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By T. P. Meloy

Current coal cleaning technology uses heavy media (HM) for the recovery of coal in particles larger than 1/16 of an inch. Through the use of float sink measurements of the feed and products to commercial HM unit operations, a selection function, sometimes called Tromp curve in the coal industry, can be computed. Since the selection function is a plot f the probability of a particle appearing in the float versus the particle density, the slope of the curve will be sharper at the point where the particle has a 50% chance f appearing in the float. Thus, the separation will be better. Fine-tuning a unit operation or a circuit of unit operations requires that the selection function be accurately known. By current practice, it is difficult to obtain an accurate measure of the slope because, when the selection function is plotted versus density, the data forms an S-shaped curve which lacks data points near the 505 point of the curve. This lack of sensitivity in measuring the slope means that small recovery improvements cannot be detected; thus, only large improvements are measurable. Since most engineering improvements are small when individually considered, but large when aggregated ever many small improvements, this lack of measurement sensitivity rules out the slew march toward improved efficiency. This paper presents a method of analyzing heavy media selection functions resulting in a far more effective measure of the selective function slope. Furthermore, this improved method is applied to a number of industrial coal cleaning plants for both heavy media and heavy media cyclones. Using the work of Hudy (1968), and Deurbrouck and Hudy (1972), selection functions for individual unit operations in each plant are calculated as a function f particle size as well as density.

Jan 1, 1982

By A. C. Lordi

Present industrial plant design is influenced by motivators beyond the usual powerful one, creativity, on which Consultants thrive. The respected, although annoying, ever-present Return on Invested Capital becomes even more significant with anticipated escalation. Government regulations are having an increasing influence as air and water protection, sound and electrical safety requirements must be met And more recently, the increasing cost and uncertain availability of energy sources are having a revolutionary affect on plant design. More than ever before, the Consulting Engineer is faced with requirements and restrictions which tax even the most original thinkers -- and the result is good. This paper includes a brief review of recent trends in Cement Plant Engineering Design.

Jan 1, 1975

By Gerald L. Colborne

The major role of financial institutions in the free world in the development of mineral resources is to provide the necessary capital in the form of loans to underwrite the development of these resources by the industry on a stable and continuous basis. This capital provided by the depositors to the bank must be invested in sound projects where the degree of risk is relatively small, the return on the investment is reasonable and the time to retire the loan is of short duration. Money is, therefore, one of the important ingredients along with technology, manpower and an exploitable resource that will provide a sound economic base in this region of development. Canadian banks are similar to banks of other western nations, although each country has some differences in their banking systems. The basic difference between the American and Canadian systems is that the former employs unit banking while the Canadian utilizes the more mobile branch system, which is prohibited or restricted in the United States and some other countries. Canadian banks are the subject of this paper, so, subsequent material will relate to Canadian banks unless indicated otherwise. It will be realized by everyone that the mineral industry is only one area of the economy in which the banks are interested and to cover the subject matter in the time allowed, the topic is restricted to mineral resource development. In Canada this is a vital sector of our economy and before we outline some of the details of financing and services involved in various aspects of mineral development, a review of the Canadian mineral industry is a necessary part of the sequence of presentation. The writer presents this material as a resource engineer advising a major bank in mineral matters, so the presentation may relate more to the financial problems of the developer

Jan 1, 1972

By J. B. Moritz

From the beginning, man has concerned himself with the task of controlling the elements and forces about him so as to provide a better and easier life. In the accomplishment of this task, he is required to utilize in the best way possible the resources which are available to him. In many cases, the available resources must bee refined before they are in a useable form. Many products in the mining industry fall into this category, as some form of refinement is generally needed to produce a saleable product. Over the years man developed more efficient ways of extracting the resources from earth through the use of electrical and mechanical devices. A reduction in manual labor, which is a by-product of increased efficiency through machines, has also been enjoyed. The combination of man's senses and new devices has also enabled man to reach a high level of control in the refinement process. Control of a process through machinery and man's senses has been termed an "art." Until recently man's senses (sight, feel) were the only method available for making measurements simply because suitable measurement devices (instruments) were not available. Even today some items cannot be measured and man's senses must be used. However, the development in our instrument laboratories tends to indicate that time will eliminate this. In recent years, control of many processes has been reduced to a science and part or all of the art eliminated. This does not imply that process art should be degraded; however, when a process is reduced to a science, uniformity of the product from day to day is attained. Decreased processing time and more efficient use of additives and raw materials are other benefits that result from control of a process when it is reduced to a science.

Jan 1, 1965

By J. M. Wempen, R. D. WEYHER, M. K. McCarter

Beam theory is a proxy for the behavior of intact, deforming roof strata above underground openings. Strong, stiff, intact strata have the ability to store significant strain energy when underground openings have large spans, as is typical of longwall operations. When strata fail, they may release some or all of this strain energy. Released energy is partitioned between fracture, thermal and seismic energy. The tensile failure surface in simply supported beams is predicted to be free of shear stress. This prediction and the kinematic inability of crack slip during fracture make significant dissipation of energy by friction unlikely.  In this study, the failure energy partitioning of specimens from the Nugget Sandstone formation is examined. Tensile fractures in specimens were induced using three-point loading tests. Elastic waves emanating from fracture events were recorded using an array of accelerometers. Accelerometers were placed within two crack lengths of the fracture surface, and the acceleration records are similar to strong motion seismic records. Spectral analysis was performed and used to develop synthetic, well-behaved, acceleration signals. Synthetic velocity signals were used to estimate radiated seismic energy generated by fracture. These estimates of radiated seismic energy demonstrate a potential means to constrain the minimum seismic partition. Fracture testing was performed on additional samples to estimate the fracture toughness of the sandstone. Synthesis of this data demonstrates a potential means to constrain a maximum seismic partition. Bounding the seismic partition for this type of fracture event could aid the detection and evaluation of seismicity emanating from longwall operations. Having better information about the location and magnitude of mining induced seismicity within longwall overburdens could lead to better understanding of extraction sequencing and rock behavior in general. These energy estimates also support the hypothesis that dissipation of thermal energy by friction is small in bending tensile failure.

By K. W. Lentz

The Maybell Mill of, Trace Elements Corporation, Unit of Union Carbide Corporation is located approximately five miles northeast of Maybell, Colorado, and twenty-five miles northwest of Craig. It is located in the midst of the uranium ore deposits whose presence, made it possible. In November 1953 Russel Cutter, Chief Geologist for the original Trace Elements Corporation, picked up high readings on a scintillometer while flying over this area. Later, with George Morehouse, Chief Engineer for the original. Trace Elements Corporation, he started a search for surface indications. In this search, they found an out crop which can be regarded as the discovery lode on this property. The actual locating of claims and acquiring free lands and state lands was begun in March 1954. During 1955 enough drilling was done to indicate that a sufficient tonnage of ore existed to make possible a mill. These ore deposits are located in the Browns Park formation which is an unconsolidated sandstone with a few hard lime ribs running through it. The geologists tell us that this region was once a vast basin which became filled with wind blown sand and volcanic tuff, Later on, ground waters brought uranium into the basin which precipitated out in the sand. During the late summer and fall of 1955, a small pilot plant was operated under the supervision of John L. Chapman testing these Browns Park ores. During the operation of the pilot plant, three small open pits were developed and the ore from these pits shipped to Union Carbide Nuclear Company, Division of Union Carbide Corporation, at Rifle. To date all ore is being mined from open ptis. In the fall of 1956 the original Trace Elements group signed a contract with: the AEC for a mill at Maybell and on November 5, 1956, Union Carbide acquired the Trace Elements Corporation properties and contract. During the next two months, intensive research was carried out on the Browns Park ores by our research lab at Rifle. They also checked some of the metallurgical results which had been obtained through the operation of the pilot plant by the original Trace Elements group. During this period, a report on Trace Elements Corporation ores was also prepared by the Colorado School of Mines Research Foundation. This report contained data on representative samples of the ore tested for the original Trace Elements group. From this research and study a flow sheet was decided upon.

Jan 1, 1959

By Gerald W. Elger

Research at the Albany Metallurgy Research Center has shown that high-purity rutile can be produced from relatively low-grade ilmenite obtained from a massive rock deposit. Ilmenite is first smelted in an electric-arc furnace to separate the iron and produce a slag enriched in titanium dioxide. Titania slag mixed with a phosphate flux is then oxidized to synthesize rutile and form a phosphate-glass matrix which contains the impurities. Attrition scrubbing the treated slag in dilute solutions of phosphoric or sulfuric acid liberates the rutile, which is concentrated by physical methods. Tests show that synthesized rutile containing 95 to 97 pct titania responds to chlorination at the same rate as natural rutile.

Jan 1, 1973

By Robert B. Crookston

Oil from shale has been produced in foreign countries for more than a hundred years; however, except for short-lived, small operations, no commercial quantity of oil shale has yet been produced in the United States. Efforts to develop a viable oil shale process have been underway domestically for many years. At the present time, with the need for energy so urgently upon us, almost a dozen development ventures are underway or planned in Colorado and Utah. Of these several ventures, only Colony Development Operation has completed the development, testing and design of a ready-to-go 50,000 barrel per day com¬mercial project. Colony is a joint venture of the Atlantic Richfield Company, Ashland Oil Company, Shell Oil Company and The Oil Shale Corporation, more commonly known as TOSCO. TOSCO is the exclusive licensor of the TOSCO II retorting process and other oil shale technology, which includes mining, crushing and spent shale disposal techniques. This paper will deal, however, with only the materials handling aspects of the commercial oil shale operation. Oil shale handling for this infant industry is unique in that an understanding of the physical characteristics of the ore and the demands on material handling to the plant must he understood. Colony Development has completed ten years in the research and development of techniques and processes for mining, crushing and retorting raw oil shale and the disposal of spent or processed shale. A great deal has been learned about oil shale, in many cases confirming our intuitive analyses and the work of others, but more specifically we have brought it all together to a point where equipment performance and the specifications have been established and a design for the first commercial plant is now mature.

Jan 1, 1975

"The 35th Annual American Mining Hall of Fame Awards Banquet and Fundraiser, sponsored by the Mining Foundation of the Southwest (MFSW), will be held at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. This year, the Foundation will honor one living Hall of Fame inductee, two Medal of Merit recipients, four honorees from Mining’s Past and an Industry Partner for their respective contributions to the mining industry.Gary J. Goldberg will be the 2017 Hall of Fame Inductee and will serve as the keynote speaker at the awards banquet. Goldberg was appointed president and chief executive officer and joined the board of directors of Newmont Mining Corp. in March 2013. Prior to this appointment, he served numerous companies in key positions including Rio Tinto Minerals, US Borax and Coal & Allied Industries. At every appointment, he was able to improve safety concerns and reduce injury rates. While serving as chairman of the National Mining Association, Goldberg launched the CORESafety initiative and US Borax was the first mining company to receive the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Award.The Medal of Merit will be awarded to John C. Lacy, a shareholder of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, P.C. and a director of the Global Law Center at the University of Arizona’s Law School. Lacy’s law practice concentrates on mining and public land law and encompasses transactional and title consideration involving acquisition of mineral rights. He played a crucial role in the revisions to the mining law of the Republic of Bolivia and the English translation of the mining laws and regulations of Mexico. Lacy’s expertise in mining law impelled the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law to approach him to head the new Global Mining Law Center in 2015. The program now partners with the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources and offers cross-listing of courses"

Jan 10, 2017

By James W. Baxter

State geological surveys promote sound procedures for evaluation of mineral resources before development-procedures that protect the environment and accrue maximum benefit to citizens. Sophisticated laboratories have been equipped for geophysical, geochemical, petrographic, and mineralogic characterization of materials to assist citizens in land-use planning and optimum development of natural resources, activities clearly within purview of the state. Proper use of these facilities in support of exploration in a competitive, free-enterprise system should be based on achieving ultimate benefits to the public, but, in general, should not entail competition with commercial laboratories.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. E. Cobb

The financial implications of environmental liabilities are becoming staggering, particularly for mining companies. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Record of Decision (ROD) list for Superfund mining sites has some pretty hefty financial commitments, such as the $10 million operable unit remedy for the Yak Tunnel at California Gulch (in Colorado) or the $40 to 60 million remediation at Bunker Hill (in Idaho). These costs are driven by the large volume and areal extent associated with historical waste management practices at mining sites. (It's difficult to have a low-cost remedy for a 20-square-mile site.) Unfortunately, there are other ways of generating environmental liabilities besides Superfund, such as non-compliance with Clean Air Act provisions, stormwater permits, or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. In the last 2 years, EPA has increased enforcement in its regulatory programs, which has resulted in increased fines and criminal actions. Leaders in other industries (primarily the chemical and manufacturing industries) are viewing environmental liabilities as a strong motivator to select engineering approaches carefully based on technical, legal, economic, and philosophical perspectives. Industry interest in waste minimization programs comes from the concept that it is economically advantageous not to create waste in the first place. Waste minimization programs typically balance increased front-end capital investment with the minimization of potential long-term environmental liabilities as a way to achieve the lowest total-or life-cycle-cost. A side benefit of waste minimization programs is that they tend to improve overall regulatory compliance. Waste management practices are also becoming philosophical, as evidenced by a May 11, 1992, Business Week article: Companies that incorporate innovative thinking on sustainable development will do more than clean up or prevent their own pollution. They'll make and distribute a product more efficiently than ever, worry about its lifelong environmental impact, plan for recycling, and get their suppliers on the bandwagon. This type of approach will require a new mind-set, new tools, and adjustments throughout the organization. A key aspect of waste minimization or life-cycle waste management programs is the incorporation of environmental costs into economic analyses that compare various waste management alternatives. However, the incorporation of environmental costs into an economic analysis can be more difficult than initially thought. As noted above, new tools-or even a new toolbag-are needed, such as new accounting methods that track and assign the true lifetime environmental costs of a particular product. One piece of the new toolbag is life-cycle cost analysis, which is discussed in this paper. To simplify the discussion, this paper looks at the total costs associated with a given mining site. The concepts presented in this paper, however, can be applied to any mine waste management decision. The ultimate extension of life-cycle costing, as presented in the Business Week article, is to include the potential environmental costs throughout the life of a metal. At this point, I am perplexed on why, let alone how, to include the potential downstream environmental costs (i.e., the costs associated with smelting, manufacturing, use, and recycle or disposal) throughout the life cycle of mined copper, lead, or zinc.

Jan 1, 1992

By W. M. Houston

Pebble phosphate deposits of Florida have been established from south of Hardee County to north of the Georgia state line or a distance of over 200 miles and mining has been carried out in an ever-increasing scale since 1885. Deposits that can be mined on the economical standards of today, however, are confined in a roughly circular area about 30 miles in diameter, generally within Polk and Hillsborough Counties, in the central part of the State. The phosphate deposit, which is in the Bone Valley formation of the Pliocene age, is covered by Pleistocene terrace deposits of unconsolidated quartz sand. The matrix is composed of approximately 1/3 clay slimes, 1/3 silica sand and 1/3 phosphate pebbles. The phosphate occurs usually as rounded pebbles, ranging in size from about 1 inch down to approximately 400 mesh. The phosphate may vary from well- defined hard pebbles to soft weathered rock. The color and character of the phosphate will range from smooth buff pebbles to black and white or "salt and pepper rock." The screen size distribution varies considerably between locations and the recoverable phosphate varies may extend down to the 400 mesh size in some areas, while in others the phosphate may cut off sharply at about 35 mesh.

Jan 1, 1962

By E. L. Montgomery

Salar basins in the Andean Highlands of Northern Chile contain ground-water resources which could be used to satisfy requirements for the mineral industry in the region. Salars occur in arid zones; average precipitation is about 200 millimeters per year at altitudes of about 4,000 meters, and average annual evaporation is two meters or more. The salar basins are hydrogeologic sinks where water flows from recharge areas at the margins of the basins to discharge areas at the salt encrusted salar at the lowest point of the basin floor. Groundwater circulation occurs principally in the alluvial and fractured bedrock aquifers. Results of pumping tests for exploration and production water wells indicate a range in maximum sustained pumping yield of 62 to 126 liters per second, and where abundantly fractured, ignimbrite comprises the most prolific aquifer. Chemical quality of groundwater is good. Long-term pumping from properly located production wells in the salar basins would result in lowering of groundwater levels and salvage of water in areas where groundwater is lost via evaporation.

Jan 1, 1986

By Carson Rife, Michael L. Clark

INTRODUCTION Zortman Mining Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pegasus Gold Corporation of Spokane, Washington. Pegasus has been producing gold and silver from the Zortman and Landusky mines since 1979. The Zortman and Landusky mines are two distinct open pit mines located approximately 6 kilometers apart in the Little Rockies Mining District of north central Montana. The two mines use large-tonnage, low- grade heap leaching techniques to efficiently process the gold and silver ore. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Little Rockies rise abruptly 914 metres from the surrounding plains to about 1829 metres above sea level. The topography is quite steep, making efficient leach pad construction a major challenge. The climate is semi-arid with moderate summers and occasionally severe winters. Freezing temperatures usually arrive in late October or early November, influencing the effectiveness of leaching operations. GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY The geology of the Little Rocky Mountains consists of steeply dipping sedimentary ridges forming an elliptical dome surrounding a core of intruding syenite porphyry. Within the syenite porphyry are well fractured and mineralized shear zones where the existing reserves and open pits are located. The ore is presently divided into oxidized, mixed, and sulfide. Only the oxides and mixed zones that are of ore grade are placed on the leach pads. The syenite porphyry host rock enables effective leaching of gold and silver to depths of 61 metres, having a major impact on leach pad construction costs. MINING All mining since 1979 has been by contractor. This enabled initial mining to commence without capital investment in equipment. Through competitive negotiations, Pegasus has been able to keep contract mining costs at levels very close to what would be experienced if Pegasus had purchased equipment initially. Contracts are negotiated yearly and are based on a unit price and haul distance for ore and waste. Haul distances have ranged from as little as 457 metres to as much as 3,050 metres. At present, Pegasus is developing a 27,000,000-tonne leach pad at the Landusky project that is adjacent to the minine area. This design feature will reduce the mining cost by 20 percent over the life of the mine. In 1987, over 5,900,000 tonnes of ore and 3,200,000 tonnes of waste will be mined at the Landusky project. Through 1986, 13,763,000 tonnes of ore have been mined at a waste-to-ore strip ratio of 0.60:l at the Zortman project, and 13,005,000 tonnes of ore at a waste-to-ore strip ratio of 0.79:l have been mined at the Landusky project. Current mining reserves are 32,769,000 tonnes of ore at a waste- to-ore strip ratio of 0.59:l. Through efficiencies of large-scale heap leaching, Pegasus has been able to lower the mining cutoff from 0.34 grams per tonne gold to 0.27 grams per tonne gold. This has reduced the mining cost per tonne of ore h percent through a reduction in strip ratio of 14 percent. Beginning in 1984, all pits were designed based on computer-generated "floating cone" pits. The geologic models were developed by Pegasus staff with a series of economic models evaluated. The resulting computer-generated pits were used as a guideline in designing the mine plans, including haul roads for final calculation of tons and grade. Input to the floating cone models consisted of mining cost, processing cost, cutoff grade (0.34 grams gold per tonne), recovery (67 percent) and gold price. Due to the gold being deposited primarily on the fractures of the syenite host rock, no crushing of ore is needed prior to leaching. This characteristic of the ore is a key in being able to profitably mine and process gold ore at an average grade of 0.69 grams of gold per tonne. Strict blasting control is also a key in success of the leaching operation. A system of splitting ore and waste in blast patterns has been devised to reduce dilution. Also, drill hole spacings are varied from 3m x 3m in breccia ore to 4m x 4m in syenite ore to 5m x 5m in waste. Drill holes

Jan 1, 1987

"The mining industry suffers from a number of incorrect perceptions, one of which is that it is an outdated industry that has not changed for hundreds of years. But the truth of the matter is that mining is a vibrant, highly complex industry that not only employs highly skilled and educated professionals but is also often on the cutting edge of technology. It is an industry with projects that are ever-evolving and among the most challenging engineering feats in the world.Take for instance the U.S. 53 Highway Relocation project in Virginia, MN. While more of a civil engineering job than a traditional mining project, it is still a complex engineering challenge taking place in a mining environment that has called on the skills of eight state agencies, three federal agencies, a host of contractors and many consultants, including many from the local mining industry in the Iron Range of Minnesota.In 1960, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) constructed U.S, Highway 53 on a private easement owned by US Steel that cut across a massive taconite deposit. MnDOT constructed the highway with the agreement that if the highway needed to be moved to access the taconite deposit before 1987, US Steel would foot the bill. And if the move was required after 1987, the responsibility would fall to MnDOT. In 2010, MnDOT received the notice that the highway would have to move as property owner United Taconite planned to access the ore, setting in motion one of the greatest engineering challenges, and the highest risk project, in the history of the states’ transportation department.Pat Huston, U.S. Highway 53 Relocation project manager, opened the 90th SME Minnesota Section Conference in Duluth, MN on April 19 with a presentation about the project that includes 5 km (3.2 miles) of fourlane highway and a new 345-m (1,132-ft) bridge that will be the tallest in Minnesota when it is completed later this year.“This project was not business as usual,” Huston told the packed crowd. “Highway 53 connects Canada and the Iron Range to Duluth and Lake Superior. It is an important highway.”During his presentation he spoke about many topics that were familiar to the more than 1,100 mining professionals who attended the conference. In his keynote speech,"

Jan 6, 2017

By Arthur R. MacPherson

Primary autogenous grinding has been in general use for somewhat over 20 years. During this period there have been many highly successful plants built on this principle, while some others have had problems such as: 1. Not performing as predicted from test work. 2. Highly fluctuating tonnage rates. 3. Mechanical problems. 4. High liner wear. Many of the problems with commercial autogenous mills have resulted from improper sampling and testing of the ore during the development period. It is recognized that the fully autogenous mill is very sensitive to any changes in grindability which may occur in the feed to such a mill. The semi-autogenous mill is somewhat less sensitive, but large swings in grindability of the feed require adjustment of ball charge and this cannot be easily accomplished in a short period of time.

Jan 1, 1976

By C. E. Seaman, H. Jiang, S. Klima, T. W. Beck, Y. Zheng

Respirable coal dust has been long recognized as a leading cause of multiple lung diseases. Efforts aimed at reducing dust concentration in underground mines have been made, but increases in coal workers’ pneumoconiosis incidence rates over the last 20 years among U.S. miners are concerning. Dust deposition and water spray suppression are two types of dust removal mechanisms in underground mining activities. In this study, laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the respirable dust decay characteristics during deposition and suppression processes in a confined dust chamber. Dust concentration and size distribution were monitored continuously throughout each 60-minute test. A number-basis particle size distribution was used for analysis to capture the changes of smaller size fractions within the investigated dust sample. This study found that around 62.1% of respirable dust particles were deposited at the end of the deposition test. In addition, the final deposition rate for very fine particles can be less than 20%. The results from the suppression test indicate that larger particles were removed quickly; however, sub-micron particles remain suspended through the 60- minute water spray, and particles under 0.5 µm can be considered irremovable dust under single-spray operation conditions. This study also observed the resuspension of a significant amount of sub-micron particles by the water spray. The results of this study provide basic information for improving dust control strategies and can be utilized to improve the water spray performance for reducing airborne dust levels.

Mar 2, 2022

By Carl R. Christiansen

Excellent underground industrial sites and warehouse facilities have been constructed in Europe and at several locations in the United States. Many quarry and mine operators are considering, or should consider, the possibilities of the development of their mineral properties in such a manner as to make underground space that is suitable for a secondary industrial use. Before proceeding with mine or quarry development, the operator should answer the following questions: 1) Is there a need for underground industrial space in your geographical area? 2) Is your deposit suitable for development of space for industrial usage? 3) If the deposit is suitable, what methods of development can be used? 4) What are the comparative economics of the different methods of space development? An honest analysis of the first two questions may eliminate the need for proceeding to the third. Affirmative answers to questions 1 and 2 should be followed by the engineering and economic studies required in response to questions 3 and 4.

Jan 1, 1975

By Ankit Jha, Javad Sattarvand, Aaron Young

Blockchain technology is one of the prominent disruptive technologies that are being implemented in several disciplines. The application of blockchains in the mining and mineral industry can provide utility to several processes especially when the industry is undertaking digital transformation. The governing principles of blockchain technology are applicable in undertaking transformation in several processes within the mining industry. This study investigates the applications of blockchain technology within the realms of the mining industry and identifies key areas of implementation. A systematic review of publications on academic platforms relating to blockchain technology in the mining industry did not retrieve a considerable number of articles. Consequently, a thorough review of white papers and articles authored by individuals on use cases within the mining industry is compiled and presented in this review article. This review article identifies all the potential areas within the mining industry where blockchains could provide value and improve processes through their implementation. The broad area of implementation of blockchains includes supply chain, traceability in spares parts, contract management, regulatory compliance and cybersecurity.

Mar 1, 2024

By John W. Ahlrichs, E. Daniel Baker, Erich U. Petersen, William J. Tafuri, Douglas N. Halbe

The combined Bootstrap and Capstone deposits, located in the Bootstrap subdistrict (Section 10, T36N, R49E, M.D.B.M., Elko County, Nevada), are approximately 27 miles northwest of Ca-1I: Nevada. The contiguous Bootstrap Capstone deposits are located along the northeastern and northern flanks of Round Mountain, a horst block separated by grabens from the sheep Creek Mountains to the north-northwest and the Tuscarora Mountains to the east. Open-pit-minable gold reserves as of December, 1989, were 13.27 million short tons with an average grade of .057 troy ounces gold per ton and an overall waste-to-ore strip ratio of 2.5:1. Ore zones in Bootstrap are concentrated along north striking high-angle dikes localized along faults, while ore zones at Capstone are strata form and structural, occurring at the Devonian limestone/siliceous sediment interface and in high-angle fault-filling dikes. Pre-ore faulting produced a complex structural setting for Capstone, dominated by strong northwest fault sets cross-cut by northeasterly structures. Alteration associated with both deposits is silicification with a-strong argillic overprint. Dike emplacement, which post-dates silicification, marked the onset of mainstage gold deposition and argillic overprinting of silicified lithologies. Gold displays an affinity for moderately argillized sedimentary and igneous lithologies. Mineralogic and geochemical analyses of rotary percussion drill samples show good correlation between gold, silica, antimony, and arsenic.

Jan 1, 1990