recovery challenges to operators. The first challenge is to find the location of the highest inventory. High resolution resistivity ? has proven sensitive enough to detect such zones in the interior of heap leach pads to target treatment or re-leaching. Newmont Mining Corp. has adapted the high pressure fracturing technology, used in oil wells to stimulate select zones in heap leach pads to add reagents in 3-D for re-leaching, changing zonal chemistry for improved recovery and heap closure. High Resolution Resistivity ? is able to subsequently monitor injected solution flow and determine directional permeability during Hydro-Jex stimulation. The combination of these technologies has shown strong economic success, for selecting targets in the heaps and monitoring solution application. These technologies are now available to the mining industry for adoption.

Jan 1, 2008

By Harold W. Lipper

BUREAU OF MINES helium plants produced a. record-breaking 477 million cubic feet of this essential element in 1959. The supply of helium was less than the demand before operations were resumed at the Navajo plant in July and begun Sit a. new plant at Keyes, Okla., in August. Helium was in abundant supply after August, and the informal allocation system which had been in use intermittently since 1955 was discontinued Delivery of 26 new tank cars in August and September increased the total in the tank-car pool to 163. Defense and space agencies and the Atomic Energy Commission continued to use more helium in their operations and research.

Jan 1, 1960

By J. M. Galera, M. D. Rodriguez, V. Pozo, S. Cooper

"Cobre Las Cruces mine extracts copper minerals from a VMS deposit located in the well-known Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). As an open pit, it is distinguished geologically from other IPB mines by the presence of around 150 m of Tertiary soft marls, known locally as the Guadalquivir Blue Marls, followed by a regionally important aquifer. Below the marls and aquifer the mineralization is hosted by rocks typical of the Palaeozoic within the IPB, comprising gossan, tuffs, slates, and sulphides.This combination of a substantially soft rock and more competent, older (but still occasionally problematic) Palaeozoic lithologies constitutes a unique geological framework and presents substantial challenges in maintenance of slope stability, and therefore operational safety, at the mine site. This paper describes the fundamental design, excavation, and monitoring measures implemented at the mine to maintain safe production, and the lessons learnt during the mine development. IntroductionAs a modern Spanish mine, Las Cruces is committed to the use of best available technology and practices with the aim of guaranteeing the production of ore in a safe environment. From a practical perspective, this implies the realization of a high quality pit design, ongoing geotechnical mapping of exposed slopes to ensure conformity with design, and use of leading geotechnical surveillance technology to complement visual observations. The focus of this article is to illustrate how, at a mine site with potentially problematic soil/rock conditions, multiple advanced techniques employed from design stage analysis through to final pit configuration and vigilance, were combined to achieve an overall control of the ground conditions. In Figure 1 the layout of the pit is shown, illustrating development at the beginning of 2015."

Jul 1, 2019

By Braden Lusk, Tristan Worsey, Nathan Rouse, Kyle Hall

Loading explosives up hole has challenges that are typically not seen in down hole explosive loading. Most explosives applications are not up hole. Lack of experience and technology can cause significant problems when loading explosives up hole. When results aren’t achieved, the blame is commonly put on the design when the true problems are unknown. Not knowing the cause of the problem causes drill and blast designs to be over engineered and very costly with little success. Being able to know and record key data is crucial to actually solving the problem. This paper goes over blast instrumentation that can be used to trouble shoot drill and blast problems in up hole explosives loading in underground mines. The tools and procedures used to trouble shoot include velocity of detonation recorder, borehole tracking, seismographs, and borehole camera. Each item will be discussed in detail with a case study to show the usefulness of the instrumentation. The operation discussed in the case study had issues pulling raises and had hang ups in the stope shots. These problems caused production slowdowns and costly remediation blasting that was not very successful. The case study is an underground gold mine that used modified sub-level caving with backfill as the mining method.

Jan 1, 2018

By H. M. Chikashi

Keywords: Pyrometallurgy, furnace, bath agitation, regression analysis, entrainment This paper presents the results of linear regression analysis of the influence that each component of slag has on the losses of copper in slag-cleaning-furnace slag. Data used for the analysis are actual plant data collected over the past two years of operation. Facts obtained from the study will be helpful for smelter management to control these components in the flash smelting furnace feed and slag, to levels which will enable better control of copper in slag, and smoother operation of the KCM slag-cleaning furnace.

Jan 1, 2011

By Samer Sadek, David I. Smith, Wai-shing Lee, Jeffrey L. Rice, Avelino Alonso

INTRODUCTION East Side Access (ESA) Contract CQ028 is located in the New York City Borough of Queens. The contract involves construction of a 230-meter (760-foot) long open-cut excavation with a permanent deck supporting Amtrak yard tracks over a semi-circular TBM launch wall on the east end, and the 36.5-meter (120-foot) long Northern Blvd. Crossing on the west end. The Northern Boulevard Crossing will be mined under an existing New York City Transit (NYCT) five-track subway tunnel; Northern Boulevard, a heavily traveled five-lane truck route; and an existing NYCT three-track elevated line; connecting to an existing open-cut shaft adjacent to the existing 63rd Street Tunnel bellmouth. When completed, Contract CQ028 will provide access for future Manhattan and Queens tunnel contracts. The footprint of the open-cut was determined by the geometric requirements of the future Plaza Interlocking facility to be constructed within in another future ESA contract. See Figure 1. This paper discusses design risk mitigations for the key elements of the contract, namely the Northern Blvd. Crossing and the semi-circular TBM Launch Wall. PROJECT OVERVIEW The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction Company—East Side Access Project for the Long Island Rail Road will provide Long Island commuters with direct access to Manhattan’s East Side via a new rail line between the Harold Interlocking in Queens and Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The project connects the unused lower level of the existing tunnel under the East River at 63rd Street to new connecting tunnels in Queens and Manhattan. Contract CQ028 Scope and Construction Schedule This contract consists of the excavation of an open-cut from the east side of Northern Boulevard, through an existing MTA-owned rail yard and into the western limits of Amtrak’s Sunnyside Yard. The contract will connect to a completed open-cut

Jan 1, 2007

The Golden Cross mine is situated in a sensitive environmental setting on the North Island of New Zealand, about 150 kilometres south-east of Auckland and about 8 kilometres NW of Waihi. The mine is situated in dipping topography, with volcanic ashes making up soils, fault zones running through the area, and rainfall of about 3 m per year on average. Water management is the most demanding environmental challenge on site, and a comprehensive programme has been put in place to address tailings deposition, long term tailings storage, and water treatment during and after operations.   The tailings impoundment is built with an underdrainage system that collects groundwaters and waters that seep through the impoundment. The embankment and impoundment are both built to withstand the Maximum Credible Earthquake and the Probable Maximum Flood. Tailings are treated to remove cyanide and to decrease metal solubility to reduce long term risk to water quality after mining. A state-of-the-art water treatment plant is utilised to treat water from the underdrainage system and water decanted from the top of the tailings pond and stormwaters to remove residual cyanide and metals to extremely high standards with a great deal of reliability and at reasonable cost. Closure of the facility addresses long term post mining water quality issues, and rehabilitation of the area with wildlife habitat as a priority.

Jan 1, 1995

By N. C. Saxena, S. K. Puri, A. K. Pal

The condition-based monitoring system is an important innovation for reducing the downtime of costly, heavy earth- moving machinery (HEMM). Vibration severity measurements were made on the HEMM located at the Gevra Project, the largest coal opencast project in India. Whenever the vibration severity levels exceeded the permissible limits, necessary actions were taken to replace the defective parts of the ma- chine. The systematic vibration monitoring of 120-t (132-st) dumpers, followed by corrective measures led to a substantial increase in component life (8.18% for an 445E Dressor and 28.44% for an MK-30 Unit Rig). The associated costs (including spareparts) were reduced by 21.55% and 25.74%, respectively. Because of the reduced downtime, savings for these two dumpers over the period from March 26 to June 25,1998, were of the order of Rs.26.47 (US$0.649) million.

Jan 1, 2000

By Dragomir Gospodinov, Savka Dineva

A surprisingly large mining-induced seismic event occurred in the LKAB Kiirunavaara Mine (Sweden) on 18 May, 2020 at 03:11 (local time). The estimated moment magnitude was 4.2. The event caused extensive damage in a large section of the mine. The production in the area is not yet resumed, even by the beginning of 2022 (~20 months after the event). The Kiirunavaara Mine has one of the world’s largest underground seismic systems with approximately 253 geophones. The in-mine records of the event showed a very complex character with a several sub-events. The event was also well recorded by seismic stations out to over 9,000 km distance. Data from the underground and regional seismic systems were analysed to define and compare basic source parameters such as hypocenter location, seismic moment, as well as the seismic moment tensor. The data from the in-mine seismic system was used to study the development of the seismic process and to define elementary seismic sub-sources together with the official hypocenter location.

Apr 26, 2022

The estimation of the spatial variation of the b-value of the Gutenberg- Richter relationship is important for both the general interpretation of the mechanism of rock mass response and seismic hazard assessment. The interpretation of b-value as a parameter of rock mass response is discussed in this paper. The methods applied to evaluate the spatial variation of b-value and the algorithm for obtaining the magnitude of completeness and b-value for subsets of data are presented with some verification analyses. The algorithms presented enable the automation of a spatial evaluation of b-value.

Jan 1, 2014

By Ghosh I, Vanangamudi M

Experiments have been made in a laboratory heavy media separator at various specific gravities of separation using zinc chloride solution and magnetite suspension as media for different types of coals. The results indicate that the magnetite bath gives at better separation than zinc chloride solution. Even though the probable error remains the same for most conditions of operation, the error area is found to have a wide variation which emphasises the importance of the error area over probable error in evaluating the performance of a cleaning unit.

Jan 1, 1981

Jan 1, 2000

By Robert A. Field

Static-Load Piledriving systems utilize hydraulic push to advance piles into the ground. Dynamic systems (ie. hammers and vibratory equipment) utilize impact, or vibration, to advance the piles. Static-Load systems are most commonly utilized in situations where noise or vibration would adversely affect the people, structures or equipment located near the site. Static-Load technology is most advantageous in situations where vibration, noise or access constraints make it difficult, risky or disruptive to utilize conventional piledriving systems.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. M. Wempen

Booster fans, large underground fans, can increase the volumetric efficiency of ventilation systems by helping to balance the pressure and quantity distribution throughout a mine, reducing leakage and reducing the total power requirement. However, in ventilation systems that use booster fans there is a potential for system recirculation, the leakage of return air to intake air, and also for localized recirculation near the fan through the bulkhead and airlock doors. Air that is recirculated locally decreases the system efficiency because the quantity of air flow through the fan increases without increasing the airflow throughout the system. To understand the detailed flow characteristics of a ventilation system with a booster fan, two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were developed using the software Ansys-FLUENT. Though two-dimensional models do not represent the full complexity of the flow dynamics, they do provide a good representation of the flow characteristics and they allow for a qualitative analysis of how the flow dynamics are affected by the system characteristics. The CFD models were used to evaluate how the number of booster fans, the booster fan placement, the location and geometry of the fan installation and the construction of the airlock system affect the flow characteristics and the localized efficiency of the ventilation system.

Feb 27, 2013

By D Jensen, L Riffo, S Yu, F Traczyk, D Meadows

With the steady increase of molybdenum demand worldwide and the favorable molybdenum market, many technological innovations on both process and equipment have been developed and applied in many modern molybdenum plants around the world. This paper introduces the most commonly used molybdenum flotation flowsheet, together with the introduction of the flotation chemistry. Many different types of flotation cells are used in modern moly plants, and each type of flotation cell has its own unique advantages suited for particular ore and process conditions. This paper tries to provide some insight and guidelines in flowsheet development and flotation cell selection in the molybdenum plants.CITATION:Meadows, D, Jensen, D, Traczyk, F, Yu, S and Riffo, L, 2013. Molybdenum flotation circuit and flotation cells, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 387-398 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

By Stephen P. Quin

One of the most prospective undeveloped greenstone belts in Canada, the Hope Bay greenstone belt extends over 80km in a north-south direction and is between 7 and 20km wide. The belt lies on the arctic coast and comprises mafic meta-volcanic and meta-sedimentary rocks that are bounded by Archean granite intrusives and gneisses. The greenstone package has been deformed during multiple events and is transected by major northsouth trending shear zones that appear to exert a significant control on the localization of mineralization. The Hope Bay belt contains a number of significant gold deposits hosted in a typical Archean greenstone belt and which occur in several geologic settings, including shear-hosted, lode-style and breccia-associated. Combined, the deposits host a measured and indicated resource of 1.6 million oz of gold averaging 15.7 g/t plus an inferred resource of 2.7 million oz of gold averaging 12.3 g/t. All deposits remain open to expansion. Exploration in the period 2000-2002 by Miramar includes more than 110,000m of drilling to more fully define the nature of the known deposits, while regional exploration has focused on identifying and evaluating new targets. In carrying out its programs, Miramar uses a number of techniques to improve its chances of exploration success. Activity in 2003 includes 43,000m of drilling focused on expanding resources in the Madrid area, testing the Boston deposit at depth and continuing the hunt for more discoveries. Meanwhile Miramar is advancing one of the deposits towards a production decision, based on a low capital, high return development scenario.

May 1, 2003

The Wongawilli system of mining has been in use for over 30 years and has enabled high production rates and acceptable extraction ratios to be achieved in seams less than 4 m in thickness. A modification of the Wongawilli system has been developed to permit the use of a continuous miner and mobile equipment to extract a coal seam 6 m thick. Following physical and mathematical model studies the new mining method is now undergoing field trials at Collinsville, Queensland. Progress of the field trials to date has achieved 99 per cent extraction of the upper slice by remote control operation of the continuous miner and established the feasibility of installing resin grouted wooden dowels in the coal floor to reinforce the coal septum. The method is explained in the text. Monitoring of the goaf gases as an early indication of spontaneous combustion has been incorporated in the mining cycle by placement of tubes in the goaf as the face retreats and continuous analysis of the goaf gases made at the surface by the National Coal Board tube bundle monitoring system.

Jan 1, 1980

By Maureen E. Lipkewich

Education builds long term awareness, acceptance and support for responsible mineral resource development. The MABC Education Program is an award winning education partnership with British Columbia classroom teachers that has helped over 5400 teachers with resources and other learning opportunities. Each year, thousands of students begin, and continue, to learn about our modern mineral industry as a result of this teacher-written program. The CIM network has an integral role in the future of mineral education in today?s classrooms in Canada and programs of this caliber are vital to our future. The industry needs help in raising awareness of the benefits of modern mining and teachers need help in acquiring that information.

May 1, 2002

By Stephen C. Tadolini

The U.S. Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Cyprus- Plateau Mining Company, has conducted research to provide an alternative to traditional secondary support systems in a two-entry, yield pillar gate road. As recent as two years ago, it was impossible to imagine a gate road supported solely with internal high-strength resin-grouted cable supports that would virtually eliminate the necessity for crib or concrete external supports. The support system evaluated consisted of 1.6-m (5-ft) full-column resin-grouted bolts and 4.8-m (164) long cable supports installed in conjunction with wire mesh and "monster-mats." Cable loading and roof deformations were monitored to evaluate the behavior of the immediate and main roofs during first and second panel extractions. The stress and loading histories for the panels and yield pillar were monitored to evaluate the stress transfer and pillar performance in conjunction with the roof and floor behavior. The test results indicated that the designed support system successfully maintained the roof during the extraction of two longwall panels and dramatically reduced the cost of secondary support. This paper will describe the theory of a cribless support system, the advantages of cable supports, and present the pillar, roof, and floor measurements made to assess the support performance during longwall retreat mining.

Jan 1, 1995