Search Documents

In Alaska?s southwest corner, in the Bristol Bay region, 476 holes have been drilled to help define the size of the Pebble Project. The results indicate that the deposit holds close to 32 Mt (72 billion lbs) of copper and 2.9 Gt (94 million oz) of gold. The Pebble Partnership, an Alaskan limited partnership of Anglo American and Northern Dynasty Minerals, owns the project that consists of two world-class mineral deposits. Currently in the prefeasibility and prepermitting stage of development, the Pebble Project is one of the largest and highest profile exploration projects in North America. History The Pebble West Project was originally discovered in 1988 by Cominco (now Teck Cominco). Drilling programs in 1997 defined a near-surface mineral deposit of 1 Gt (1.01 billion st). Minerals found included copper, gold and molybdenum. Northern Dynasty Minerals acquired the property in 2001 and, by 2005, it had confirmed a measured and indicated resource of 4.1 Gt (4.5 billion st) containing 1.2 kt (42.1 million oz) of gold, 11.2 Mt (24.7 billion lbs) of copper and 612 kt (1.35 billion lbs) of molybdenum and additional silver. By September 2005, Pebble East, a deeper, but richer deposit had been found. Drill data by the end of 2005 confirmed a 3.4-Gt (3.7-billion st) inferred resource containing 19 Mt (42.6 billion lbs) of copper, 1.2 Mt (39.6 million oz) of gold and 1.2 Mt (2.7 billion lbs) of molybdenum.

Jan 1, 2009

By Ronald S. Conti

The Bureau of Mines conducted a comprehensive laboratory study of the thermal ignitability of various carbonaceous dust clouds with particular emphasis on various ranks of coal dust. The tests were conducted using a new 1.2-L furnace. Autoignition temperatures of dust clouds were obtained as a function of coal volatility and particle size. Dust particles and gas samples were collected by a rapid-sampling system in order to study the reactions involved in preignition and postignition processes. The autoignition temperatures measured in the new 1.2-L furnace were significantly lower and therefore more conservative than those measured previously in the Godbert-Greenwald furnace. The combined effects of thermal and electrical ignition of dust clouds were also studied in the 1.2-L furnace using electrical discharges of varying energies at ambient and elevated temperatures. The minimum spark energy necessary to ignite a dust cloud decreased significantly as the temperature of the dust cloud increased.

Jan 1, 1983

By Erik M. Westerberg

The Soilex Pile combines a slender shaft, for quick and easy installation, with an enlarged pile toe, for high capacity. The key component is the Expander Body, which is inflated by injecting cement grout when in position. The latest development in the Soilex Pile System results in a reduction of the total cost of Soilex Piles, in many cases values that are competitive with pre­cast concrete piles and displacement piles. Soilex Piles can now be installed on top of a bearing soil layer, instead of 3 to 4 m into that soil as previously required, further minimising the ground disturbance. Soilex Piles achieve high capacity in relatively loose soils, with ultimate loads typically between 1000 and 2000 kN in a sand with CPT qc = 5 to 10 MPa or SPT N= 10 to 20. It is possible to pre-load and proof-load all piles with dynamic testing up to 2000 kN or using built-in jacks, thereby verifying the capacity. The vibratory installation method, which is extremely quick and causes very little soil disturbance and noise, is exemplified by two case histories.

Jan 1, 2000

By Jeanie Wills, Theresa Nyabeze, Samantha Espley, Donna Beneteau

This presentation reports survey findings that aim to modernize the definition and understanding of the term 'mining.' The survey, conducted via LinkedIn in Winter 2024, garnered responses from a diverse group of individuals, including current or former employees of mining or exploration companies, mining consulting firms, service providers, supplier firms, as well as students and retirees with industry experience. The data, ethically approved by the University of Saskatchewan, offers valuable insights into satisfaction levels within the mining sector and suggests an expansion of the identifying characteristics of definitions of mining. This marks the third CIM gaining insights paper by Beneteau, Espley, and Nyabeze, following previous works on 'Career Satisfaction for Women in Mining' (2010) and 'Mentorship Initiatives in the Canadian Mining Industry' (2018*)."

Oct 1, 2024

By Lawrence K. Requa

The property being worked by the Lewiston dredge of Placer Development (Ltd.) is on the Trinity River in Trinity County, Calif., about 9 miles north of the town of Lewiston (see fig. 1). The nearest rail point is at Rending, Calif., which is exactly 50 miles bar road from the dredge camp. Recently a very good section of State highway has been constructed from Redding to Weaverville, and it is now possible to use this highway for 35 miles of the distance between the dredging property and Redding. The remaining 15 miles, however, are over ordinary dirt road. No trouble is experienced in reaching the property except for a few weeks during the middle of the winter when snowstorms may make travel difficult but not impossible. At present the property consists of about 500 acres of patented land, which extends for about 3 miles along the main Trinity River and Stuart's Pork. It is being worked with one 7-cubic foot, Bucyrus-type dredge, which has an average monthly capacity of about 100,000 cubic yards. To the end of 1931 approximately 10,000,000 cubic yards of gravel had been dredged.

Jan 1, 1932

By Michael J. Friedel

The integrity of mine structures, such as the roofs, ribs, face and supporting pillars, is difficult to assess beyond the exposed surface. To mitigate potential rockfall hazards, the U.S. Bureau of Mines is assessing the usefulness of Rayleigh wave dispersion analysis to detect damage and stress-relieved zones in mine structures. Classical surface wave dispersion modeling is utilized at both laboratory and field scales in damaged and undamaged material to assess the integrity of a mine pillar and roof. To more fully exploit Rayleigh wave propagation characteristics, derivation of a novel dispersion parameter was conducted using a convolutional model. The development of a suitable Rayleigh wave dispersion system based on insight derived from forward modeling is presented. The application of inverse modeling for damage and stress assessment in the mine environment is also discussed.

Jan 1, 2010

By John D. Spencer

Projects aimed at achieving the least disturbance to the Nation's air, water, and land resources in the mining and utilization of coal continued to be a feature of the Bureau of Mines coal program. This reflects the current concern about damage inflicted on the environment by our growing and increasingly affluent society. Mine Health and Safety research, along with investigations related to all other aspects of coal extraction and use, also continued to be implemented and expanded.

Jan 1, 1970

By John J. Baz-Dresch

Catalyzed diesel particulate filters (CDPF's) reduce the concentration of diesel particulate matter (DPM) and may reduce the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) in diesel exhaust. Asamera Minerals' Cannon Mine first installed CDPF's in 1987, and currently has 12 diesel-powered vehicles equipped with CDPF's. The Cannon Mine and the U.S. Bureau of Mines collaborated to evaluate the durability and performance of a CDPF. One of the CDPF's used at the mine was periodically evaluated in the USBM's diesel emissions laboratory after 839, 1,584, and 2,881 h of in-mine service. The objectives of this report are to present results from the USBM's evaluation of this CDPF, to describe the Cannon Mine's experience and cost analysis of using CDPF's, and to make recommendations for the future use of CDPF's. CDPF's improve air quality at the Cannon Mine, but they frequently become plugged and are subject to excessive mechanical shocks and stress, shortening their useful life. Mine records indicate that CDPF's account for 0.8 to 4.9 pct of the vehicles' operating cost at the lVine. CDPF life to date has ranged from 1,671 h to more than 5,992 h. Laboratory tests of the CDPF determined that DPM removal efficiency decreased and regeneration temperature increased over time.

Jan 1, 2010

By Dan Payne

The Crinum mine has recently completed workings in the southern area of the mine. Over the 10 years of longwall production 40 million tonnes have been extracted and the mine has experienced over 40 longwall face, 3 main gateend, and 2 tail gateend roof falls as well as 5 roadway roof falls away from the longwall. Weak roof (less than 10MPa (1450psi) in the bolted horizon) has been the principal roof control issue at the mine. However, weak, highly cleated coal, water inflow from overlying aquifers, some minor structure and a diatreme in the main headings have also contributed to the challenges at the mine. This paper describes the geotechnical experience over the 10 years, the mine?s approach to addressing the issues and the relative success of these approaches.

Jan 1, 2008

By B. S. Gottfried

This paper is concerned with possible transport mechanisms which occur during segregated burning (i.e., burning in an oil reservoir in which the oil-bearing formation is overlain by a "clean" porous zone containing only gas). ,Two analytical models are presented. In the first, burning is assumed to occur at the gas-oil interface, and the dominant mechanism is taken to be the rate at which oxygen diffuses to the interface. The second model assumes that combustion occurs within the clean zone, with the dominant mechanism being the mechanism of fuel deposition from the oil-bearing formation to the clean zone. ,Comparison of the results of the analyses with limited experimental data indicates that the latter mechanism is much more plausible. Both models are idealized representations of the actual process and are somewhat conjectural, however, owing to the lack of more definitive laboratory or field data. INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been considerable theoretical and experimental research directed toward understanding the recovery of crude oil by underground combustion. Although two different recovery schemes have been proposed, known as forward and reverse combustion, it is only forward combustion that shows promise of becoming a practical recovery technique.17 Most of the analyses of the forward combustion process have considered it to be pistonlike; i.e., oil is displaced by a vertical combustion zone which, with its ensuing gases, pushes die oil forward as the flame front is propagated through the reservoir.l-8,ll,l2,14-16 However, information gained in field pilot studies indicates that, at least to a certain extent, forward combustion proceeds in a segregated manner in oil reservoirs.10 An ideal segregated system is one in which the oil-bearing formation is overlain by a "clean" porous zone containing only gas. The location of the combustion zone in such a system is not immediately evident, although combustion is believed to occur either at the gas-oil interface or within the clean zone. In either case, the combustion zone may be horizontal and it moves in parallel rather than in series with the produced oil. The purpose of this paper is to explore the likely mechanisms by which segregated burning can occur, and to determine the sensitivity of the resulting models to changes in various physical parameters. Two governing mechanisms are considered: the case of a horizontal combustion zone at the gas-oil interface with the rate of combustion governed by the rate at which oxygen diffuses to the interface, and the case of combustion within the clean zone with the combustion process controlled by the transport of fuel from the oil-bearing formation to the clean zone. Both models are somewhat hypothetical and involve considerable simplification of the actual process. However, the results allow some preliminary understanding of segregated burning which is useful in the absence of more definitive laboratory or field pilot data.

Jan 1, 1967

By C. H. Riggs

"INTRODUCTION The injection of gas into the McClosky limestone in the adjoining, Griffin and New Harmony field in Indiana and Illinois and resulting increases in oil and gas production from this zone ore described in this report.Since 1911, the use of compressed air or as to increase oil production by supplementing natural reservoir energy has been widely adopted, and has resulted in the recovery of much additional oil, which otherwise would have been left underground. In many of the newer oil fields, including Griffin and New Harmony, a part of the compressed residue gas from natural gasoline plants is returned to the reservoir as a secondary method to increase oil and gasoline production. Part of the injected gas is stored underground for future use.By presenting data on many secondary recovery operations in a series of reports 5-9/ the Bureau of Mines has sought to stimulate interest in secondary recovery as a means of increasing oil recovery and current oil production for wartime needs. Most of the elder fields in the United States produce oil from sandstone reservoirs, and probably more than 90 percent of secondary recovery operations have been developed in oil bearing sandstones. During recent years, the volume of oil obtained by primary methods from limestone reservoirs has increased steadily, but as yet little has been done to recover, by secondary means,,the large volumes of oil left in limestone reservoirs when primary methods production are no longer profitable. Because of inherent differences in the origin and nature of the pore spaces between sandstones and limestones and because of differences in permeability and fluid content, secondary recovery methods, which are successful in sandstone-reservoirs, are not always applicable to limestones. Not much he been written concerning secondary recovery operations in limestone reservoirs, and few data are available to assist operators in developing such secondary recovery projects."

Jul 1, 1945

By J. Sammarco

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting mine illumination research to determine if light-emitting diode (LED) cap lamps can improve safety by reducing glare. Glare can impede a miner?s ability to see hazards and to safely perform their work. Another objective is to determine if a person?s age is a factor. This is important because the workforce is aging ? the average miner is now about 43 years old. Three cap lamps were used to evaluate glare: an incandescent cap lamp, a commercially available LED cap lamp and a NIOSH prototype LED cap lamp. Thirty NIOSH personnel from the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) served as test subjects. Three age groups were established with ten subjects in each group. Testing was conducted in the Mine Illumination Laboratory (MIL) of NIOSH PRL. The results indicate no statistically significant difference in discomfort glare among the incandescent and LED cap lamps. However, an analysis of variance for disability glare indicates that the LED cap lamps were superior for the older subjects. Disability glare scores for the oldest subject group improved 53.8% when using the NIOSH prototype LED cap lamp compared to the incandescent cap lamp and 36.5% compared to the commercial LED cap lamp. It ap­pears that, given the conditions of this study, LED cap lamps will not increase discomfort glare and can enable significant improvements in disability glare for older workers. It is also evident that not all LEDs are created equal. The disability glare improved the best for older workers when they used the NIOSH prototype LED cap lamp, which has a different spectral power distribution (SPD) (more short wavelength energy) than the commercial LED cap lamp. Therefore, for disability glare, the results suggest that the SPD is an important factor to consider in cap lamp design.

Jan 1, 2009

By J. van der Merwe, D. Tharandt

The corrosion behaviour of 304L stainless steel laser-cladded with various amounts of ruthenium (Ru) was evaluated in solutions of sulphuric acid and sulphuric acid plus sodium chloride at 25°C and 45°C by open-circuit potential and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization tests. In general, the addition of Ru to the stainless steel increased its corrosion resistance in 1 M H2SO4, as well as in 1 M H2SO4 plus 1 wt% NaCl. This was observed for a number of parameters such as corrosion rate, corrosion potential, open-circuit potential, and current density. However, increasing the amount of Ru added beyond a certain level did not result in further improvement in corrosion protection. For each environment there is an optimal Ru concentration for the best corrosion protection. For example, in 1 M H2SO4 at 25°C, 2.44 wt% Ru shows the least active surface in terms of corrosion. Further research into ruthenium coatings on stainless steels is recommended.

Jan 1, 2015

By Yi Luo

In the study of the topographical effects on surface movement due to underground longwall mining, the factors that affect the incremental horizontal displacements are identified using 10 collected cases. Based on this study, the angle of surface natural slope is the major contributor to the incremental horizontal displacement while the total movement is also playing an important role in some cases.

Jan 1, 1996

By J Graaf, R A. Murrell

Gold Fields Australia is constructing two major ventilation shafts at the Wallaby gold mine in Western Australia. The new ventilation shafts are required to facilitate the long term ventilation strategy for the mine, thereby allowing continued extraction of ore beyond 1000 m below the surface. The construction work has involved all of the challenges that shaft construction can throw up, including challenging geotechnical conditions, unexpected high water inflows and major circulation loss during pilot hole drilling for raise boring. An extensive geotechnical and hydrological investigation program was undertaken prior to awarding the shaft construction contracts. While most of the risks were identified, several proved to be much more challenging than expected. The shaft construction methods included conventional sinking into the fresh rock profile in each shaft, followed by raise bore pilot hole drilling and reaming. A headframe was constructed for the first shaft, which was sunk to 92 m with a stage suspended in the shaft to facilitate the concrete lining and provide rope guides for the kibble winding. Drawing from experience when sinking the first shaft, additional ground pre-conditioning was implemented for the second shaft, which was pre-supported with continuous piles to 28 m followed by sinking to 50 m using a crane instead of winders and a headframe. Following the conventional sinking through the weathered zone in each shaft, the shafts were completed using a raise bore. The first shaft utilised a riser pipe and rotary vertical drilling system (RVDS) with the second shaft having utilised a dual rotary rig for pilot hole drilling. This paper reviews the site investigations undertaken, construction methodologies applied, the results achieved and the lessons learnt.CITATION:Murrell, R A and Graaf, J, 2017. Shaft construction at the Gold Fields Wallaby mine, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 321–334 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 16, 2017

By Donald W. Ross

"INTRODUCTION Sponge iron has been made commercially since 1912 at a Swedish ceramic plant; and the product, known as Swedish disk—type sagger sponge iron, has an excellent reputation as a superior furnace feed wherever high—grade steels are made. The general procedure for making brickyard sponge iron was described frequently in Swedish technical journals prior to 1932 and at that time consisted in filling clay refractory containers, called saggers, with a super-concentrate of Gellivare magnetite plus the necessary amount of solid reducing agent and desulfurizer and then firing in a Hoffmann ring furnace, as used in the ceramic industry.The early Swedish publications describe two types of brickyard sponge iron: (1) An inferior high-sulfur product obtained by mixing the ore and reducing agent, and (2) a high-grade low-sulfur product in the form of coherent disks 7 to 9 inches in diameter and 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick made by the saggers with alternate layers of solid-fuel reducr and of uniaxed ore."

Sep 1, 1945

Satellite Image Based Strategies to Evaluate the Impact of Dismissed Mine Site - An Application to the Mae Moh Coal Mine Area in the Lampang Province, Thailand

Sep 13, 2010

By R. Franfield

This paper describes a situation that many drilling and blasting contractors have found themselves in – a client?s fear of the use of explosives. In the summer of 2007 Blasting Services Ltd was asked to undertake some drilling and blasting work in an abandoned quarry that was being restored for a housing development. Previous quarrying operations had left a series of overhangs that were considered unsafe and required removing. The site contractor considered that the best and safest way to carry out this work was by drilling and blasting. Blasting Services Ltd, with the technical assistance of Exchem Explosives, designed a drilling and blasting regime to accomplish this work with a series of trim blasts. The design took into account the close proximity of a structure in very poor condition and the imposed vibration limit of 6.0 mm/s (0.24 i.p.s.). The faces were profiled, holes drilled and explosives ordered. A few days before the first blast was due to be carried out the client decided that the poor condition of the nearby structure meant that the use of explosives could not be permitted. This decision was made despite the blast design indicating that the vibration level would be well below the 6.0 mm/s (0.24 i.p.s.) limit.

Jan 1, 2009

By M. Nagamori, A. J. Plumpton

"Commercial HCl-leaching of magnesite and serpentine yields highly concentrated aqueous solutions containing 25 mass % to 33 mass % MgCl2. The partial molar enthalpies and heat capacities, the ionic activities of Mg2+ and Cl–, and the Raoultian activity of H2O have been assessed for the concentrated MgCl2-H2O solutions at temperatures of 348 to 373 K. These thermodynamic data are used to calculate the pH of aqueous MgCl2 solutions saturated with a Mg-bearing mineral such as magnesite, serpentine, brucite, forsterite, enstatite or talc. On the basis of these thermodynamic data, technico-economic aspects are discussed as to neutralization with pulverized MgCO3, water evaporation from the MgCl2 solutions, and ore composition including such minor constituents as CaCO3, FeCO3 and Fe3O4. IntroductionA major magnesium electrolytic reduction plant operates in Quebec, where another will begin its production in the year 2000. One uses imported magnesite ore as raw material, while the other will utilize local asbestos tailings (serpentine). Both processes produce a concentrated salt solution of 25 mass % to 33 mass % MgCl2 by leaching the ore with concentrated hydrochloric acid. Thus, the two processes differ mainly in the HCl-leach and related operations. After the HCl-leach of the ore, the serpentine process yields about 25 times more wet cake to filter and wash than the magnesite counterpart. A comparative cost-engineering study with respect to slurry filtration and cake washing has been published elsewhere (Blackburn and Nagamori, 1994). By contrast, the present study considers the thermodynamics and technicoeconomics of the HCl-leach itself for both ores."

Jan 1, 1999

Continuing with the effort of providing new and more effective exploration methods to the mining industry, where direct methods (drilling, cross-cutting, etc.) are not applicable, either for logistical or environmental reasons or because they are costly and sometimes ineffective, we present here a new seismic technique based on full wave recording of 3-D channel waves generated within the coal seam across a longwall. In the past two years we reported the application on In-Seam High Resolution Seismic Reflection (ISHRSR) and In-Seam Seismic Tomography (ISST) to map non-coal inclusions that disrupt the coal seam continuity. In the present paper we present a 3-D In-Seam Seismic Tomography (3-DTSST) method using 3-D channel waves recorded by three component high resolution geophones. The method allows to distinguish longitudinal and transversal components of the channel waves, similar to the spheroidal and toroidal modes for the free oscillations of the earth. The recording of these waves allows a more complete analysis of the free modal vibrations of channel waves, permitting a more complete inversion of the structure of the coal seam through which they travel. The full wave analysis provides additional insights of the detailed coal structure for larger, distances than for the ones previously reported using the one dimensional method. The refinement of the inversion software is also a contribution towards the better definition of the coal seam geometry and structures disturbing them such as sandstone channels, sandstone rolls, partings, mine voids, faults, fractures, etc. The method is illustrated with three case studies where subsequent mining revealed the virtues and limitations. The first example deals with the problem of mapping mine works in one side of a longwall panel which geometry is well known, to verify its applicability to map old mine works. The second example deals with a sandstone body that partially scoured the coal seam withing a longwall panel. The third shows an application of the method to map roof conditions in a longwall panel where this problem critically affected production scheduling and costs

Jan 1, 1996