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By Weijie Wei, Jinwang Zhang, Shengli Yang

Due to the unbalanced top coal drawing process, the recovery ratio is low, and the equipment stability is poor in the longwall top coal caving mining (LTCC) with an inclined seam. Aimed at these problems, this paper proposes the dynamic group caving method (DGCM). The basic procedure is that when the drawn volume of top coal from a support reaches about half, the next support begins drawing top coal, and the drawing process between the two supports is half done. Taking the panel no. 8103 in Beixinyao mine as the research object, the characteristics of drawing body shape, particle movement trace, and variation of recovery ratio are investigated by using Particle Flow Code. Furthermore, the effect of mining-caving ratio on the top coal drawing law under DGCM is revealed by the simulation results, and compared with the single-opening sequence caving method (SSCM) and the doubleopenings sequence caving method, advantages of DGCM are determined in inclined seams. The results show that the drawing body can be divided into the left and the right under DGCM. Specifically, the drawn top coal particles in the left are from the upper part of this support, that in the right are from the lower part of next support, which verifies the correctness of the theoretical analysis. The characteristics of the drawing body shape are more significant when the mining-caving ratio is relatively small. In addition, with increasing mining-caving ratio, the recovery ratio of the panel both increases gradually underDGCMand SSCM.When the miningcaving ratio is less than 1:1, the recovery ratio of DGCM is obviously higher than that of SSCM, indicating that DGCM can greatly improve the recovery ratio. While when the mining-caving ratio is larger than 1:1, the recovery ratio of two caving methods is basically equal; however, the advancing time is significantly shortened under DGCM. This study are of great significance to realize high efficiency and precise caving in LTCC with an inclined seam.

Jul 7, 2020

By Ramiro da Conceição do Nascimento, Horst Guenter Feldhagen, Rafael Piumatti de Oliveira

Mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) is a nickel intermediate product that has economical benefits to downstream leaching of lateritic marginal ores. Usually, this product is subsequently processed and refined to produce nickel by hydrometallurgy, but an alternative route can be made integrating hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy. Assessing the overall consumption of ferroalloys to obtain stainless steel, as an increasing practice performed in China, the synergy of nickel extraction from laterites by leaching and precipitation asMHP with the production ofMHP agglomerates applied as rawmaterial to furnaces of ferronickel production is a very attractive practice. This work aims to further the technological development of an agglomerated product feasible to hydro-pyro integration. The agglomeration experiments were performed by traditional pelletizing (firing the pellets) and cold bonded pelletizing (aging the pellets by appropriate stocking). Appropriate compositionswere prepared withMHP, additives and binders for each of these routes. A specific study of binder composition was made to find an adequate melting point. The produced pellets were tested to prove their properties by crushing strength tests. The standardization applied to iron ore was followed. The best result of crushing strength was 98.52 daN/pellet. The agglomerates with approved crushing strength for use in electric furnaces were smelted to produce alloys containing nickel; the agglomerates were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The alloy obtained was metallic ferronickel with sulphide precipitates. Therefore, MHP pellets can be precursors of nickel alloys, which have to be refined to obtain the desirable composition.

Jul 6, 2020

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 Nugget Sandstone specimens 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 demonstrate 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.

Jul 1, 2020

By Panshi Xie, Yingyi Zhang, JIANJIE DUAN, Shenghu Luo

A multi-layer gangue roof of a steeply dipping coal seam with a large mining height face area was analyzed using physical simulation, numerical simulation, theoretical analysis, and field measurement methods to evaluate the roof deformation and the mechanisms associated with the instability of the hard gangue and soft coal interlayer. The results indicated that the first weighting step of the multi-gangue roof was larger than that of a non-gangue roof, but periodic weighting steps were similar. The overburden collapse height was lower in the multi-gangue roof than in the non-gangue roof due to the buffering and supporting function of the collapsed gangue. Moreover, the failure of the coal interlayer was the key factor in the collapse of the multi-layer gangue. A mechanical model was established for the hard gangue and soft coal interlayer based on a revised Prandtl squeezing theory. The limited load of the interlayer and maximum resistance of the shield support was thusmodeled. The maximum resistance of the support increased with the dip angle of the seam and burial depth. It also increased with the interlayer thickness at thicknesses below 2.75 m. It reached a peak when the interlayer thickness was between 2.75 and 3 m and exhibited a decreasing trend when the thickness was greater than 3 m. The results were confirmed using physical simulation and a field test. Certain measures were proposed to control the stability of the gangue roof, including zoning control of the mining height and resistance and advancing the support while maintaining roof contact, thus ensuring the integrity of the support and surrounding rock system.

Jun 30, 2020

By Taghi Sharizadeh, MAURICE SUNKPAL, ELAHEH TALEBI, PEDRAM ROGHANCHI

Excessive heat exposure is among the health and safety hazards that have adverse effects on the mine workers. The very nature of the underground climate makes it a convenient avenue for heat generation and accumulation from several heat sources including autocompression, equipment, and heat from strata. This study investigated the effects of clothing insulation and acclimation on the thermal comfort ofmineworkers who are exposed to heat in underground working environments. Several clothing ensembles have been considered to analyze the effect of the thermal resistance of clothing on the thermal comfort of workers. To investigate the impact of the clothing insulation, the thermal comfort limit of an underground miner was calculated in the form of maximum allowable exposure time for an 8-h shift. Parametric analyses were subsequently performed using an already developed thermal comfort model using MATLAB software. The results demonstrate that clothing insulation has a significant effect on the thermal comfort of mine workers. Increase in the clothing insulation decreases the maximum allowable exposure time of mine workers. This is especially true for the new and non-acclimated workers. Since acclimatized workers can tolerate a higher level of the dehydration and are capable of losing more water by sweat per shift, the maximum allowable exposure time for the acclimated workers are higher than non-acclimated workers. These analyses have shown that acclimated workers can have more continuous work per shift compared with non-acclimated workers. For example, in an environmental condition with clothing that a nonacclimated worker cannot work more than 5 h, an acclimated worker can work a full 8-h shift.

Jun 29, 2020

By Behrooz Abbasi, Seyedsaeid Ahmadvand, Thom Seal, Babak Azarfar, Bryan Ulrich

Hydro-Jex® is a new enhanced method for heap leach treatment with significantly higher mineral recovery. In this case study at the Los Filos Mine in Mexico, the Hydro-Jex operation is evaluated for heap leach stability. This is pursued by numerical modeling of the heap leach pad stability and well monitoring of the phreatic surface before and after the Hydro-Jex operation. Experimental and numerical results both indicate an improvement in mineral processing under the influence of Hydro-Jex. Numerical results show an insignificant decrease and a significant increase in stability during and after Hydro-Jex injection application, respectively. The integrity of the liner is maintained in both cases. The zonal injection pressure, operationally below the overburden pressure, is found to be negligible compared with the dimensionality of the heap, and stability of the structure is not exposed to any significant risk, even up to 25%above overburden pressure. Furthermore, heap leach factor of safety increases after Hydro-Jex application. This is attributed to breakdown of the water solution build-up and thus a decrease in the phreatic surface depth below the top of the pad. It is suggested that injection wells be drilled, based on thorough geophysical data, in locations where overcompaction of heap material results in water solution build-up and pore pressure enhancement. Compared with traditional heap leaching, the Hydro-Jex technique not only expedites mineral processing by increasing chemical kinetics extraction but also increases the stability of the heap by unclogging drains.

Jun 29, 2020

By Yongsik Jeong, Kwangmin Kim

Conventional tailings slurry contains a significant amount of water, and water management is key to ensuring the stability of a tailings storage facility (TSF). Simply reducing the water content in the slurry before discharging it from the mill could be an effective way to improve TSF water management. This study investigated the potential for using an environmentally friendly polymer as a new drag reduction agent (DRA) to reduce frictional pressure loss and also conserve water. It entailed conducting pipe loop tests to assess the polymer’s effect on pressure loss in tailings flow and then applying the test results to validate a numerical model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The model was also used to determine the polymer’s optimal concentrations at given solid concentrations and flow rates, its effect on energy efficiency for tailings transportation, and its potential for saving water. A case study for a mid-sized, hard-rock mine with a throughput of 50,000 t/day found that the solid concentration could be increased from 30 to 45% with no pressure loss by applying 1996 m3 of the polymer per day. Adding the polymer also resulted in water savings of 57,552 m3/day. The results of this study demonstrated the potential for using the new DRA not only to improve TSF stability but also to save water.

Jun 29, 2020

By Yuting Xue, Brijes Mishra

The relaxation test on sandstone specimens showed typical behavior in pre-failure region and stepwise behavior in the postfailure region. Overall, more significant stress relaxation occurred within the failed specimens than the intact ones. Numerical simulations were conducted with pre-defined failure plane and with Voronoi tessellation to visualize the relaxation behavior. The model with pre-defined failure plane showed the key role of failure plane and asperity in simulating the step-wise post-failure relaxation behavior. The inhomogeneous stress distribution within failed specimen and the viscous deformation of intact rocks induced high stress concentration at the asperities. The observed step-wise relaxation initiated from the failure of asperity. Furthermore, the simulations with Voronoi tessellation showed time-dependent fracture development during relaxation in post-failure region. The presence of fractures completely changed the stress distribution. Stress concentration occurred at the front area of fractures and at the interacting areas between fractures. During relaxation, fractures still developed with time and the sudden significant increase in the “damage” coincided with the acceleration of stress relaxation leading to step-wise relaxation. Finally, the results showed the possibility of using residual strength as the long-term strength of failed rock.

Jun 25, 2020

By Hengwei Yan, Zhanwei Liu, Wenhui Ma, Ping Xiong

The sulfur in high-sulfur bauxite not only pollutes the environment but also harms alumina production. This study investigated the removal of sulfur from high-sulfur bauxite by adding Zn or ZnO during the Bayer process. The results showed that the different valence sulfur (S2−, S2O3 2−, SO3 2−, and SO4 2−) in sodium aluminate solution can be effectively removed by adding Zn during the digestion process. Adding ZnO removes the S2− in liquor, but the other sulfur compounds (S2O3 2−, SO3 2−, and SO4 2−) are not affected. The mechanism of sulfur removal has been elucidated, where the S2O3 2−, SO3 2−, and SO4 2− are first reduced to S2−, and after adding Zn, the S2− enters into red mud in the form of ZnS. The ZnO then reacts with S2− to generate the ZnS that enters into red mud. Thus, this is a new and effective method of sulfur removal by adding Zn during the digestion process. The results shed light on the removal of sulfur from high-sulfur bauxite during alumina production.

Jun 24, 2020

By Nikhil Dhawan, Amit Barnwal

The present study reports a processing route to recover metals from integrated circuits of discarded random access memory (RAM) units containing ~ 66% printed circuit boards and ~ 33% integrated circuits. The integrated circuits are manually separated, grounded, classified, and subjected to water fluidization for the effective separation of metals. The significant separation was achieved via water fluidization, and the underflow fraction was magnetically separated. The magnetic fraction was thermally exposed in a muffle furnace, and the process optimization was carried out using a Box-Behnken statistical design. The detailed characterization at subsequent steps significantly aids the understanding of metal-plastic separation and enrichment. A concentrate containing 97% metals (Fe-59%, Ni-9.5%, Cu-7.7%, Sn-13.4%, Pb-5.6%, Ag-1.6%) with 96 wt% recovery can be recovered from discarded IC units. The process pursued is simple, adaptable, and environment-friendly, and the product can be used in conventional smelters.

Jun 23, 2020

By Ziyuan Liu, Xun Zhang, Yan Wei, Hang Qiu, Shaomin Lei, Yubiao Li, Yu Meng, Min Lin, Bin Liu

High-purity quartz (SiO2) is an important material widely used in many industries, including semiconductor technology, telecommunication, and optics. The content and distribution of impurities in quartz significantly affect the processing methods. This paper provides an insightful review on the processing of high-purity quartz, covering the analytical techniques, separation methods, and the critical procedures used to assess the quality of quartz ore. More importantly, the critical review of the thermal phase transition separation method for fine-grained mineral inclusions, micron-grade fluid inclusions, and lattice-bound trace elements is notably opened for the first time. It is proposed that the research field as a monopolized industry would benefit by expounding the critical problems that occur during the preparation of high-purity quartz.

Jun 22, 2020

By Brendan Demich, MAHIYAR F. NASARWANJI, Alan G. Mayton

Nonfatal injuries from slips, trips, and falls (STF) that occur at surface mines can result from inadequate lighting. Mobile equipment operators are among the occupations associated with the nonfatal incidents reported to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). In addition, getting on/off the equipment (ingress/egress) frequently adds to the highest proportion of nonfatal incidents. Accordingly, researchers at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a field study to investigate lighting on haul trucks and wheel loaderswith regard to glare and illuminance levels recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). The objective was to determine whether two light-emitting diode (LED) area luminaires—a Mr. Beams® (model MB390 Ultrabright) (area luminaire-1) and a NIOSH-developed Saturn (custom-designed for a mine roof bolter study) (area luminaire-2)—could complement a headlamp luminaire. Measured levels of visual tasks, with the headlamp alone and the area luminaires plus the headlamp, demonstrated that illuminance met or exceeded IES-recommended levels. Nevertheless, the area luminaires illuminated a much broader area, which is key to increasing hazard awareness. Discomfort and disability glare were lower with area luminaire-1 than with area luminaire-2. Differences in glare were more noticeable for newer models of haul trucks and loaders featuring updated ingress/egress system designs. This study demonstrates that commercially available luminaires, such as area luminaire-1, are capable of complementing headlamp lighting, and can thus improve a miner’s ability to detect and avoid STF hazards.

Jun 17, 2020

By SHANTAE LEE, ELAHEH TALEBI, Frank A. Drews, W. Pratt Rogers

Fatigue in mining operations is a serious issue and a significant contributor to incidents and accidents. While mine operators are using or introducing new technology to monitor operator fatigue, there is little work that focuses on the subjective experience of fatigue and the use of fatigue monitoring technology. To investigate this issue, eight focus groups with a total of 44 operators of heavy haulage equipment working for two mining companies in the Mountain West of the USA participated in 1-h focus groups. The topic of the focus groups was the experience of operator fatigue and issues surrounding fatigue at the workplace. The results of the content analyses suggest that operators are well aware of the signs of fatigue, and that they understand the severity of these signs as well. In addition, they are aware of the effect of fatigue on driving performance and are using a wide range of methods to manage fatigue. Finally, based on participants’ assessment, current fatigue monitoring systems lack face validity and reliability and are perceived as not being effective. The results of this study emphasize the importance of a socio-technical systems perspective in the context of miner health and safety management. Only such a comprehensive perspective can result in improvements that are sustainable.

Jun 17, 2020

By Robin Burgess-Limerick

The introduction of automation to mining has great potential to reduce safety and health risks by removing people from hazardous situations. However, automation changes the tasks performed by people and may introduce new tasks. For the system to function optimally, these tasks must be designed taking human abilities and limitations into account. Humansystems integration refers to systems engineering processes that ensure that human-related issues are adequately considered during system planning, design, development, and evaluation. During procurement of automated systems, a human-systems integration program plan should be prepared that describes the human-systems integration activities that will be performed to address each of the six core domains of human-systems integration: staffing, personnel, training, human factors engineering, safety, and health.

Jun 16, 2020

By Sebastian Avalos, Julian M. Ortiz, Willy Kracht

Semi-autogenous grinding mills play a critical role in the processing stage of many mining operations. They are also one of the most intensive energy consumers of the entire process. Current forecasting techniques of energy consumption base their inferences on feeding ore mineralogical features, SAG dimensions, and operational variables. Experts recognize their capabilities to provide adequate guidelines but also their lack of accuracy when real-time forecasting is desired. As an alternative, we propose the use of real-time operational variables (feed tonnage, bearing pressure, and spindle speed) to forecast the upcoming energy consumption via machine learning and deep learning techniques. Several predictive methods were studied: polynomial regression, k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, multilayer perceptron, long short-term memory, and gated recurrent units. A step-by-step workflow on how to deal with real datasets, and how to find optimum models and final model selection is presented. In particular, recurrent neural networks achieved the best forecasting metrics in the energy consumption prediction task. The workflow has the potential of being extended to any other temporal and multivariate mineral processing datasets.

Jun 16, 2020

By S. K. Sahoo, S. K. Sharma, U. K. Singh, G. S. P. Singh

This research focuses on the strata control issues in a Bord and Pillar depillaring working under the influence of dead load condition of voluminous and fragmented softcover of overburden dump material. It reports the modeling of a mine working through the FLAC 2D software under the Indian geo-mining conditions. The modeling results of an actual mine working under softcover were compared with that under the intact overburden condition to assess the influence of the soft overburden over the depillaring working. The modeling work involved progressive caving of the strata and the cyclic goaf filling following the modelsimulated occurrence of main fall and periodic caving. Mohr-Coulomb Failure criteria along with a simplified strain-softening (MCSS) model was used to study the failure and caving mechanism. Salamon’s compaction model was used to simulate compaction and resultant stress recovery in the goaf material. Comparison of the model findings was done in terms of load on supports, abutment stress, and convergence, apart from the stress redistribution and failure mechanism. The load transfer mechanism of the soft overburden was also studied for an overall understanding of the strata behavior in such workings.

Jun 16, 2020

By MOHAMED WAEL, ANASTASIA GOEVA, ABDULAZIZ TAWFEEQI, IHTISHAM TARIQ, S. M. ZAKIR HOSSAIN, NIAZ ALI KHAN, MUHAMMAD FAISAL IRFAN

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an attractive area of research in such fields as CO2 mineral carbonation, global warming and sustainable energy systems. In this study, carbonation efficiency for aqueous mineral carbonation (MC) was achieved through two steps,which include leaching of calciumfrom cement kiln dust (CKD) followed by the reaction of pure CO2 with the calcium hydroxide precipitates formed by the hydroxylation using NaOH. Response surface methodology (RSM) with a Box-Behnken design (BBD) was applied to optimize the calciumleaching yield,while the carbonation efficiency from CKD was assessed using RSMwith central composite design (CCD). Optimization of calcium leaching is highly important, as it is a rate-limiting reaction step in MC and also influences and enhances carbonation efficiency. Different parameters including acid concentration (HNO3), leaching temperature, leaching time, and dose of CKD sample were considered in order to optimize the maximum yield of Ca leaching from the CKD sample. In addition, different CO2 flow rates and temperatures were used as parameters for optimizing carbonation efficiency. Two quadratic regression models were developed for each process, i.e. calciumleaching and carbonation. For calcium leaching, a maximum of 98.55% calcium was extracted under the optimal set of acid concentration 4.13 M, 90 °C, 28 min leaching time, and 13.8 g of CKD sample. For carbonation, the maximum carbonation efficiency of 89.2% was achieved for a CO2 flow rate of 1163 cm3/min at 90 °C. Calcium leaching results indicate that the leaching yield was significantly affected by all the input parameters except leaching time. For carbonation, both factors affected the carbonation efficiency, with the effect temperature shown to be greater than that of the CO2 flow rate. Additionally, the predicted results agreed well with the experimental values for both calcium leaching and carbonation processes, with errors of less than 1% and 5%, respectively.

Jun 5, 2020

By Nasser Madani, Yerbol Tussupbekov, Sergei Sabanov, Zarina Mukhamedyarova

A case study was conducted on a metal mine operating in Kazakhstan, in which problems were associated with use of a complicated and outdated ventilation system and its high expenses. The mine needs to reconsider its existing ventilation system and identify the risks associated with operational losses when using this ventilation system. The aim of this study was to develop an efficient risk analysis method capable of estimating operational risks and financial benefits of the existing mine ventilation system. The developed risk analysismethod considers ventilationmodelling, riskmodelling, and financialmodelling.Ventilation modelling comprises ventilation simulation and ventilation financial simulation. In risk modelling, the number of risk events occurring with the use of existing ventilation system and the operational losses during these events is estimated. Financial modelling considers operational losses and ventilation financial simulation benefits and uses a dynamic cash flow model to estimate how cost variability influences the cash flow. As a result, the improved ventilation system attains an additional NPVa ranging from 3.2 to 8.5 million US$ at the corresponding defined probability of 90%. The results of this study reveal that the developed risk analysis method can efficiently estimate the financial benefits of ventilation modelling and consider risk events and their total operational losses associated with use of the existing ventilation system. This approach provides a range of possible outcomes and helps with deciding whether the ventilation system is appropriate or whether it should be updated to better suit the project financial benefits.

Jun 3, 2020

By Hasan Nizamoğlu, M. Deniz Turan, MÜCEVHER TURAN, RAMAZAN ORHAN

Tailings (flotation waste) that is formed during copper production may be considered in the class of valuable wastes due to the amount of copper it contains. Owing to the decreasing grade values in copper ores, utilization of wastes such as tailings that carry certain amounts of copper as secondary sources has become a necessity in both the economic and environmental sense. This study investigated the usage conditions of five different ammonia salts as leaching reactants for the purpose of selective extraction of copper from tailings. For this purpose, the effects of parameters such as leaching temperature and leaching time were examined at different concentrations of ammonium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride, and ammonium persulfate. The copper extraction efficiency in the case of using the aforementioned salts by themselves were listed as (NH4)2CO3 (73%) > (NH4)2S2O8 (69%) > NH4OH (64%) > NH4Cl (42%) > NH4NO3 (40%). The highest copper extraction efficiency was obtained in the leaching process that was conducted with the solutions obtained by mixing ammonia salts in the best conditions. Accordingly, as a result of 6 h of leaching at 30 °C in the presence of 22.5% NH4OH and 100 g/L (NH4)2S2O8, 91.47%of the copper was transferred into the

Jun 3, 2020

By Mahmut Altiner

In the present study, the use of horse residue as an alternative reducing agent in the roasting of a low-grade goethite ore containing 17.60% Fe was investigated. Additional roasting experiments were carried out with corn starch and without reducing agent for comparison. Each roasted product was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and magnetic hysteresis (MH) loops analyses. The optimum roasting conditions (roasting temperature [400, 500, and 600 °C], reducing agent/ore ratio [0.04, 0.08, and 0.12], and roasting time [10, 20, and 30 min]) were investigated based on the Taguchi approach. The magnetic susceptibilities of the roasted sample with the addition of reducing agents were higher compared to that of the roasted sample in the absence of reducing agent. Experimental findings indicate that the horse residue can be used as the reducing agent. Finally, an iron ore concentrate assaying a Fe grade of 62.12% with a recovery of 56.93% was prepared using wet magnetic separation at a magnetic intensity of 0.5 T from the ore roasted under the following roasting conditions: roasting temperature of 500 °C, reducing agent/ sample ratio of 0.08, and roasting time of 30 min.

Jun 3, 2020