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YOUR Excellency, Fellow Members of the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers and Gentlemen:-Nearly a decade has passed since our Institute first met in New Zealand. May I, at the very outset of this second gathering, congratulate the Institute on the great progress that has been made in the interval. At the first meeting in New Zealand in the year 1903, I understand that less than 20 persons were present, and now in the large concourse before me I believe there are not fewer than 140 persons, while if every member of the Institute to-day where here there would be over 500 with usagreat change from a membership of only 250 in 1903. I feel deeply appreciative of the honour you have conferred upon me by electing me your President for the year 1911. In return for the compliment, may I ask you to believe that I shall do everythingin my power to further the interests of the Institute throughout the coming year.It is a great regret to me to realise that soon my work in New Zealand will be over. However, I trust that the new...

Jan 1, 1912

By Jens Classen, Martino Gatti

"GENERAL PROJECT DATAThe Sparvo Tunnel is part of the “Variante di Valico” project, a new 65km (40mi) highway link between Bologna and Florence, designed to renew the existing A1 route which connects Bologna and Florence. It is composed of 2 x 2,5km (1,55mi) twin tunnels excavated inside a complex geological context, characterized by the presence of a series of surface landslides and methane gas.The inclination is 2,6 % and the minimum radius is 1.400m (4.600ft). The two tunnel tubes were excavated by a 15,6m (51ft) diameter EPB-TBM from summer 2011 to summer 2013. The internal diameter of the concrete lining is 13,6m (44,5ft), made up of precast concrete segments 2m (6,5ft) long and 70cm (28”) thick, being the largest and heaviest segments ever produced. Excavation went smooth apart from initial problems concerning clogging problems and a main bearing damage of the TBM, which are discussed in a further paper during the congress. No structural damage was observed until the end of the TBM drives.SITE OBSERVATIONS DURING THE POST-EXCAVATION PHASEThe first evidence of the stress state of the segmental lining appeared on November 20, 2013 inside the northern tube (1st drive). Ring No. 884 showed obvious signs of overstress, resulting in spalling and crushing of the concrete, and the subsequent bending of the reinforcement, as visible in figure 1.At this time the tunnel invert was already partially backfilled, and construction traffic was running through the tunnel. First safety measures included closing of the tunnel, and initial measurements of the displacements."

Jan 1, 2016

By Z. Hyder, A. Urquidez

"INTRODUCTION The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is located approximately 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico and is the nation’s first underground geologic repository for transuranic (TRU) and TRU-mixed waste (see Figure 1). The WIPP facility was opened for operation in 1999 when the first TRU waste shipment arrived at the WIPP facility for disposal.WIPP facility does not employ typical production aspects of a conventional mine. Instead, the mining focus is on the quality of the excavation to ensure safe disposal of TRU and TRU-mixed waste (Walls, 1991). GEOLOGY WIPP underground repository is mined within a 2,000 feet-thick bedded-halite formation (Salado Formation) (see Figure 2). The WIPP underground repository is located approximately 2,150 feet beneath the surface near the center of the Salado Formation. Geologic criterion and site-selection factors evaluated for the selection of the repository included topography, depth, thickness, lateral extent, lithology, stratigraphy, structure, erosion, dissolution, subsidence, surface water, aquifers, hydrologic transport, climatic fluctuations, manmade penetrations (U.S. Department of Energy, 1980).FACILITY DESIGN Profit did not play a major role in the WIPP’s conception like in a conventional mine. This was due to the extensive amount of additional regulations and safety controls that had to be built into the WIPP facility. Since it is nuclear and hazardous waste disposal facility, it must meet certain federal and state requirements for TRU-mixed waste. One of the major regulatory drivers for the WIPP facility is defined in the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (LWA). One of the requirements in the WIPP LWA requires the DOE to submit documentation of continued compliance with Title 40 CFR Part 191, Subparts B, and C. These standards are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The DOE must submit documentation of continued compliance (recertification) with these regulations every five years. In addition to the LWA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is another major regulatory driver for the WIPP facility. Since the WIPP facility is categorized as a “Miscellaneous Unit” under 40 CFR, it must meet extensive environmental performance standards. These standards are defined in the WIPP Hazardous Waste Facility Permit (HWFP). The HWFP defines the terms and conditions that the Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department has determined necessary to protect human health and the environment (U.S. Department of Energy and Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC, 2015)."

Jan 1, 2017

By L. Bomvisinho

As a result of today?s requirements for larger mills with higher power demand, and in order to cope with maximizing throughput, and optimize grinding efficiency, the minerals industry is increasingly relying on the robust Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) solution. This paper describes the new features introduced with the revolutionary ABB drive controller for Gearless Mills, and explains the benefits this can bring to the operation. Extensive surveys have been performed with GMD users to gather suggestions and understand the market wishes. As a result the new driver controller capabilities and functionalities focus on safety, high availability, operational flexibility and remote diagnostics.

Jan 1, 2010

By Gaston Gendreau, Marcel Allard

"Sidbec-Normines Inc. est une société formée de trios partenaires soient: Sidbec, British Steel Corporation et la Compagnie Minière Quebec Cartier. L'objectif de l'opération minière est d'exploiter à ciel ouvert le gisement d'hématite spéculaire de Fire Lake et de produire au concentrateur de Lac-Jeannine, près de la ville de Gagnon, 6 million de tonnes de concentré pour alimenter l'usine de bouletage de Port Cartier.Le présent exposé a pour but de fa ire ressortier les caractéristiques d'une opération dont la mine est située à plus de 100 km du concentrateur, d'en faire ressortir les particularités touchant le transport du personnel et du minerai. En plus, on traitera de l'importance dans une telle situation d'une organisation efficace dans la gestion des services et de l'opération (atelier, concasseur, entrepôt, etc.).IntroductionSidbec-Normines Inc . a entrepris l'exploitation minière du gisement de Fire Lake, le 1er janvier 1977. Le but de l'entreprise est de produire annuellement six millions (6 000 000) de tonnes de concentré d'hématite (oxide de fer) titrant 66% Fe au concentrateur de Lac-Jeannine a partir d'un minerai d'une teneur moyenne de 33% Fe, extrait de la mine de Fire Lake. Ce concentré est ensuite achemine à Port-Cartier et alimente I'usine de bouletage.Les installations minières de Sidbec-Normines sont situées a trois endroits différents : la mine à Fire Lake, le concentrateur à Lac-Jeannine et l'usine de bouletage à Port-Cartier. La mine de Fire Lake se situe à 83 km de la ville de Gagnon et à 100 km du concentrateur de Lac-Jeannine. Une route provinciale relie la ville à la mine et au concentrateur. Le minerai est acheminé de la mine au concentrateur par chemin de fer et le concentré est transporté par train sur une distance de 309 km à l'usine de bouletage de Port-Cartier."

Jan 1, 1982

By Ningchuan Feng

A biosorbent, the chemically modified orange peel, was prepared from hydrolysis of the grafted copolymer, which was synthesized by interacting methyl acrylate with cross-linking orange peel, and FT-IR spectroscopy was used for determining the structure of the biosorbent. Adsorption characteristics and effects of various factors of the biosorbent on Cu (II) were investigated including pH, adsorption time and initial concentration of Cu (II). Experiment results show that when pH was 6.0 and the initial concentration of Cu (II) was 50mg·L-1, the removal rate was 91.7% after 3 h adsorption. After four cycles being reused, 85.3% removal rate could be obtained by the biosorbent.

Jan 1, 2008

By Nicol S. K, Swanson A. R

The poor flotation response of many coals has in the past been attributed to such factors as differences in rank, differences in degree of oxidation, differences in petrographic composition, or slime coatings. The present work shows that while all these factors undoubtedly influence flotation, the size distribution of the feed may override these. Evidence is presented which shows how this factor can lead to substantial losses of coarse coal (>250 µm)from a coal which would normally be considered amenable to flotation. Reasons for this loss of flotation response are suggested together with means of overcoming the problem.

Jan 1, 1978

By F. A. Forward, A. H. Ross, J. Halpern

Application of the carbonate leaching process to carno-tite ores has often been limited by the difficulty of obtaining simultaneous high recoveries of uranium and vanadium. The chemical aspects of this problem are discussed and the effect of prior roasting procedures on this discovery is described. IN treating carnotite ores by carbonate leaching it is often necessary to subject the ore to a prior roast. Among the advantages that may result from roasting are: 1) improvement in settling and filtering characteristics of the ore; 2) destruction of carbonaceous impurities that would otherwise contaminate the leach solution and consume carbonate reagent; and 3) substantial increase in extraction of vanadium, which is usually low when the un-roasted ore is leached. Recovery of vanadium may be an important factor in processing carnotite ores, and the fact that vanadium is usually recovered in good yield by acid leaching has often been an economic advantage over results obtained with carbonate leaching. It has been found that response of an ore to carbonate leaching, following roasting, depends primarily on its composition and on the conditions of the prior roast treatment, particularly with regard to the roasting temperature, the atmosphere maintained above the charge during roasting and cooling, and the presence of certain reagents. These factors, especially the last, virtually determine the extractions of uranium and vanadium attainable by carbonate leaching, as well as the reagent consumption on leaching, whereas adjustment of the leaching conditions has only a limited influence. These variables were examined systematically to elucidate roasting and carbonate leaching of carnotite ores and to establish a treatment yielding high recoveries of both uranium and vanadium. Tests were conducted on samples of four different Colorado Plateau ores, described in Table I. Roasting Procedure: The roasting tests were conducted in an electrically heated furnace in which the temperature was controlled to ±15°C. The ore (usually a 500-g charge) was ground to —100 mesh, mixed with the desired reagent, and spread in a silica tray to a bed depth of about 1/2 in. During the roast the charge was rabbled at intervals of 15 min. To provide free access of air the furnace was usually ventilated; however, in a few experiments a controlled atmosphere such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen was maintained above the charge. Leaching Procedure: The pulp, generally comprising 500 g of ore and a 2000-cc solution containing 80 g per liter of Na2CO8 and 20 g per liter of NaHCO3, was agitated in an autoclave at 120°C, under 30 psi 02. Samples were withdrawn periodically, and the solution and ore residue were analyzed. Under the conditions employed, maximum attainable extractions were generally achieved in 4

Jan 1, 1959

A large-diameter road tunnel will cross beneath the strait in Istanbul and expand the infrastructure bottleneck between Europe and Asia. The technical planning of the tunneling operations poses complex challenges. Therefore, the construction consortium ordered a specially adapted tunnel boring machine (TBM) from Herrenknecht. The 13.6-m (44.6-ft) machine, a Mixshield, was completed in early July 2013 in Schwanau, Germany. To get from the European to the Asian side of Istanbul, people and goods have to cross the Bosporus Straits. So far, two road bridges as well as ferries provide the only transport link between the two parts of the city and the two continents. The tense traffic situation for the nearly 14 million residents of the city and for international transit traffic should be improved considerably thanks to the construction of a new road tunnel under the Bosporus. ?The project is certainly one of the most challenging tunneling operations currently being addressed in the world,? said Herrenknecht project manager Georg Schleer. The route of the ?Istanbul Strait Road Tube Crossing Project? runs around 100 m (330 ft) below sea level at its deepest point. The interior diameter of the tunnel will be 12 m (40 ft) so that two lanes in each direction can be accommodated. They will extend one above the other on two levels. 3.34 km (2.1 miles) of the tunnel with a total length of 5.4 km (3.3 miles) are being created by a 13.6-m- (44.6-ft-) diameter Herrenknecht TBM that will begin its underground mission from a launch shaft on the Asian side.

Sep 1, 2013

By A. Halim, J. Gustafsson, A. van Wageningen, J. Johansson, · J. Lööw, K. Kocsis

A major part of the European Union’s (EU) project Sustainable Intelligent Mining System (SIMS) is investigating the development of diesel-free/carbon–neutral underground mines in order to ensure sustainable underground mining in the future. Replacing diesel machines with electric vehicles in underground hard rock mines has been widely acknowledged by the mining industry worldwide as a critical step to improve working conditions by reducing diesel exhaust–related contaminants, to reduce mine ventilation electrical power cost by reducing mine airflow quantity, and to reduce mine greenhouse gas emissions. All of these are major requirements to achieve sustainable future underground mining practices. A field trial of Epiroc’s 2nd generation of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) at Agnico Eagle Finland’s Kittilä mine was conducted during 2019–2020. Vehicles tested were MT42 mine truck, ST14 Load-Haul-Dump (LHD), and Boomer E2 jumbo drill rig. This paper outlines the improvement of the working conditions observed in the field trial, and the opinions of the mine personnel at Kittilä mine on using BEVs instead of diesel machines. Measurements of atmospheric contaminants and air temperatures taken during the field trial clearly demonstrated a significant improvement of working conditions when BEVs were operating as opposed to diesel machines. This field observation was supported by the opinion of the majority of the Kittilä mine workers. However, some remaining concerns must be addressed before BEVs can replace diesel machines.

Oct 25, 2021

The need for legislative reform of health and safety legislation has been recognised in New Zealand for about a decade. Previous legislation did not cover all work places, many areas were excluded from coverage, and there were at least 14 different acts and dozens of sets of regulations dealing with various aspects of health and safety.

Jan 1, 1993

By John J. Murray, Michael T. McRae, Michael A. Krulc, Kathy L. Schuler

The San Vicente Pipeline Tunnel Project involves the construction of an 8.5-foot-diameter water pipeline in an 11 mile tunnel in San Diego, California. The tunnel is located in extremely variable geologic conditions of strong granitic and volcanic rocks, weak sedimentary rocks, abrasive conglomerates, and mixed face conditions. One reach of the tunnel is a 5,200-foot mixed face reach that includes Friars Formation Conglomerate overlying granitic rock. Due to the variable ground conditions in this reach, the use of a TBM was deemed too risky and the contract documents required drill-and-blast and hand mining methods. Although it was not required, the contractor elected to construct this reach using NATM methods. This paper describes the geology of the 5,200-foot mixed-face reach, the design evaluation, and the construction challenges faced on this project.

Jan 1, 2007

Laboratory scale equipment was developed to recover zinc as oxide fume from granulated lead blast furnace slag. The cyclone furnace process is characterised by high treatment rates combined with continuous and independent operation.Results were sufficiently encouraging to warrant pilot plant scale trials being undertaken.INTRODUCTIONSince granulation of lead blast furnace slag started at Port Pirie in 1921 the stockpile of this material has increased to nearly 5 million tons which averages 17·5 per cent zinc by weight. Although a number of processes for recovering the zinc have been examined, economic considerations indicate that a slag fuming process is likely to be most suitable.In the conventional slag fuming process zinc is extracted by injecting pulverized coal and air into a molten slag bath. By maintaining a suitable air to coal ratio the oxidised zinc contained in the slag is reduced to metal. Volatilization of the zinc is followed by reoxidation in the gaseous phase with the addition of further air above the bath. The zinc oxide fume so produced is collected by normal gas cleaning methods.By examination of the thermodynamics of this process Bell, Turner, and Peters (1955) determined the zinc oxide activity of the slag over the duration of the fuming cycle.A combination of high temperature and high carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide ratio was found necessary for rapid zinc elimination.Since melting of the slag is an essential step in the slag fuming process, only two treatment methods appeared possible at Port Pirie until recently...

Jan 1, 1964

By K. G. Tshilombo

It should be possible to use an oxygen probe to follow iron removal during converting, if local equilibrium is established between iron in the matte and the iron oxides in the fayalitic slag. The oxygen activity is expected to increase strongly as the iron content of the matte decreases (and the iron activity in the matte drops) while the iron oxide activity in the slag remains constant. To test this idea, oxygen activities were measured in synthetic mattes (made up of mixtures of Cu2S, FeS and Ni3S2) when in contact with silica saturated SiO2-FeO slags, and silica and (initially) magnetite saturated SiO2-FeO-Fe3O4slags. The measurements were performed on laboratory scale at 1250°C, using an oxygen probe consisting of an MgO-stabilized zirconia electrolyte and Fe/FeO reference, and containing the sample in a silica crucible. Electrical contact to the matte was by means of a platinum wire. The measured oxygen activity was sensitive to the iron content of the matte, and insensitive to the composition of the gas atmosphere over the melt. The measured oxygen activity was generally close to that predicted by Fact Sage calculations. This indicates that such oxygen activity measurements could be useful to monitor iron removal during converting of nickel-copper-iron mattes.

Jan 1, 2007

By G. T. Austin

Every year the United States consumes millions of dollars worth of abrasive materials as blasting media. Entrained in either a gas or liquid stream or propelled by paddles or wheels, they are directed onto the surface of another material to modify that surface. The modifications to impacted surfaces include cleaning, cutting, deburring, etching, finishing, and peening. Blasting media can be either organic or mineral abrasive materials. Information and data presented are for only a portion of the mineral abrasives, they are; fused aluminum oxide, coal slag, copper slag, garnet, metallic shot and grit, nickel slag, olivine, silica sand, silicon carbide, and staurolite.

Jan 1, 1994

By V P. Elpatyevskaya, V S. Arzhanova

Main geochemical problems concerning the environment and mining industry interrelation are connected with the transformation of natural water chemistry by mining wastes. The investigation of many mines in Primorye, the southern part of the Russian Far East, showed that their mining waters have high concentrations of heavy metals and aluminium. Water acidity is primarily connected with the amount of acid-forming sulphide minerals in ores and also depends on the neutralising capacity of rocks. Considerable quantity of metals occur in the waters in dissolved form. Metal concentrations in mining waters exceeds the natural levels by two to five orders of magnitude and can't be reduced to the background levels even after multiple dilution. It is necessary to develop and put into practice new technologies so that to reduce the geochemical impact upon the environment.

Jan 1, 1995

By Robinson KJ

Education in Australia now has to respond to a very wide political and policy agenda. The political emphasis is upon increasing participation and retention rates with a view to greater graduation rates in `high-tech' disciplines. There is an implied linkage between `education' and `economic well-being'. Our argument is that equalitarianism in education tends towards mediocrity. In this context many Geoscience educators view the future with pessimism. The argument is that science has been `sold short' and needs revitalising. We contend that Geoscience coursework should be a feature of both secondary and tertiary education in Australia. To this end we propose six policy initiatives to increase the content of Geoscience in education programmes.

Jan 1, 1989

By S. Parada, P. T. Jones, M. Guo, S. Smets

The corrosion behaviour of a high-quality rebonded magnesia-chromite refractory in contact with a vacuum oxygen decarburization (VOD) slag with high Al2O3content (15?20 mass per cent) is investigated under VOD process conditions by rotating finger tests in a vacuum induction furnace. The refractory degradation mechanisms are studied by the characterization of corroded microstructures using scanning electron microscopy, equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The influence on the refractory wear of the process temperature and the Al2O3content in the slag is discussed. Keywords: corrosion, magnesia-chromite refractory, VOD slags, vacuum induction furnace

Jan 1, 2004

Today computers are accepted as a standard item in industry and they perform a variety of tasks over a wide spectrum of activities from mine planning and CAD to data processing and spreadsheet work. However many problems particularly in the. area of decision making where there are no clear mathematical models available and usually the output or answer is dependent to some extent on a heuristic approach, don't lend themselves to conventional solutions using standard procedural algorithms. Recently a number of techniques have evolved primarily from the enhanced capabilities of modem equipment, which are capable of solving these problems. This paper is a brief overview of these rather unconventional developments of computer technology in the area of artificial intelligence with reference to their application in mining.

Jan 1, 1993

By Alan Diaz Butron, Eng. Thierry Bernard

"In tunnel blasting the most challenging objective is definitively obtaining the maximum advanceassociated to a minimum overbreak. Achieving 100% of advance with no overbreak is the targetchallenge by Chavimochic Consortium. Chavimochic Special Project is an irrigation system that extends throughout much of the coast of the La Libertad Region, on the north coast of Peru. In 2012, it began management for construction of the third and last stage of CHAVIMOCHIC to irrigate lands of Chicama Valley, North of Trujillo. This project of 13 Km (8 mi) of various tunnels, it's a combination of technology and daily optimization by experienced people, which allow to accomplish the objective. Achieving this advance with no overbreak provide a huge saving on time. This paper describes the method, technology used, and the results obtained on more than 600 blasts done with conventional initiation system on the first 3 km (1.86 mi)."

Jan 1, 2017