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By B. Friedrich

In a German governmental funded three-year research project, a closed loop recycling process for Nickel-Metalhydride-Batteries (NiMH) is under development. Today the discarded batteries are used in the steel industry as a cheap nickel source. Cobalt and rare earth (RE) are slagged and lost for reuse. The entire value of the metals in discarded Ni-MH is estimated to be 4?-4.5 ?/kg. Spent NiMH-batteries containing 36?42 per cent Ni, 3?4 per cent Co and 8?10 per cent rare rarth (Ce,La, Pr, Nd). The dismantled and processed NiMH-batteries are melted in a DC electric arc furnace producing a nickel-cobalt alloy and a slag phase highly enriched with RE-oxides. The key to success in this process is to find a suitable slag system, which ensures best separation of NiCo-alloy from the rare earth oxides and high concentration of RE in the slag. Different oxidic and halogenic slag systems are investigated in the melting process. So far a slag system based on 65per cent CaF2 and 35 per cent CaO delivers the best separation of the two phases and metal yields. A slag with a composition of 20?25 per cent La, 13-16 per cent Ce, 1.5?2.5 Pr, 4.5?6.5 per cent Nd is obtained and further treated to misch metal hydro-/electrometallurgically. The first results of the influence of rare earth oxides on the density of CaO-CaF2slag system are shown at 1600°C. Keywords: battery recycling, CaF2, CaO, rare earth oxides, slag characterization, density measurement

Jan 1, 2004

By M. S. Smith

Paper written on project work carried out in partial fulfilment of B. Eng (Mining Engineering) degree The condition of tunnels at Premier has deteriorated to such an extent that an objective viewpoint on what leads to poor condition was required. Poor and untimely development results in schedule deviation, rehabilitation, and increased working costs. The project focused primarily on quality, and not on efficiency. The project gave management guidelines that need to be focused on in order to produce quality infrastructure. The conclusions were reached by doing literature searches, underground site investigations, benchmarking and computer simulations. From the results we can see that, in order to produce good quality tunnels, we have to have the basics working. This was found to be one of the major problems. Firstly, tunnel profiles are not to the design specification and no fixed blast designs existed. After revising tunnel profile statistics, over break increased to 10% (previously 7%) and development metres were 50 m short of target. Blasting was not monitored and designs not optimized for the conditions. Furthermore, geological factors are the main contributor to tunnel failure, although this process is initiated and aided by poor development (overbroken tunnels, incorrect profiles, direction and location) and blast damage. Continuing to develop tunnels in the current manner will cost R 1.5 million in additional costs for loading and supporting overbreak, whilst an additional 1 800 man-shifts will be required. Blast patterns were designed as a starting point for trials, while the implementation of a blast management system, development statistical database, tunnel hand-over procedures and a revision of the bonus system were proposed.

Jan 1, 2004

The EMEM Awards of the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) were formally launched on 3 March 2000 by Ms Susan Shabangu, Deputy Minister at the Department?s Mineralia Centre in Pretoria. The launch was attended by invited guests from the mining and aggregate industries ,representatives of the Patron Organisations (see below),non- government and scientific organizations, the media, other government departments involved with mining environmental management and members of staff of the DME both nationally and regionally.

Jan 1, 2000

By S. J. Thomas, P. A. Lilly, J. A. L. Napier

An industry research project has been established to examine the issue of rock mass failure in large open pit slopes. The approach began with numerically modelling failure at the laboratory scale with a displacement discontinuity program. The interim results from the program suggest the output failure mode is dependent upon the input parameter cohesion weakening. Es wurde ein Forschungsproject mit unterstützung von Bergbauindustrie bearbeitet. Die Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Analysierung des Böschungsgefähr im größen Festgesteinstagebauen. Das Verfahren besteht aus der numerischer Modelierung mit Ansatz einen sonderen Rechnerprogram. Die erste Ergebnis zeigt, daß die Aufgabe am Angabendaten (cohesion) abhängig sein wird. Un project de recherche industriel fût conduit avec le but d’examiner les éboulements de roche dans les mines a ciel ouvert. La premiere étape a été de modelliser numériquement les éboulements dans un laboratoire en utilisant un programme de déplacement discontinu. Les resultants préliminaires du programme indiquent que la prédiction des ébouliements est directement reliée à la magnitude de la cohesion.

Jan 1, 2003

By J. M. Font, R. G. Reddy

Jan 1, 2004

By E. Milke, A. Arnold, B. Friedrich, A. Sydykov

CaF2is often used as a fluoride addition to the chloride salt flux in the melting of aluminium scrap. The solubility of CaF2in the chloride salt system is limited. Dissolved CaF2is considered to improve the properties of salt fluxes. Experimental investigations indicated that the solubility ofCaF2in 70 wt % NaCl/30 wt % KCl, German salt flux used in aluminium scrap melting, might be lower than expected according to literature data. The pseudo binary section CaF2-(70 wt % NaCl-30 wt % KCl) was investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA). The determined solubility of CaF2appeared to be considerably lower than presented in the literature. The pseudo binary section calculated using thermodynamic data partially confirmed the results. DTA allowed us alsoto determine the crystallization temperature interval of the two phase eutectic consisting of the solid solution NaCl-KCl and CaF2. Keywords: aluminium recycling, phase system, salt flux, CaF2, NaCl, KCl, solubility

Jan 1, 2004

By I. Bock

Selective Blast Mining (SBM) makes use of milli-second sequential blasting technology to separate the valuable reef material from waste rock in the blasting operation at stope faces in the mining of tabular ore bodies such as exist in the gold and platinum mines in South Africa. The waste rock is cast blast to the back of the stoping area, and the reef material is fractured and deposited close to the stope face. Only the reef material is transported to the surface. A simplified economic model is presented to evaluate the economic benefits of SBM. Although premature, in that adequate experimental demonstration of the validity of the model has not yet been possible, the model is presented since it indicates substantial benefits in the case of narrow reef gold mines. It is suggested that many marginal mines should seriously consider SBM. Benefits can also be realised in platinum mines, but a lot more experimental work is necessary to establish cost parameters more reliably. Some practical experience in the use of SBM in the mining of the UG2 reef is presented.

Jan 1, 1998

By R. G. Cawthorn

The earliest authenticated scientific report of the occurrence of platinum in rocks from the Bushveld Complex appears to be by William Bettel on 10 November 1906. Thereafter, prospecting of the chromite-rich rocks for platinum proved frustrating. I suggest that the resurgence of interest shown by Dr Hans Merensky in 1924 resulted from his realization that newly panned platinum had a different grain size from that in the chromite layers and indicated a different source rock, which he located, and it became known as the Merensky Reef.

Jan 1, 2007

By A. Hiltunen, R. Hiltunen

The utilization of blast furnace and BOF slags has long traditions and well-known applications in the building and road construction industries and in soil conditioning. The starting point for product development has been the basic physico-chemical properties of slags. This development has led to the almost 100% utilization of blast furnace slags and also considerable amounts of steel slags. While new methods and applications are continuously being looked for and developed in order to recycle and utilize all types of slag, there is at the same time an increasing debate over the exact nature of the slags, whether they are products or waste material, and whether they should be considered substances or preparations. These questions have emerged as a consequence of the environmental effects of the slags and current environmental legislation. The environmental effects of slags can be seen to be both beneficial and less beneficial. There is no doubt about their benefits in the road construction industry, as they allow significant savings in terms of natural materials and in transportation. It is also a known fact that using slags as fertilizers and in the cement industry leads to reduction in CO2emissions. The less favourable effects are the possible harmful emissions into the soil and groundwater. In this paper we describe the properties of slag products and their environmental effects according to investigations carried out in Finland. Keywords: utilization, blast furnace slag, steel slag, properties, solubility, environment

Jan 1, 2004

By T. Dlokweni

Several Rockmass classification systems have been developed and used in Civil Engineering design and for underground mining operations. Some of these rockmass classification systems have been modified and used in the South African coal mining industry to quantify descriptive geological information for use in coal mine design and roof support selection. The Coal Mine Roof Rating (CMRR) system developed in the USA has been investigated in detail as part of the study. Advantages and disadvantages of the system have been identified by means of underground and surface borehole testing. Investigations into the rating systems in South Africa found that most of the rating systems used in the South African coal mining industry are for planning purposes, and are conducted on borehole cores. This study also highlighted that the rating systems being used are based on geology, and that the human factor plays a major role in the rating systems. To overcome these problems, all the classification systems used in South African coal mines have been benchmarked against impact splitting technique and documented. The best elements of these systems are combined into a new standard system that will be easily used by all mine geologists and rock mechanics engineers. Plusieurs systèmes de classification de la masse rocheuse ont été développés et utilisés dans le Génie Civil et pour les opérations d'exploitation minière souterraine. Certains de ces systèmes de classification de la masse rocheuse ont été modifiés et utilisés dans l'industrie minière sud-africaine pour quantifier l'information géologique descriptive utilisée dans la conception de mines de charbon et la sélection de soutènement du toit. Le système d'Evaluation de Toit de Mine de Charbon (CMRR) développé aux USA a été examiné en détail, comme part de l'étude présente. Tests en surface de trous de mine ont permis d'identifier les avantages et inconvénients du système. Une étude des systèmes d'évaluation en Afrique du Sud a révélé que la plupart des systèmes d'évaluation utilisés dans l'industrie minière sud-africaine sont utilisés pour la planification, et sont menés sur les carottes de trous de mine. L'étude présente a aussi souligné que les systèmes d'évaluation utilisés sont basés sur la géologie, et que le facteur humain joue un rôle majeur dans les systèmes d'évaluation. Pour surmonter ces problèmes, tous les systèmes de classification utilisés en Afrique du Sud ont été référencés en termes de technique de fissuration sur choc, et documentés. Les meilleurs éléments de ces systèmes sont combinés dans un nouveau système standard qui sera utilisé aisément par tous les géologues de mine et les ingénieurs miniers. Verschiedene Gesteinsmassenklassifikationssysteme wurden entwickelt und kamen im Design für Hoch- und Tiefbau und Untertageabbau zum Einsatz. Einige dieser Gesteinsmassen-klassifikationssysteme wurden modifiziert und sind in der südafrikanischen Kohlebergbauindustrie in Verwendung, um beschreibende geologische Informationen für die Anwendung im Design von Kohlebergwerken und der Firstabstützungsauswahl quantitativ zu beschreiben. Das in den USA entwickelte Kohlengrubenfirstbewertungssystem (CMRR) wurde als Teil der Studie im Detail untersucht. Vorteile und Nachteile des Systems sind mittels der Untergrund- und Oberflächenbohrlochprüfung gekennzeichnet worden. Prüfungen der Bewertungssysteme in Südafrika ergaben, daß die meisten Bewertungssysteme die in der südafrikanischen Kohlebergbauindustrie benutzt werden, Planungszwecken dienen und werden anhand von Bohrlochkernen durchgeführt. Diese Studie hob auch hervor, daß die verwendeten Bewertungssysteme auf Geologie basieren und daß der menschliche Faktor eine Hauptrolle in den Bewertungssystemen spielt. Um diese Probleme zu überwinden, wurden alle in südafrikanischen Kohlengruben benutzte Klassifizierungssysteme vergleichsweise in Hinblick auf Spaltschlagtechnik überprüft und dokumentiert. Die besten Elemente dieser Systeme werden in ein neues Standardsystem kombiniert, das leicht von allen Grubengeologen und von Gebirgsmechanikingenieuren benutzt werden kann.

Jan 1, 2003

By A. V. Pavlov, A. V. Dubachev, K. L. Kossyrev

The purpose of the given research was to investigate the possibility of high-carbon ferrochromium refining to remove harmful impurities as a result of metal treatment by slag mixtures on the basis of the CaO-MgO-SiO2system. The final conclusions were drawn from experimental results. It was shown that the treatment of high-carbon ferrochromium by SiO2-MgO-CaO slag mixtures with additions of chromium sinter or iron-ore concentrate removes carbon, sulphur and phosphorus from the metal. A mechanism of phosphorus removal from a melt to a gas phase is proposed.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. -P. Tshibangu, A. Vervoort, A. Lavrov

Abstract: The aim of the research presented is to study the effect of complex loading schemes on the fracturing process during loading and/or unloading. A first set of experiments was done using a poly-axial cell. These experiments in combination with numerical simulations showed a difference in micro-fracturing (shear and tensile cracks), but not in macro-failure between various loading/ unloading schemes. The second set of experiments was based on the three-point bending test and several cycles with or without rotation between cycles were applied. If the specimen was rotated by 90° or 180° about its long axis between the first and second cycle, no Kaiser effect was observed. Résumé: Le but de la recherche présentée est d’étudier l’effet de schémas de charge complexe sur le processus de fracturation durant la phase de charge et de décharge. Une première série d’expériences était réalisée utilisant une cellule polyaxiale. Ces expériences combinées avec des simulations numériques ont montré une différence de micro-fracturation (fissures de cisaillements et de traction) pour les différents schémas de charge et décharge, mais en ce qui concerne la macro-fracturation ce n’est pas le cas. La deuxième série d’expériences était basée sur des essais de flexion trois points avec plusieurs cycles, avec ou sans rotation entre les cycles. Si l’échantillon est tourné de 90° ou 180° selon le grand axe entre le premier et le second cycle, l’effet Kaiser n’est pas observé. Zusammenfassung: Der Zweck der vorliegenden Forschung bestand darin, den Einfluß von komplizierten Beanspruchungsschemen auf den Bruchprozess im Laufe von Belastung und/oder Entlastung von Gesteinen zu untersuchen. Der erste hier beschriebene Satz von Experimenten wurde mit einer dreiaxialen Belastungsmaschine angestellt. Diese Experimenten zusammen mit dazugehörigen numerischen Simulationen zeigten Unterschiede zwischen Be- und Entlastungsbeanspruchungen in Bezug auf mikrobruchmechanische Mechanismen (d.h. Scher- oder Zugrisse) an, aber nicht in Bezug auf den Makrobruchprozess. Der zweite Satz von Experimenten umfasste Gesteinsbeanspruchung in mehreren Zyklen von Drei-Punkt-Biegung, indem die Gesteinsproben zwischen den Zyklen um einen angegebenen Winkel (0°, 90° oder 180°) gedreht wurden. Falls die Probe um 90° oder 180° gedreht wurde, wurde kein Kaiser-Effekt im zweiten Zyklus beobachtet.

Jan 1, 2003

Paper written on project work carried out in partial fulfilment of BSc Engineering (Mining) The aim of this project is to determine whether certain pillars occurring within the no. 1 shaft and no. 2 sub-shaft ground are feasible for extraction. The extraction of these pillars is essential in prolonging the life of Kloof Main Shaft as its VCR resource becomes depleted. Extraction of these pillars will require a combination of designs and factors, with rock mechanics and ventilation being the main considerations. Primarily for the pillar extraction, an initial production target of150 kg gold, mine able in one year from commencement of ?opening up? was set. The planned target has been exceeded and the feasible pillars identified are expected to yield an additional 1 390 kg of gold to the shaft?s production profile. However, not all the required ventilation designs have been completed to date, the reason being that at the time of the project, many of the pillar areas were inaccessible and thus ventilation conditions are unknown. This project is therefore an ongoing process and will require further design once all targeted pillar areas have been opened up. A preliminary costing analysis of the pillar mining was performed and it was found that all targeted pillars with the exception of 38?61 pillar are profitable.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. Daavittila, P. Jokinen, M. Honkaniemi

In the latter part of the 1980?s Outokumpu Chrome in Tornio, Finland, was in a situation when its twenty-year-old ferrochrome plant was becoming inefficient to sustain economically sound production. The company made extensive studies on the then available processing methods to find out the best possible processing route. As a result the whole plant was practically rebuilt and expanded. When equipment was proven in practical operation an application for FeMn production was developed. Now when Tornio FeCr-plant is considering the expansion the same type of exercise is to be performed with today?s challenges, which will be discussed in the paper. These challenges include increasing costs or decreasing quality of raw materials, increasing energy costs, stricter environmental regulations and demand of better working conditions. The possibilities to respond to these challenges will be discussed in the paper. The future and continuing development with FeCr includes the better utilization of process dusts and a lower consumption of energy. By adapting the latest automation tools to better control of the process even higher efficiencies can be achieved with present technology. New processes are considered for development in the future and some possible technologies will be described.

Jan 1, 2004

By Gift Makusha, Dave Minney

Anglo Coal South Africa mines coal for both the domestic and export market using open cast and strip mining methods. To establish a mine, a process is set in place to gather ever increasing amounts of geological and metallurgical data to confirm a proven reserve. Increasingly, geotechnical data are also included in this process to confirm that reserve is easily and safely mineable. The mine design process is an iterative one using a combination of numerical modelling and empirical data to arrive at a mining layout that is both, practical, productive and safe. In South Africa it is a legal requirement to compile a code of practice to combat rock fall and slope instability accidents and these have to be revised annually, reinforcing the iterative process of continual improvement. To ensure best practise occurs, all Anglo Coal operations are subjected to annual 2nd party audits and ad hoc 3rd party audit by independent consultants. This paper attempts to explain the process described above in a concise, but understandable manner. 1.0 GEOLOGICAL SETTING The Ecca sediments date from the Permian period and the coal deposits were formed in glaciated valleys on a basement of Dolomite, Ryolite or Granophyre rock types. The sediments overlying the coal deposits are typically flat lying and multiple bedded. The sediments consist of mudstones, shales and sandstones and are generally capable of forming stable highwalls given the time that they must stand up for. Anglo Coal extracts coal from the Witbank, Highveld and Vereeniging coalfields. The Witbank coalfields contain five seams numbered from the base upwards, 1 to 5 Seam; Highveld coalfield the 2 and 4 Seam and the Vereening area the seams are described as Top, Middle and Bottom seams. Coal deposited over the basement Dolomite formation display very erratic dips, as contemporaneous subsidence occurred in some instances over sinkholes that were forming, resulting in local thickening of the coal deposit and resulting in strata that dips toward the centre of the sinkhole.

Jan 1, 2006

A Seismic Hazard Scale (SHS) has been developed to provide a practical seismic hazard assessment tool applicable to mine site personnel. It has been applied to seismic data sets from numerous Western Australian mines. The SHS is applicable when quantifying seismic hazard on a mine wide scale, on a mining block scale, and on a local cluster-by-cluster scale. Spatial mapping of variations in seismic hazard is a particularly powerful application of the scale. The SHS is sensitive to temporal increases in seismic hazard. It has also been shown that the SHS can be applied to estimate seismic hazard when seismic monitoring data are not available. The SHS is a simple derivation of the Gutenberg-Richter relation. There are assumptions and limitations to the SHS that need to be considered when applying it to mine seismicity data.

Jan 1, 2004

By G. C. Smith

Process control applications in the minerals processing industry have grown extensively over the years due to the many benefits derived, both financially and operation-wise. Although control theory is widely known, conventional control does not address many of the problems posed by minerals processing circuits. Some of these problems include interactions between process units, large dead times, few and sometimes unreliable measurements of process variables, non-linear systems, disturbances entering the process, processes with varying dynamics, and many more. For the past 26 years Mintek has been active in the field of providing specific, customized solutions for the minerals processing industry. This paper focuses specifically on applications in milling and flotation control. The underlying control principles have been applied to a wide range of other processes including submerged arc furnaces. Advanced control application is implemented on a common advanced control platform, called the PlantStar. Much innovation has been brought to the fore in terms of adapting theoretical techniques and developing new methods to resolve specific milling and flotation circuit issues by using process control. The general approach adopted by Mintek when implementing advanced control is to enforce stabilization of the process as a solid foundation for optimization strategies to be built upon. In doing this, a robust control solution is presented, and the end result is flow and level stability, better product quality regulation, increase in throughput and a stable feed to downstream processes. The MillStar advanced milling control system ensures that the milling circuit is at all times easy to operate while achieving optimum product quality and throughput. Stabilization should include product size regulation and sump level control. Another important aspect of stabilization control is the handling of milling circuit constraints without introducing cyclical behaviour and with minimal disturbance to the final product quality. Process constraints may include factors such as process water limitations, cyclone feed density, and cyclone underflow angle. An optimization strategy should be developed to increase the mill throughput without affecting product quality or introducing mill overloads. The relationship between solids feed and power draw is examined and manipulated for optimization. The interactive nature of flotation circuits and the presence of recirculating streams tend to make satisfactory control almost impossible with conventional techniques such as PI (Proportional plus Integral) or PID (Proportional, Integral and Derivative) control. The FloatStar Level Stabilizer simultaneously considers all the flotation levels in a circuit by use of a multivariable algorithm, and takes compensating action in anticipation of disturbances. The FloatStar Flow Optimizer is an optimization strategy that controls the concentrate flow rate between various sections of a flotation circuit (e.g. Rougher ?Cleaner; Cleaner ?Recleaner). By controlling the concentrate flow between the sections, the mass pull, circulating loads and residence times of the circuit can be stabilized, thereby enhancing the performance of the flotation process. Optimizing grade and recovery are coupled with the dynamic optimization of circulating flows. The FloatStar Grade-Recovery Optimizer will maximize the grade in a section, whilst ensuring that recovery or any other process specific limits remain within predefined limits. With successful applications on several milling and flotation plants worldwide processing amongst others PGMs, gold, copper and nickel, Mintek has shown that it is a leader in milling and flotation control innovation

Jan 1, 2004

By S. Mundike

A scraper-based block cave method has been successfully applied to extract the Lower orebody at Nchanga since the 1950s. Since inception, scraper drifts and service ways have been supported using steel arch sets fabricated to a specific design from high strength manganese steel To reduce costs and to improve productivity, trials commenced in 2002 using fibre reinforced shotcrete as an alternative support method. One of the areas, the 2420 8E 1C trial drift, was subjected to abutment loading for several months prior to undercutting and cave mining. Shotcrete installed exhibited minor cracking shortly after application but very little deterioration thereafter. Following the success of the trial, the application of fibre-reinforced shotcrete was extended to other drifts. This paper describes the application of fibre-reinforced shotcreteat Nchanga and outlines design and quality assurance methods employed.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. M. Schaekers

In the first part of the article, the authors give a broad overview of the chemistry and some engineering aspects of bioleach processes, eventually leading to the important and critical issue of the stability of arsenic-containing residues, especially those derived from bioleaching of sulphidic gold ores. In the section ?Factors affecting arsenic stability? they give an excellent summary of the factors normally affecting the stability of such residues. This is followed by some valid comments on the suitability of a single leach test to evaluate the long-term stability of solid waste streams. However, they fail to mention that, up till now, no tests procedure has been accepted by either environmentalists or the mining/processing industry as a valid method to test the long-term stability of solid wastes. Their own method is no exception, although, like many others, it is useful to identify potential problems with solid wastes considered for disposal.

Jan 1, 2001

By O. F. Ochonogor

Laser metal deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing technique whereby a stream of metal powder is consolidated by a focused laser beam on the surface of a substrate or engineering component. The interaction zone between the laser beam and powder particles is scanned superficially, generating tracks of deposited material. The tracks are overlapped in a deposition strategy in accordance with slices of a CAD model. Successive layers of material are built up to fabricate a near net shape part. In this work, the technique is used to fabricate metal matrix composites (MMCs) by using an elementally blended feedstock combining metal and ceramic powders in the melt pool, which melt and solidify to create the required morphology. Ti6Al4V + TiC MMCs were produced with 10, 20, and 30 vol.% reinforcing ceramic, and Zr + TiC MMCs were fabricated with 10, 20, and 30 vol.% TiC. The deposited thin walls were analysed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and indentation testing. In both systems, the analysis revealed the presence of partially melted TiC particles embedded in the metal matrix along with fine dendrites of re-solidified ceramic. The dendritic structures in the Ti-based composites were confirmed as TiC, whereas in the Zr-based composite the Zr metal reacts with theTiC to form ZrC, leaving Ti in solid solution. Both the MMCs show an increase in microhardness with increasing ceramic (carbide)content, reaching a peak HV0.1 value of 500 in the Zr- based MMC and HV0.1 of 550 in the Ti based MMC.

Jan 1, 2012