Search Documents

By G. E. Pearse

Reports, discussions, a written contribution and two written replies are presented from 11 sessions on: Safety and compressed air; Ground movements; Geotechnical; Channel Tunnel (2 sessions); Machines; Case histories; Transport tunnels; Case studies; Site investigation; and Undersea tunnels

Jun 13, 1905

By G. G. Lambert

The paper traces the pattern of spontaneous combustion in the workings of what was originally Hemsworth Colliery, but since July 1967 is now part of South Kirby Colliery. Examination is made of the Barnsley Seam sections and the part played by the top section of the seam as it comes in close proximity to the main seam. In this area of the colliery nine mechanised faces were set away between the years 1953 and 1968, every one "fired" at the pillar edge and six "fired" at the face line when production had ceased. The paper deals with the different preventative measures used, from sandbag walls, cement injections, spraying with polyurethane, until finally using Mandoseal as a sealant. Since the latter method was first used, the last three faces worked in this particular area were all salvaged completely, without any sign of a heating developing.

May 23, 1905

By G. E. Pearse, comp.

Questions from the conference delegates and replies by the papers' authors are summarised for sessions on hydropower, metro/rail and water/waste tunnels, tunnel-boring machines, environmental issues, research and case histories, design, and tunnel machinery, with reference to papers on tunnels in Lesotho, Nova Scotia, Italy, UK, Sweden, Kenya, Massachusetts, Germany, Norway, Taiwan, Switzerland, Greece, Malaysia, Australia and Texas.

Dec 1, 1994

Discussion at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 8th April 1916, on the paper published in Trans. I.Min.E., vol.LI, 1916, p.72-90, included written contributions on size and gauge standardisation by Lupton A., Peck W.R., Dean S., Mayer R.W. and Ashworth J., with the author's written response, and by Bulman H.F. and Brown M.

Dec 1, 1916

By A. D. Read

Selective flocculation was investigated as a possible method of recovering values from mineral slimes which are too finely divided to be treated by conventional mineral processing methods. It has proved possible to flocculate selectively either haematite or a silicate from a stably dispersed mixture by varying the anionic character of the high-molecular-weight, partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide employed. Different separation methods have been developed for hard and soft water media. Electrokinetic and infrared techniques have been employed to elucidate the mechanism whereby selectivity has been attained in the different cases. The following influences on the various selective flocculation parameters have been investigated: (a) the level of the different reagent additions and (b) the shear conditions during and after flocculant addition. A feature of the particular system studied was the high solids content at which it was possible to achieve good selectivity. Probable reasons for this are advanced, and the possibilities and potentialities of the process are discussed.

Dec 1, 1971

By T R. Meng, C Wu

After carrying out a brief review of the existing safety assessment criteria for the spontaneous detonation of explosives in the mining of sulphide ore deposits in China, and giving a detailed description of the dynamic process and mechanism of the spontaneous detonation of explosives and the relative factors, the latest research results of three kinds of explosives reacting with a group of sulphide ores are presented, based on a reliable experimental method. Afterwards, a complete safety criterion for spontaneous detonation assessment, which depends on the hole temperature, the water solution Fe2+ and Fe3+ and the pH value, is established to determine (he safe charging time of explosives in variable conditions. The criterion is verified as correct by a large-scale field test.

Jan 10, 1996

By E. H. W. Hornbrook, P. W. B. Friske

Paper presented at the 28th International Geological Congress, Washington DC, July 1989 (International geochemical mapping sessions). The objective of the programme is to establish and maintain a nationally consistent geochemical drainage database. Towards this end systematic surveys have been conducted since 1973. To date more than 200 surveys have been completed to the required standards, representing 180 000 sites and covering about 2 100 000 km2 throughout Canada

Jun 13, 1905

By L. Wade, R. Wang, M. A. Horton

Laboratory methods to find the mechanical properties of rock are inherently biased towards stronger strata, which best survive the sample preparation process. Geophysical techniques are not subject to such bias and may be used to predict mechanical properties rapidly and cheaply. Samples (151) were obtained from a borehole that had been comprehensively geophysically logged. The mechanical properties of the samples were established in the laboratory and correlated with the geophysical responses of the strata from which they came. The results indicate that, for homogeneous strata at least, it is possible to predict the unconfined compressive strength reasonably well from sonic travel time measurements made in the field. Predictions of static Young's modulus may also be made from this data source, but with a lesser degree of confidence. A multivariate regression equation is presented which relates down-hole sonic travel time to unconfined compressive strength, depth and the frequency of fractures in the rock mass. This equation may offer potential for the prediction of the mechanical rock properties of fractured and layered strata.

Jan 4, 1993

The first part describes a model (the C model) based on the motion of the grinding charge. The charge is treated as a continuum, which allows analytical solutions to the equations that are developed. The C model is equally applicable to ball-, semi-autogenous and autogenous mills and contains a description of the power draw of both the cylindrical section and the cone-ends. Differences between the power draw of grate- and overflow-discharge mills are described from consideration of the different shapes and compositions of their charges. A large database of industrial mill data is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the model. Part 2 describes a simpler, empirical model (the E model) whose performance is based on that of the C model. The same database was used to assess the predictive capabilities of the E model. The model was shown to be only slightly less accurate than the C model despite its much simpler structure

Jun 18, 1905

By Zhengya Lu, F. Lawson

The surface tensions of lead and lead alloys with very low concentrations of silver, tin and copper were measured by the sessile-drop method. The enrichment of silver and tin in the surface of liquid lead alloys at temperatures close to the freezing-point of lead was confirmed, which may explain the unusual behaviour of small amounts of silver and tin in lead bulllion during the sulphur-drossing step of the refining process. From the limited data available copper also appears to concentrate at the surface of the liquid alloy

Dec 1, 1991

By L Casari

A study of samples from three sectors of the mine, which was worked from Roman times to 1991, revealed different textures, mineral associations and distributions of trace elements in the sulphides. In the last decade before closure, grades of sphalerite concentrate were in the range 51.67-53.30% Zn and 2.21-2.86% Pb and of galena concentrate 69.43-71.62% Pb and 4.70-8.36% Zn, while the estimated by-product germanium content of sphalerite concentrates sold was 300-400 g/t. Passing the different run-of-mine materials through the same concentrator flowsheet produced middlings and tailings during the preconcentration processing. Separate and alternative treatment of run-of-mine products would have yielded improved recoveries of sphalerite and galena and better values of by-product germanium and cadmium

Jun 18, 1905

By R. N. Pryor, S. H. Shaw, D. L. Dowie, S. H. U. Bowie, M. J. Cahalan, S. F. Gandar

It is concluded that land-based mineral resources will be adequate for most minerals in the immediate future, but in the long term more minerals will come from offshore locations. Because the oceans are international and can transport pollution, international control of offshore workings will be necessary. In the UK and similarly highly developed areas, the working of low-value bulk minerals will create increasing problems in urban development and countryside preservation. Much more information should be published on standards to be adopted and their costs, if emotional social pressures founded on ignorance are to be avoided. The Town and Country Planning Acts have greatly improved the environmental quality in Britain in relation to mineral working. In the long term conservation of some minerals in short supply may be necessary on a national or international basis. Much research is required for the determination of adequate criteria and standards for the preservation of environmental quality in the mineral industry. New local, national and international legislation will be required and the adoption of voluntary standards by trade associations should be encouraged wherever appropriate

Dec 1, 1971

By C. A. Pickles, S. J. Splinter, J. Cameron

The addition of copper oxide to a borosilicate slag resulted in the breakdown of the silicate network and a dramatic decrease in viscosity. With increasing borax to silica ratio the viscosity was reduced by two mechanisms. First, rising sodium oxide content promoted cleavage of the Si-O bonds. Second, increasing boric oxide (B2O3) content increased the number of trigonal borate units that were converted to tetrahedral borate units by sodium oxide and copper oxide. The BO4(4-) tetrahedra decreased the local silicate symmetry, thus disrupting the silicate network and lowering the viscosity. The activation energy decreased with increasing temperature and increasing copper oxide content

Jun 13, 1905

By H. L. Shergold, O. Mellgren

The conditions of amine concentration and pH necessary for the concentration of fine haematite particles at the iso-octane-water interface have been determined. Results obtained from the related studies on the effect of pH and dodecylamine concentration on the adsorption density, electrokinetic potential, contact angle and concentration of various amine species in the system are included. A good correlation was obtained between these different variables. Maximum concentration of haematite at the oil-water interface was obtained when the haematite zeta-potential was small or equal to zero

Dec 1, 1971

By F. Reich, S. L. Chryssoulis, K. G. Stowe

The surface chemistry of particulates from mineral processing streams can be determined by laser-probe microanalysis. The small area of analysis (2-30 micrometres) enables the surfaces of individual grains to be characterised. Conclusions are based on data acquired from a statistically significant number of grains of a given type. Maps showing the distribution of elements on the surface of mineral particulates can be obtained by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The importance of such analyses in understanding the response of minerals to beneficiation practices is discussed with reference to three examples. The first relates to the loss of selectivity in the differential flotation of a base-metal ore, the second to the different flotabilities of coarse- and fine-grained pentlandite from a Cu-Ni ore and the third concerns the preg-robbing effects of organic matter in a carbonaceous gold ore.

Jan 4, 1992

1994 estimates for Porgera are probable and proven reserves of 58 200 000 t of ore grading 5 g/t Au. Gold mineralisation is related to an intrusive complex emplaced at shallow levels in poorly consolidated sedimentary rocks. The complex is located in a zone of fold-and-thrust deformation, whose formation may have been initiated shortly before emplacement and continues locally today. Abundant primary magnetite in the complex gives an intense, 5 km wide aeromagnetic anomaly. The deposit formed during two main stages of mineralisation, the first related to early magmatic-hydrothermal activity and the second representing later epithermal overprinting centred on the Roamane fault. Hydrothermal alteration followed closely on emplacement indicating a close genetic relationship between magmatism and mineralisation. Both stages of hydrothermal activity post-date and overprint early propylitic alteration. Several factors have acted in unison or sequentially to concentrate metals at the deposit, including an extensional or trans-tensional tectonic setting within an arc or collisional environment, the exsolution of a magmatic hydrothermal fluid prior to sulphur saturation in the melt, the development of the hydrothermal system into one favourable for transporting gold, the action of late-stage faulting in focusing epithermal fluid flow, and the role of dissolved gases in promoting fluid phase separation and high-grade ore deposition

Jun 19, 1905

By W. Petruk, M. J. Matos

An aplite ore from Guarda in northern Portugal, containing albite, microcline and quartz and muscovite gangue was studied to identify conditions for extracting the feldspar minerals. The large amounts of quantitative mineralogical data needed to evaluate grinding behaviour were provided by automated image analysis. The images were acquired on polished surfaces by measuring back-scattered electron signals produced with a microprobe. Minerals were identified from X-ray spectra and discriminated by grey level and element-characteristic X-rays. The quantities and size distributions of the minerals were determined by measuring thin sections of unbroken ore to predict the grind required to liberate the feldspars. The ore was then ground to -1.7 mm, polished sections were prepared from sieved fractions and the quantities of mineral species and apparent total liberation were determined by analysis. The predicted and measured liberations were compared and the grinding behaviour of the ore interpreted. In an appended correction, the correct version of Equation 1 is represented and Tables 3 and 6 are revised to consider all size fractions, including those coarser than 300 micrometres, in calculating the total liberation from King's fractional liberation

Jun 18, 1905

By D. R. Hudson, M. J. Donaldson

"Study of gravity concentrates from the gold-recovery circuit of the Kambalda nickel mill has enabled an assessment to be made of the nature, relative abundance and compositional variability of platinum group element (PGE) minerals and other associated heavy minerals that are present in the Kambalda nickel deposits. The major platinum minerals are sperrylite, PtAs2, and nioncheite, (Pt. Pd, Ni)(Te, Bi)2, and the major palladium minerals are sudburvite, (Pd, Pt, Ni)(Sb, Te, Bi), stibiopalladinite, Pd6Sb2, and palladoarsenide, Pd2 (As, Sb), together with a palladium antimonide and a palladium arsenide that have not been fully characterized. Palladian melonites, which contain up to 10 wt% Pd, and palladian nickeline are also important PGE hosts. Sperrylite and sudburyite are by far the most abundant discrete minerals in the gravity concentrates.Gold occurs as argentian, cuprian and nickeloan—cuprian gold, and as the tellurides calaverite, petzite and auriferous hessite. Silver is present in petzite, hessite and volynskite. Other rare phases contained in the gravity concentrates include native bismuth, altaite, frohbergite, breithauptite, gersdorffite, parkerite, scheelite, tantalite, cassiterite, rutile, bunsenite, gahnite, barite and uvarovite.Descriptions of in-situ occurrences of PGE minerals at Kambalda are rare. Michenerite, PdBiTe, and testibiopalladite, PdSbTe, have been described from a telluride-rich quartz-carbonate vein that intersects massive sulphide ore in Lunnon Shoot. Moncheite has been observed in chalcopyrite-rich stringers, and sudburyite occurs as inclusions in nickeline in a quartz- carbonate veinlet. No discrete PGE minerals have been found within the massive and matrix ore zones in the Kambalda ore- shoots, and the geochemical distribution of PGE suggests that the formation of discrete PGE phases may be related to post- magmatic processes—in particular, metamorphic segregation of sulphides, and the interaction of the ore sulphides, containing PGE in solid solution, with younger hydrothermal fluids. This has led to local redistribution of the PGE, with concentration in footwall stringers and veins, and in reaction zones."

Jan 1, 1984

By A. J. Naldrett

"Synorogenic mafic intrusions are a common feature of the northern Appalachians. Two sulphide-bearing intrusions in central Maine that have been investigated revealed a number of important features that illustrate sulphide-silicate interaction that relates to magmatic sulphides. The Moxie Pluton is a large mafic intrusion emplaced during the Devonian Acadian orogeny. The Katahdin gabbro is a small mafic body that is probably genetically and temporally related to the Moxie Pluton. Both intrusions were formed bv the intrusion of variably fractionated magmas into irregular chambers and feeder zones. The southern half of the Moxie Pluton contains three small sulphide accumulations, whereas the Katahdin gabbro hosts a large, predominantly massive, sulphide body. Textural evidence clearly documents the magmatic origin of these sulphides.The three Moxie Pluton sulphide bodies are located at or very close to the intersection between the intrusion and the sulphidebearing Hildreths Formation. Sulphur assimilation, suggested by this relationship, is supported by the isotopically light (634S = —8 to —25) and the selenium-poor (S/Se - 25 000-48 000) character of the Moxie sulphides and correlation with the Hildreths Formation sulphides (S34S = —25, S/Se = 25 000-48 000). Isotopically light sulphur (534S = —20 to —21) and high S/Se ratios indicate that the majority of sulphur in the Katahdin sulphide body was also derived from an unexposed country rock source. The volume of sulphide in this example illustrates the potential efficiency of the sulphur assimilation process—so efficient in this case that marked dilution of the economic chalcophile elements resulted from the addition of so much external sulphur.The three Moxie Pluton sulphide occurrences are all impoverished in Ni and Cu (1.87-0.44% Ni; 0.72—0.32% Cu in massive sulphide), but contain normal Co contents (0.22-0.13%) relative to typical magmatic sulphides. The Katahdin sulphides show a greater Ni and Cu impoverishment (0.2% Ni; 0.1% Cu in massive sulphide) with similar Co (0.17%). The Ni content of the Moxie Pluton olivines document the fractional removal of sulphides during crystallization of the host magma, which resulted in the progressive depletion of the chalcophile metals in this magma. Modelling that involved the fractional crystallization of the magma coupled with the fractional removal of a specified proportion of sulphide has successfully duplicated the Moxie Pluton sulphide compositions. A similar magmatic model has been postulated for the Katahdin sulphides with a greater degree of sulphide fractionation. This latter model is again supported by extremely low Ni/forsterite ratios in olivines, though the compositional range is insufficient to document fractionation. These magmatic models are not unique, but they provide a relatively constrained and consistent explanation for the sulphide compositions.The Ni contents of olivines are the most important indicator of sulphide-silicate interaction in mafic magmas and have exploration potential. They provide a means of assessing the timing and extent of sulphur saturation in an intrusion and are a guide to the Ni content of a sulphide accumulation in equilibrium with olivine. In the Maine examples they provide strong evidence of the magmatic origin of the sulphide accumulations and justification for magmatic modelling."

Jan 1, 1984

By P. C. Kapur

Several empirical and semi-empirical laws of comminution, which describe the relationships between the cumulative grinding energy input and the degree of size reduction of brittle solids, have been rationally derived in the time-domain in a unified manner, starting with an integro-differential equation of grinding kinetics. The analysis leads to and provides explicit interrelationships between the energy-size reduction laws associated with Kick, Rittinger, Holmes, Bond, Charles and others, and gives useful estimates of their relative merits and validity. It is shown that Holmes' expression is, in fact, a solution to the grinding equation; consequently, this classical law is compatible with the modern theory of comminution based on population balance on particulate species

Dec 1, 1971