Search Documents

By Steven Hoerger

Newmont Mining has a large, integrated gold-mining operation in northern Nevada with several mines, stockpiles and processing facilities. There are more than 90 defined metallurgical ore types and more than 60 defined gold-recovery process options. Newmont developed a mine plan and process model to take better advantage of the available synergies at its Nevada mines. This plan includes a mixed integer and linear programming optimization tool. This system is maintained and operated by a Nevada planning group. Standard in-house planning software tools and methods have been implemented at all mine sites. These changes have allowed a reduction in mine engineering staff and have increased the effectiveness of mine planning.

Jan 1, 1999

By H. L. Barwood

Luminescence excited by electron bombardment, or cathodoluminescence (CL), is a very useful tool in petrographic examination of rocks, minerals and ores. Differences in luminescence colors and intensities allow detection and delineation of mineral species and composition zones difficult to separate visually by normal polarized light microscopy. The cold cathode CL chamber at Indiana University is used with a binocular microscope that has interchangeable attachments for a normal film camera, a digital camera and a fiber optic spectrometer. This allows imaging of the specimens as well as limited spectrographic analysis of the emitted luminescence. The chamber on this CL unit is large enough to accommodate several thin sections, polished mounts, grain mounts or rock slices at one time. Luminescence petrographic techniques were used to study alkali syenites and carbonatites from the Arkansas. Alkali feldspars in the syenites reveal a history of growth, fenitization and replacement through color and intensity differences. Primary orthoclase luminesces bright blue and is often zoned with a duller blue overgrowth of microcline. Fenitization of the feldspars is demonstrated by dull to bright red luminescence and replacement veins of albite often have a bright yellow green luminescence. Late microcline and perthites from the syenite pegmatites have a dull yellow to orange luminescence. Easily visible on this background of feldspars are grains of apatite (yellow), fluorite (violet), zircon (greenish), sodalite (orange) and mosandrite (green). Complex pseudoleucite syenites from Magnet Cove, Arkansas show similar minerals but also include xenolithic quartz (violet), manganwollastonite (bright orange), benitoite (intense blue) and lorenzenite (green). Carbonatites from Arkansas contain a wide variety of calcite textures and intensities of luminescence. Grains of carbonatite in well cuttings are easily distinguished from sedimentary calcites by their complex “flame” luminescence and the frequent presence of euhedral apatite grains (yellow). Apatite crystals separated from the Arkansas River Valley carbonatites by acid digestion show complex zoning. The cores of these apatites are yellow luminescing due to CL activation by Mn enrichment while the rims are violet luminescing due to REE enrichment. Complex zonation between the cores and rims is easily visible using CL.

Jan 1, 2001

By Thomas J. Crocker, Douglas B. Uthus

Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) have gained worldwide acceptance in the construction field and are being employed in ever increasing numbers to drive underground transit lines, drainage systems, etc. However, TBM utilization in the mining industry, and more specifically coal mining, has been very limited. This paper reviews past and present applications of TBMs to coal mining and examines the needs of the industry in an attempt to offer some insight as to what a TBM system must provide if the excavation potential demonstrated in civil works projects is to be realized in coal operations. EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE Germany The Germans recognized long ago the potential of mechanized drivage for coal mine entry development. Early in the 1960's experimental runs were made with a full-face Wohlmyer roadheader at the Westerholt Mine and trials were conducted on a roller bit armed full-face Bade roadheader. But because of problems with penetrating the various carboniferous strata occurring in changing sequence and hardness, these first attempts were soon terminated. After viewing later successes in the construction industry with improved TBMs, new attempts were initiated by the German mining industry in 1971 to mechanize drivage of their development entries. Four TBMs of two different types were placed in operation.

Jan 1, 1976

The evolution of surface mine layout configuration is a function of the schedules and sequence of material excavation within the optimized layouts. The production schedules and sequence of materials movement from multi-bench and multi-face operations are difficult to plan and execute. However, the ability to maximize the profit or net present value of an orebody is largely dependent on the mining schedule. The mining schedule will determine the life of the mine, the projected cashflows, and the investment requirements over the mine life. The pit geometries, pit expansion rates and the periodic volume of materials from different benches in a multi-bench, multi-face open pit mine determine the equipment requirements. The volume of materials excavated, as well as pit layout changes from circular and elliptical geometries of an oil sands mine were modeled using analytical geometric and parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) and solved within Matlab. The results show that the geometric values are almost the same as those obtained from PDEs for different pit configurations. The economic analysis shows that both the current mining system (CMS) and the cyclic excavator conveyor belt control system (CycEx CBCS) are viable with high NPV (= $3.20 × 1010), PI (> 19%) and IRR (> 29.02%) with short discounted payback periods (= 3.24 months). The CycEx CBCS option is more economic than the CMS option. Its NPV is 1.27 times that of the CMS option. The PI and IRR for the CycEx CBCS option are respectively 2.24 and 1.13 times that of the CMS option. As well, the CycEx CBCS option has almost half the DPBP of the CMS option. The CMS option has an operating cost of $1.386 per tonne ($2.774/barrel) while that of the CycEx CBCS option is $0.779/tonne ($1.558/barrel). These results show that the CycEx CBCS option is the better option for mining companies working on oil sands deposits to invest in.

Jan 1, 2011

By F. E. du Plessis, P. De Waal

Through the development of innovative in-line mineral quantification sensors, the possibility has arisen to apply modern control theory to implement automatic process control for electrostatic high tension (“HT”) roll separators. A pilot-scale set-up was constructed to enable continuous tests to be carried out. A typical dry mill feed was continuously pre-heated and separated with a modern lab scale HT roll machine. The mineralogy as well as mass-flow of the non-conductor stream was quantified in-line, and the combined streams were re-circulated in an endless loop by a combination of vibration feeders and a bucket elevator. A fractional factorial experiment was executed to determine the most significant control parameters of the HT roll separator. Then a multi-input, multi-output dynamic model of the HT electrostatic separator was extracted by the application of standard system identification techniques for automatic control. The most important control variable to ensure a stable product grade could be identified. This allowed a robust single-input, single-output controller to be implemented. The process variable and set-point was mineral grade and the control variable was electrode voltage. Roll speed was manually adjusted while the mineral grade was kept on set-point by the control system. The roll speed, where maximum mass flow and therefore maximum yield was produced on-grade, could therefore be rapidly determined. Atmosphere humidity and ore temperature served as disturbances. Some other adjustable parameters were kept constant during the experiments, namely feed mineralogy, splitter settings and feed rate. Delivery of maximum yield, with a controlled grade, can improve production while reducing the burden of complex manual tuning. Manual tuning previously involved coping with multiple parameters with uncertain cross coupling influences on the end result. Even the end result was typically only known after completion of mineral assays. Automatic grade stabilisation and yield optimisation for a HT roll separator bank requires in-line measurement of mineralogy and mass flow, as well as the implementation of a robust process control system.

Jan 1, 2005

By Michelle Lostra, Red Blanchette, Jan Babendererde, Greg Colzani

The City of Portland’s Westside CSO Project is constructing a deep tunnel system to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO) from entering the Willamette River. Several kilometers of microtunneled pipelines connect the existing system to the new tunnel. The alignments encountered a variety of ground conditions, including fill, manmade obstructions (wood, steel piles, debris), fine-grained to dense coarse-grained materials, cobbles and boulders, all below groundwater. A slurry MTBM convertible to varying diameters, equipped with mix shield capabilities, was selected to cope with the conditions. This paper will discuss access shaft construction,

Jan 1, 2005

By Scott G. Britton

Microcomputeranalysis has long been a technique for engineering professionals to improve the theoretical and practical design of continuous mining systems. Such work has been typically composed of modeling observed events and then introducing a variety of known elements with predicted results to compare against the results of the model. Programs written in BASIC, Cobol, Fortran or other language dominated such efforts. These programs have taken years to develop and prove out. This article explores a new management tool used daily at Tanoma Mining Co. (TMC) to track and improve continuous mining systems through the use of microcomputers and Lotus l-2-3 software. Data provided by section foreman, shift foreman, and maintenance personnel are analyzed against predetermined goals. In this way, new production targets are developed, weaknesses in the current mining systems are identified, and the results of changes are measured. The current results of this system on the productive output of TMC systems is on the order of 10% improvement. Thin seam coal mining is an industry within the broader industry of coal mining. Thin seam mining faces the same cost pressures and engineering problems as its higher-seam competitors without the advantages of moving volume per foot of extracted material to stay at an economic parity with others requires additional creativity within the management teams to extract higher productivity gains from the existing workforce and mining systems. TMC operates a deep mine in Indiana bounty, PA, about one hour northeast of Pittsburgh.

Jan 1, 1991

By T. W. Beck

Overexposure to respirable dust remains a widespread health hazard to roof bolter occupations in underground coal mines. Recently implemented mist drilling technology was evaluated for its effectiveness in controlling respirable dust exposures for roof bolting personnel. This work presents the findings from NIOSH field and laboratory studies comparing respirable dust levels on mist drilling roof bolter machines to dust levels measured on machines using a conventional vacuum drilling system. Gravimetric and instantaneous respirable dust samples were collected for multiple drilling cycles. These dust measurements were used to assess the potential dust control capabilities relative to conventional drilling. Controlled laboratory tests found 0.3 mg/m3 more respirable dust with mist drilling than with the conventional vacuum method. A separate field investigation of the two techniques observed higher dust levels around the mist bolting machine.

Jan 1, 2008

By Desiree Willis

One of New York City?s largest subway projects is under way 43 m (140 ft) beneath the surface of downtown Manhattan. The East Side Access project, more than 30 years in the making, was halted after a partial excavation in the 1970s due to a lack of funding. The project, once dubbed the ?Tunnel to Nowhere,? has been revitalized into a groundbreaking subway line that includes unique tunnel boring machines (TBM), construction methods and muck removal systems. Project overview The East Side Access project involves construction of a new 6.7-km (4.2-mile) subway line needed to relieve heavy traffic congestion between the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan. The line will serve approximately 160,000 commuters daily between Grand Central and Sunnyside rail stations. Manhattan and Queens will be connected under the East River by the 63rd Street tunnel, a submersed double-decker tube. The submersed tube consists of reinforced concrete sections barged in place on the riverbed. The tube contains operational subway lines on the top deck, while the bottom deck (the ?Tunnel to Nowhere?) will become operational when the East Side Access project is completed in 2013.

Jan 1, 2008

By Forrest C. Neil, Clint J. Keifer

The pollution of our water supply, Lake Michigan, is a continuing threat so long as our overflows from combined sewers exist. The problems have become even more acute during recent years, due to the increase of paved area- which accelerates and enlarges the flows of storm water. After each storm, mixtures of raw sewage and storm water spill into our waterways. If the storm is too large for the drainage systems, the mixture backs up into our streets and basements. Under severe conditions, it may even become necessary to open the locks, and discharge the polluted water into Lake Michigan. Consider the scope of the problem, as shown in Figure 1. The area in which combined sewers exist is 375 square miles, located in the central parts of Chicago and 49 suburbs. There are an estimated 640 overflow outlets to the waterways, each requiring attention. The capacity of outlets tributary to the waterways has increased dramatically over the years. Each time a pocket of upstream flooding is drained into the channels, the problem of its rapid disposition increases. Another difficulty is that the bottom of our waterways is covered with a blanket of accumulated sludge, ranging in depth up to 3-feet. This material harms the water quality by depleting the supply of oxygen dissolved in the water ... a final

Jan 1, 1997

By J. A. Organiscak

Longwall mining technological improvements have provided significant increases in productivity over the last 15 years. Longwall productivity is anticipated to continue to escalate with expanded application of automated equipment. Automation technology that will likely be adopted over the next 5 years is memory cut with shearer initiation of shield movement supervised by a couple of face workers. Operations using this technology will most likely relocate many production workers from the face to the outby gate entries and position several face workers outby the shearer, exposing workers to different health and safety risks. These changing risks are primarily related to worker relocation and expected increased production levels. Workers outby the face will most likely have less dust and noise exposure, but will be exposed to other safety hazards associated with outby equipment movement, materials handling, and gate entry ground movements. The face workers will most likely be exposed to higher respirable dust and noise levels generated by the equipment at elevated production rates. Methane gas emission is also expected to increase with faster mining rates. These operational changes and the control technologies needed to reduce redefined longwall worker hazards at semiautonomous longwall operations require examination to maintain the health and safety of mine workers.

Jan 1, 1996

The global tunneling industry has many challenges, both technically and financially, with the latter likely to be a significant feature over the next few years. Many industries have ad-opted standard practices in order to overcome specific technical challenges, from which standard out-comes are anticipated. In tunneling, however, every project is unique so standardized practice is not easy. This requires original thinking and being open to adopting new techniques and technologies as they emerge. Sprayed waterproofing is a hot industry topic and a paper recently presented at the North American Tunneling conference not only discussed this methodology for achieving a dry tunnel but also how it can reduce build costs and construction time. Despite their being relatively few ?universal truths? throughout the tunneling industry, there is one opinion that appears to be shared by most in the sector, ?all tunnels leak.?

Jan 1, 2010

By Brent Duncan, Doug Harding, Bob Stier

The 73rd Street Tunnel Project is part of “The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan” (TARP)also known as the Deep Tunnel Project, and is located in the Village of Bedford Park, County of McCook, State of Illinois. The project consists of a ø 4.42 meter × 2,060 meter long (14´-6? bore, 6,760 foot)tunnel. The completed tunnel is used as a bypass tunnel for the McCook Cup Reservoir Project. The project was awarded to Affholder Inc. of St. Louis, in 2000. The paper describes the project in which a new, high-powered open gripper type main beam machine was used in which high advance rates have been achieved using conventional muck haulage techniques. Features of the project include the installation of rock support consisting of counter-sunk rock bolts that are required to be pull-tested for strength per project specifications. Installation and testing of the bolts are done during the boring cycle. Muck haulage was done by conventional muck car train and hoisting at the construction shaft. As the site layout did not include a tail tunnel, the trains needed to be shuttled at the shaft bottom. Even with the bolting requirements and the muck haulage without a tail tunnel, the Affholder site personnel still achieved high advance rates on the 73rd Street Project.

Jan 1, 2003

By Stephen M. Smading

The Jinping-II hydroelectric project in China features four parallel headrace tunnels approximately 18-km- (11-mile-) long. Two will be excavated by tunnel boring machines (TBM) and two by drill-and-blast. A nearby fifth tunnel is being excavated by a 7.2-m (23.6-ft) TBM to draw down ground water in advance of excavating the headrace tunnels. Unique onsite assembly of a 12.43-m (40.7-ft) main beam TBM and backup system was completed on Sept. 18, 2008 in the remote mountains of the Sichuan province. The equipment was assembled onsite, without previously having been assembled and tested in a factory, using a method called onsite first time assembly (OFTA). This paper addresses the following topics: ? Project description including geology and terrain. ? The decision process leading to onsite, first time assembly, the assembly process and logistics, and lessons learned. ? Design features of the TBM and backup system. ? Operational history from startup to the writing of this article.

Jan 1, 2009

By William R. Yernberg

The combined 75th Annual Minnesota Section of SME meeting and 63rd Annual University of Minnesota Mining Symposium was held April 9 and 10, 2002, in Duluth, MN. This year’s theme was “Keys to the Future: Imagination, Innovation and Technology.” The meeting consisted of plenary and technical sessions and a special General Manager’s Session. The technical paper presentations included concurrent mining and mineral processing sessions. In the General Manager’s Session, representatives from the region’s taconite operations presented the current status, concerns and future plans for each of their operations.

Jan 1, 2002

Amid some of the worst economic conditions that the mining industry has been faced with in more than a decade, the mood among the large crowd at the 114th Annual Northwest Mining Association?s annual meeting was surprisingly upbeat. More than 2,200 attendees showed up at John Asuaga?s Golden Nugget Casino in Reno, NV for the conference held Dec. 1-5. And more than 200 companies exhibited in 240 spaces, including SME and the Minerals Information Institute. The number of attendees and exhibitors were the most for the conference in more than 10 years. The conference was held in Reno/Sparks for just the second time in its illustrious history but began under the cloud of global financial turmoil. Prior to, and during the conference, the industry news headlines were grim, to say the least. An alarming number of mine plans and expansions had been put on hold; hundreds of miners across the United States had been or were in the process of being laid off; commodity prices were falling and some of the biggest mergers in the industry fell through while miners around the world put the brakes on to take a wait-and-see approach. It was a painful time for many, but the downsizing actions taken by many mining companies was exactly what needed to happen, according to Industry Outlook Luncheon featured speaker Frederick Sturm. He is the executive vice president and chief investment strategist and member of Mackenzie?s Investment team. He has earned a reputation as one of Canada?s leading investors in natural-based companies and he also manages the Ivy Global Natural Resource Fund in the United States Sturm said that the mining industry has fallen hard and that he expects it to bounce back quickly, before falling hard again. In these tough times, he said, the companies that have pulled back on production early are doing the right thing in the long run.

Jan 1, 2009

By Peter Dowden, Trevor Carter, Allan Moss, Bruce Downing, Richard Beddoes

Traditionally (with a few exceptions) tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been utilized on tunnel projects where the risks associated with deep tunnels (rock burst, squeeze, etc) are low (or expected to be low). This has generally been due to the extremely adverse consequences of entrapping or damaging a TBM under such conditions; but also due to the relative difficulty of dealing with these ground conditions in the confined working area of a TBM, in comparison to a drill and blast heading. This paper review the constraints of operating a TBM in a deep tunnel and discusses related project experience, particularly recent and current experience with TBMs in the deep Alpine Base Tunnels. Potential future applications of TBMs in the development of large, deep underground mines are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. J. Boone, A. Poschmann, C. Pound, A. Pace

San Diego’s Stadium Conglomerate consists of poorly cemented cobbles, gravel, sand, silt and clay. Conventional laboratory and in-situ testing is not suitable for characterizing its engineering properties. Although the formation is often considered a “rock” its behavior is more readily modeled using soil mechanics. Static and seismic design of a tunnel for the Mission Valley East light rail extension required that the stress-strain characteristics of the ground be identified over a broad strain range. Geophysical methods and field plate load testing were used to develop a full non-linear stress-strain model of the expected ground behavior. Quantification of the coarse material distribution was also required for selection of tunneling methods and construction considerations.

Jan 1, 2001

By Fredrick Fränding

In mining and quarrying operations, electric motors can fail for a variety of reasons. Some failures are directly linked to demanding production requirements and contaminant-laden environments and, consequently, are difficult to prevent. A sizeable number, however, are caused by ?offline? factors that have nothing to do with production. These include inadequate or substandard motor repair practices and improper motor shipping, storage and installation. The fact that failures are at times attributable to repair- or rebuild-related errors and problems raises the stakes when selecting an electric motor repair provider. Teaming with high-quality electric motor shops can help a company reduce failures due to offline factors, improving motor reliability and cutting downtime costs. Regardless of location or annual revenues, the best motor shops have similar business cultures and share many of the same characteristics.

Jan 1, 2009

By David Chapman, Glen Frank

Due to the transport mechanics of the depositional environment, glacial soils display a very wide range of grain sizes and behavior. Several nonstandard drilling, sampling, and analytical techniques are therefore required to characterize the subsurface. The paper summarizes the geotechnical investigation for the design of a large project in glacial geology, which will include both large and small diameter pressure balance tunneling. The paper focuses on the challenges presented by the glacial environment and the techniques required to identify and characterize it for design and contract document preparation.

Jan 1, 2001