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Characterization of ore and waste-rock material using automated quantitative micro-mineralogical techniques (e.g., QEMSCAN® and MLA) has the potential to complement traditional acid-base accounting and humidity cell techniques when predicting acid generation and metal release. These characterization techniques, which most commonly are used for metallurgical, mineral-processing, and geometallurgical applications, can be broadly applied throughout the mine-life cycle to include numerous environmental applications. Critical insights into mineral liberation, mineral associations, particle size, particle texture, and mineralogical residence phase(s) of environmentally important elements can be used to anticipate potential environmental challenges. Resources spent on initial characterization result in lower uncertainties of potential environmental impacts and possible cost savings associated with remediation and closure. Examples illustrate mineralogical and textural characterization of fluvial tailings material from the upper Arkansas River in Colorado.

Feb 27, 2013

By W. P. Arnott, P. Nascimento, X. L. Wang, K. C. Kocsis, S. J. Taylor, H. Firouzkouhi

We report the first spectral photoacoustic measurements of silica, coal, and kaolinite dust absorption coefficients from 11 to 13 μm at 5 nm resolution made with a tunable quantum cascade laser. This is important because airborne silica dust and coal dust within mining environments continue to be a problem for mine workers and staff due to their severe health effects on the respiratory system, while other dust types are potentially interferents to their detection. Our real-time spectra compare favorably with the non-real-time filter-based Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectra obtained using the sampling system developed by NIOSH for their end-of-shift method to determine silica dust concentrations using a portable FTIR. We discuss our new dust generation system and instrument testing chamber. We also show that our PM4 silica mass concentration measurements by a low-cost air quality sensor (SPS30) are in good agreement with the TSI Aerosol Particle Sizer instrument, the NIOSH end of shift method, gravimetric mass, and correlate well with photoacoustic light absorption measurements at a wavelength where silica absorbs strongly.

Aug 20, 2022

By Daniel H. McClain

A unique partnership between the Colorado Mine Safety and Training Program (CMSTP), the Colorado Rock Products Association (CRPA) and the Higher Education and Advanced Technology (HEAT)Center resulted in a video CD-ROM training program for new miners entering the aggregate industry. Cooperation from everyone involved, including the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA),made this the product against which other training materials in the mining industry will be measured in the 21stcentury. This product’s versatility and wide application make it a tool that is as critical to a mine’s success as any earthmoving machine. The state and federal grant money involved allows this product to be affordable to small operators and independent contractors. The quality of this two CD-ROM set rivals any commercially made CD-ROM training.

Jan 1, 2003

Satisfactory means of managing growth in boom towns is a concern in mineral, energy and other large industrial developments. This session will include examinations of socioeconomic impacts, major issues such as social disruption, case studies, methods of managing growth, and concerns involving Indian lands. Innovative methods will be offered to assist the public, government, and industry in finding solutions to managing growth in rapidly growing communities.

Jan 1, 1979

By J. F. Burr, D. P. Snyder, G. W. Luxbacher

"The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER Act) of 2006 (PL 109-236, 2006) established the Office of Mine Safety and Health, functioning as the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and provided authority for awarding contracts related to the development and implementation of new mine technology and equipment. The OMSHR external contracts program was formed in accordance with the MINER Act and has since issued more than 150 contracts focused on worker health and safety. Initial funding for this program was provided by the United States Congress through two emergency supplemental appropriations and was focused on emergency oxygen supply, communications and tracking, and refuge chambers (also referred to as refuge alternatives). Since the MINER Act, Congress has continued to fund the program through the annual NIOSH mining appropriation. The program was supplemented starting in 2009 with an academic capacity building program directed toward developing university tenure-track faculty and facilities and supporting graduate students in the area of mine ventilation. Ground control was added as an additional focus area in 2011. A short synopsis of each contract is published on the NIOSH Mining website (www.cdc.gov/niosh/ mining/researchprogram/contracts/index.html) and final reports are available in digital form on request. A summary of the progress OMSHR has made over the 10-year period since the Act was published previously (Snyder et al., 2016).External contracts are broadly classified by the following areas:• Communications and tracking.• Emergency response.o Self-escape and breathing air supply.o Refuge alternatives.o Escape and rescue.• Equipment safety.• Fires and explosions.• Ground control.• Mine environmental systems (mine ventilation and atmospheric monitoring).• Worker/workplace health and safety.Contracts are issued under a request for proposal (RFP), through a broad agency announcement (BAA) or under an interagency agreement (IAA). An RFP solicitation includes a specific problem description and a well-defined scope of work to guide the offeror in preparing a bid to conduct the research. Under the BAA several problem areas are described and the offeror develops the scope of work and deliverables for the proposed research. An IAA is very similar to an RFP except it is a contract between two federal government agencies."

Jan 10, 2018

An incremental-analysis-based stope design and cutoff grade calculation method was developed for an underground metal mine project. Traditional stope design methods are typically very time consuming and lack consistency and accuracy by manually drawing stope shapes. For quick reserve calculation and economic analysis, a new method named "3D incremental analysis based stope design" was created for mine-wide stope designs. The key idea of this method is to replace engineers' manual checking of each incremental ring with one calculation of all the rings, and to build the final stope shape with the maximum values. This process was realized through a 3D ring grid setup and proper naming conventions for rapid calculations. With this unique but practical method, multiple options for a mine design were completed within a short time before the final selection of optimal cutoff grade and best stope designs for the project.

Jan 1, 2012

By Derek Brennan, Donald Brennan

"The existing Rondout West Branch Tunnel (RWBT) is part of the Delaware Aqueduct which has been in service since 1944 and accounts for more than 50 percent of New York City’s water supply. In early 2015, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection contracted Kiewit-Shea Constructors, AJV (KSC) to construct the Rondout West Branch Bypass Tunnel project (Rondout) in order to mitigate the leakage of 132 million L/ day (35 million gpd) of water from two areas of the existing tunnel; the Roseton and Wawarsing areas.The scope of the Bypass Tunnel 2 project is separated into two distinct phases. Phase 1 consists of completing the shaft sinking to a depth of approximately 274 m (900 ft) at shaft 5B, 213 m (700 ft) at shaft 6B and the excavation of approximately 3,850 m (12,500 linear ft) of tunnel at a diameter of 6.6 m (21 ft 7 in). This phase also includes the installation of 2,804 m (9,200 linear ft) of 4.8 m (16 ft) diameter steel interliner pipe through the new bypass tunnel with cast-in–place concrete liner for a finished diameter of 4.2 m (14 ft). Access chambers at the top of shafts 5B and 6B will be constructed for access and housing of the mechanical and electrical equipment for supporting pumps and valves.Included in phase 2 is the additional excavation from shafts 5B and 6B to the RWBT, and the drainage tunnel to remove ground water infiltration from RWBT. This work will be completed during a scheduled shutdown of the RWBT and will include approximately 31 m (100 ft) of excavation of the two connection tunnels. Additionally, construction of the permanent plugs within the RWBT will be undertaken. Figure 2 shows the layout of the work.Access to the work through the deep shaft at site 5B was critical to the success of the project. The hoisting system needed to be multi-functional to handle the different types of construction from drill and shoot of the shaft, starter and tail tunnel, the assembly of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), the excavation of the TBM tunnel including the supply of the precast segmental liner, the grouting operations, the installation of the steel interliner pipe and the cast-in-place concrete as well as ingress and egress of personnel. The production of the TBM operations was critical to the schedule of the project. This required a quick cycle for muck haulage and supply of the precast segmental liner in order to keep pace with the excavation time of the TBM. For TBM assembly, components were limited to a maximum weight of 104 t (115 st) for a single lift. Various cranes were analyzed for hoisting, however, none would meet all of the citeria. Therefore, the project team selected a specialized hoisting system designed in house in conjunction with Timberland Equipment Ltd. that consisted of a total of 14 separate hoists and winches with a total of more than 2,833 kW (3,800 hp)."

Mar 1, 2019

By M. Bennett, L. Twidwell

Montana Tech has embarked on a coordinated series of studies to delineate the characteristics of the Berkeley Pitlake containing over 36 billion gallons of acidic, metal-contaminated water formed after the cessation of open-pit copper mining in Butte, Montana, USA. The objectives of the overall series of studies are to summarize presently available information and to generate new and needed information to formulate a conceptual environmental model for the pitlake and to provide characterization data for the development of advanced treatment technologies. In this presentation, the chemistry of the Berkeley Pitlake water is partially reviewed. It is known that the pitlake consists of two distinct layers of water referred to as surface and deep water. Samples of deep water were collected and placed in a 12-ft high and 6-inch diameter column and exposed to different wavelengths of UV radiation as well as atmospheric conditions. Measurements of pH, redox potential (EH), dissolved O2, turbidity, conductivity, temperature, and elemental composition show that the water reacts differently and indicates that the diurnal effects of sunlight likely play a major non-biological role in its chemistry. Resulting technology could be useful for developing an alternative to treating acid-rock drainage.

Jan 1, 2007

By William M. Dowall

The recently completed in-pit crushing and conveying project at Phelps Dodge's Morenci Mine is rated among the world's leading materials handling projects. The operation involves the crushing and transport of more than 109 kt/ d (120,000 stpd) of copper ore, using regenerative conveyors capable of providing more than 5.5 MW (7000 hp) of equivalent electrical energy. The Morenci Mine is located 330 km (200 miles) east of Phoenix, AZ. Phelps Dodge Corp. owns an 85% interest in the mine. The remaining 15% is owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. Copper has been continuously produced from the Morenci district since the late 1800s. Until 1989, run-of-mine ore was transported from active mining faces to the Morenci and Metcalf concentrators by truck and rail haulage. In that year, a system of in-pit, semi-portable crushing plants and overland conveyors was commissioned. This substantially reduced truck haulage and effectively eliminated rail haulage in the pit. The system used two semi-portable, in-pit crushing stations equipped with 60/89 gyratory crushers. The crushed ore from both plants reported to the first of two overland belt conveyors, arranged in series, for transport from the pit to a coarse ore stockpile. The system was "backed-up" by existing locomotive rail haulage.

Jan 1, 1993

By Manoj Khandelwal, Minghui Liu, Jian Zhou, Kun Du

The waste rock and tailings backfill into the mined-out areas are the most effective method for solving the environmental pollution and surface disasters for nonferrous metals mines. In practice, the success and availability of backfill operations are dependent on the slurry fluidity and the strength properties of cement backfill. The transport of the slurry through the pipeline to the designated backfilling area relies on its eximious flow properties, while the appropriate strength of the filling body ensures the safe operation of the stope. In this paper, the effects of cement and aggregate types on the slurry fluidity and strength characteristics of cemented backfill are studied in detail, which are often ignored in other pieces of literature. Diffusivity is used as an indicator to evaluate the slurry fluidity. Various slurries whose concentrations ranging from 70%, 73%, 75%, 78%, and 80% are made with different aggregate ratios and cement-sand ratios are tested. It has been shown that slurry fluidity is inversely related to its concentration, but 78% is the “stopping point” for the deterioration of fluidity. The addition of rod-milled sand improves or worsens the cemented backfill (CB) strength depending on the amount of rob-milled sand. The uniaxial compression experiment results on 216 CB specimens produced by different combinations of influencing variables showed that CB specimens made from cement with superior mechanical properties have a higher uniaxial compressive strength (σucs). It has been also found that the effect of aggregate ratio on the CB strength is not singular, but works in conjunction with the curing time and the cement-sand ratio. The longer the curing time and the higher the cement content, the higher the CB’s σucs. To avoid the time-consuming and costly problem of obtaining the strength of the CB from indoor experiments, an SVR model capable of predicting the uniaxial compression strength of CB specimens is proposed, which is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The results of the three performance indexes (MAPE, MSE, and R2) show the superior performance of the GA-SVR and PSO-SVR models and the agreement of the predicted results with the experimental results, which indicate that these two models can accurately predict the σucs of CB.

Feb 3, 2022

By Frank C. Stevens

Many changes have taken place in the "World Cement Market" since Joseph Aspdin discovered portland cement in the early 1800's. At the turn of the century, production of cement world wide was a few million tons; today, it is over one billion tons. By 1995, world production is estimated to reach 1.2 billion tons. Cement processing has changed from inefficient, small vertical kilns to large efficient, precalcining kilns, and large automated crushing, blending and grinding systems. Consequently the cost of production has declined in real terms, resulting in significant economic benefits to the general public. In addition, quality and uniformity of cement have increased, strengths have increased, and at least 25% fewer pounds of cement are needed for each cubic yard of concrete. Today, cement moves thousands of miles on the inland rivers and great lakes of the U. S., across Siberia and across the oceans of the world. The volume of cement moving more than a few hundred miles is almost 100 million tons, or 10% of world production. Today, on a per ton basis, it costs no more to move 40,000 tons of cement to the United States from the Western Pacific rim or from Europe than it does to truck cement 200 miles. For example, cement shipped by water from Spain costs $5.00 to $7.00 per ton compared to cement shipped by truck 200 miles at $16.00 per ton. This low cost water transportation has been a major factor for the increased movement of cement between countries. Table 1, Cement Production Summary-World, gives a global picture of production, export and import tonnages in recent years. Figure 1 is a graph showing CEMENT PRODUCTION SUMMARY WORLD WIDE.

Jan 1, 1987

By J. L. Kearns

The importance of optimizing equipment replacement decisions becomes more critical each year due to the rising costs of buying new equipment versus maintaining old equipment. Replacing equipment when it is physically worn out, or replacing it too soon or too late relative to its Economic Life (when it is economically worn out), is very costly. After extensive literature review and research, Kennecott has developed its Equipment Replacement Guide (ERG) system which identifies, evaluates, and justifies the replacement of uneconomical equipment. The system considers such critical factors as inflation, decreasing work capability, increasing maintenance/repair and operating costs, taxes, time value of money, return on investment, salvage value, and investment tax credit. These factors are used in a system of equations which balance the costs of new equipment against the total operating costs of old equipment. The solution of the equations determines the Economic Life of equipment. Replacement of equipment at the determined Economic Life will earn the specified, required return on investment that is used in the calculation of the Economic Life.

Jan 1, 1979

By Girish Roy, Robert Goodfellow, Angel Del Amo, Bingzhi Yang

Designing and constructing tunnels in seismic prone areas present unique challenges to both designers and contractors. The Westside Purple Line Extension Project– Section 3 in Los Angeles requires crossing an active fault that may subject the tunnels to extreme structural demands. In order to ensure that the linings will safely accommodate the fault movement, a revolutionary composite section—steel plate embedded in the intrados of the precast concrete segmental tunnel lining was finally selected. Additionally, continuous expansion steel plates over the circumferential joints will be installed to mitigate the potential opening of the circumferential joints.

Jun 13, 2021

By David M. Lake

Conversion to trolley assist is a means of minimizing diesel fuel consumption, which in many mining situations offers a rapid payback of capital investment plus the inherent flexibility and maneuverability of truck shovel operation. When diesel electric truck shovel mining operation with trolley assist is compared to alternative mining methods such as conveyor systems, the trolley assist system can be easily justified in terms of return on investment, payback and increased productivity. A review of present technology, performance requirements and past experience in the mining industry has led to the development of a trolley assist system for diesel electric haulage trucks which, is proven in the mining environment, offers significant reduction in fuel consumption and increased productivity.

Jan 1, 1981

By S. L. Ducummon

Inactive underground mines now provide essential habitat for more than half of North America's 44 bat species, including some of the largest remaining populations. Thousands of abandoned mines have already been closed or are slated for safety closures, and many are destroyed during renewed mining in historic districts. The available evidence suggests that millions of bats have already been lost due to these closures. Bats are primary predators of night-flying insects that cost American farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually, therefore, threats to bat survival are cause for serious concern. Fortunately, mine closure methods exist that protect both bats and humans. Bat Conservation International (BCI) and the USDI-Bureau of Land Management founded the North American Bats and Mines Project to provide national leadership and coordination to minimize the loss of mine-roosting bats. This partnership has involved federal and state mine-land and wildlife managers and the mining industry. BCI has trained hundreds of mine-land and wildlife managers nationwide in mine assessment techniques for bats and bat-compatible closure methods, published technical information on bats and mine-land management, presented papers on bats and mines at national mining and wildlife conferences, and collaborated with numerous federal, state, and private partners to protect some of the most important mine-roosting bat populations. Our new mining industry initiative, Mining for Habitat, is designed to develop bat habitat conservation and enhancement plans for active mining operations. It includes the creation of cost-effective artificial underground bat roosts using surplus mining materials such as old mine-truck tires and culverts buried beneath waste rock.

Jan 1, 1997

By Sandeep Kumar Jeripotula, Govinda Raj Mandela, Aruna Manglapady

Dumper operators are frequently exposed to whole body vibration (WBV) in surface mines. Surface mining activities involve the amalgamation of comparatively high intensity of vibration and extended exposure durations. Efficient risk reduction mandates knowing of important phases of a task that poses a threat to health of dumper operators. So far in India very limited studies have been reported on WBV exposure with regard to surface mines. This paper evaluates WBV of dumper operators based on ISO 2631-1:1997 Standards and European Union (EU) Directive 2002 for different phases of job cycle. Six dumpers were considered for this study and the vibration measurements were made for all the four phases of the job cycle by placing the triaxial accelerometer on the operator’s seat-surface and at the seat-back, independently. The findings of the study revealed that the haulage task (loaded travel and empty travel) remains the chief contributor to vibration exposure according to seat-surface and seat-back measurements. Maximum frequency weighted root mean square (RMS) of 1.12 m/s2 and 1.09 m/s2 were reported for empty travel task for seat-surface and seat-back measurements, respectively. For seat-surface measurements based on RMS, Z axis remains as the dominant axis of vibration for all the dumpers during haulage task, whereas for seat-back measurements, the dominant axis varies between X and Y. Exposure action value (EAV) based on RMS has exceeded the threshold value of 0.5 m/s2 for all the dumpers during loaded travel and empty travel for seat-surface as well as for seat-back measurements.

By TUIJA MONONEN, LUDGER BENIGHAUS, CHRISTINA BENIGHAUS, Virginia del Rio, SARI KAUPPI, JUHA M. KOTILAINEN, JAVIER GÓMEZ, JARI LYYTIMÄKI

The understanding of public debates over mineral exploration and mining largely originates from exceptional situations such as mining accidents of conflicts. Less is known about how mining is portrayed and understood under more conventional settings. What storylines dominate the local day-to-day public debate? This article presents results from a comparative case study focusing on newspaper coverage of mineral exploration and mining in three European countries representing different geological and socio-economic contexts. Newspaper articles from the Geyer-Erzgebirge region in Germany, the Andalusia region in Spain, and Northern Finland are studied. The sample looks into the period between September 2018 and February 2020 and shows that regional newspapers report about mining issues relatively intensively even in the absence of major accidents or other media events causing peaks of attention. The tone of the articles is generally neutral to positive towards mining activities, reflecting the specific local settings, historical experiences, and future expectations. Despite the different contexts of the three countries, there were considerable similarities to the topics highlighted, including common themes of mining revival, mining events and social interaction, history of mining, and damages related to mining. Past, present, and future employment opportunities related directly or indirectly to the mining sector are key storylines. Another recurrent underlying theme is the need to balance environment and safety risks and socio-economic prosperity, typically covered through ordinary disputes among the mining sector, public authorities, regional non-governmental organizations, and local initiatives.

Jul 6, 2021

By L. Widdifield, R. Riggle

"In today’s challenging mining environment the “Big Picture” (Caterpillar, 2013) approach to mining is often neglected. With haulage costs approaching up to 45 % of the overall mining costs, all too often the load-haul-dump- return cycle is not investigated in its completeness. This paper will discuss the aspects of taking the time to observe an operation from the “Big Picture” approach. In today’s mining business miners, engineers, trainers, supervisors, and managers have ever increasing roles and responsibilities as never seen before in the past decade. The endless human resource, safety, environmental, cost control issues and performance initiatives, detracts from precious time that may have been dedicated to examining the day to day operation. Having examined numerous mining operations over the past several years, one common denominator is lack of time to properly observe operating practices in the field and recognize both positive and negative observations. The old fashioned vocation of observing the operation to assess the haulage, loading and maintenance processes to adjust, maximize or enhance operations have sometimes vanished. Four areas to be discussed in this paper: (1) Look at the “Big Picture”(Caterpillar, 2013), (2) Use common sense, (3) Areas identified for biggest improvements in the operations, (4) Observation of small details for big impacts to lower cost per ton and increased production. The objective of this paper is to provide low cost recommendations to lower cost per ton and increase production. INTRODUCTION Whether miners claim to have been around and experienced it all or the “rookie” on the mine site, miners are expected to execute the mine plan at the lowest cost possible. So why is it so difficult to execute this task? Shouldn’t supervisors just have to man the equipment, tell operators to have a safe day and tally up the numbers at the end of the shift? And let the technology system do the rest? So what could go wrong? Lots. Mining companies seek help from consultants, training departments, performance reporting systems and an arsenal of resources. Armed with all this information, the supervisors just hop in the pick-up and tell the shovel operator to speed up. Sounds simple enough. When the improvements don’t happen, what could have gone wrong? It comes down to people, the simple things that were not executed over the months previously and as a result today the mines performance is not where it should be. A mine is built by people. Managers who have the vision to develop the ore body in a manner that follows sound engineering practices. The infrastructure to mill the ore and support the equipment needed to move the material. Along the way equipment is procured and operators trained to run the gear. Engineers and geologists set up the design, the material movement, and haulage routes. Sounds easy to this point. So, why mine after mine is there this constant struggle to move more with less and get the costs down? Understanding how to make “Great Miners” out of these people is critical to lowering your cost per ton."

Jan 1, 2016

By D. F. O?Connor

The health & safety of all workers in an underground environment is paramount to the success of our operations. The diesel emission reduction projects are key to improving such an environment. However, care must be taken to reduce the risk to personnel during such tests and prevent exposure to other hazards. VALE Inco works in a close partnership with its unionized employees, manufactures, suppliers, researchers and government officials to ensure projects are done safely and efficiently to successful completion. The Creighton Mine Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) project is an example of such a project that is currently under way to evaluate new and innovative technology that will further our search for improved environment for our workplace. This paper will discuss the issues and processes that are followed to ensure Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) field tests are conducted safely and productively.

Jan 1, 2009

By Todd Minoski, KRISTIN FLOYD, Michael Murphy, VASU GANGRADE, Gamal Rashed, DYKE MARK VAN, Brent Slaker

Underground stone mines frequently operate on multiple mining horizons or are required to undermine or overmine old workings. In these situations, the effects of pillar columnization and interburden thickness on the stresses surrounding mine workings are poorly understood. Many old workings were not designed to consider the effect on future undermining or overmining and, as a result, are laid out on irregular patterns and with pillar sizes that are difficult or impossible to replicate on adjacent levels. Additionally, as depth increases, even a consistent gridded mine layout may result in poor columnization due to the need to increase pillar sizes. Rules of thumb and past practice for designing multiple levels may often be effective. This paper explores the effect that multiple-level stone mining has on stress redistribution through the discussion of two case-study mines and associated numerical modeling to provide additional insight into situations which may cause concern.