Search Documents

By Alberto Ríos Carranza

El presente texto describe la evolución de la cuenca Lancones (Piura) y sus estilos de mineralización en la búsqueda de yacimientos vulcogénicos de sulfuros masivos. Dada las características de la cuenca es considerada el principal objetivo en la prospección de yacimientos vulcagénicos de sulfuros masivos. Así también se revisa el contexto geotécnico, geológico, metalogenia, depósitos magmáticos - hidrometales, tipo Skarn, y vetiformes, estratigrafía y modelo metalogénico.

May 1, 2016

By I. A. Scott, T. J. Napier-Munn

Size-by-size partition curves for mineral separation in dense-medium cyclones pivot about a single characteristic point. This is defined for stable, non-segregating media by the medium density and the proportion of the medium reporting to the underflow. The pivot point departs from these values for unstable, conventional media. The phenomenon can be represented by an equation with two parameters defining pivot point coordinates and two the Ep value. On the basis of experiments in a 200 mm cyclone using ferrosilicon media, simple regression equations were developed for the separation parameters in terms of operating conditions (the coefficients were likely to be site-specific). The experiments successfully decoupled the effects of medium density and viscosity and showed that the value of Ep was independent of the former but strongly dependent on the latter. A classification model was used to predict the density of the underflow medium, a knowledge of which is required to determine the pivot parameters. The model correctly reflects the performance trends observed in dense-medium cyclone operation and has the potential to be generalised to a wide range of industrial practice.

Jan 8, 1992

By Travis Q. Lyday

Mineral production in Fiji, a group of 322 volcanic islands and atolls of Melanesia in the southern Pacific Ocean, continued to be dominated by gold. However, the Fijian mineral sector remained a minor factor as a source of export earnings, Government revenues, and employment, generating only 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), estimated as $1.2 billion.2 The largest and most important mining operation was the Vatukoula gold mine on the north side of Viti Levu, the main island. The Vatukoula Mine has been in prduction since 1932, producing about 3.8 million troy ounces of gold and 1.3 million troy ounces of silver to date. In April 1983, the large Australian mining firm, Western Mining Corp. (WMC), assumed operation of the mine in a joint venture with Emperor Gold Mining Co. Ltd., which operated the mine previously. The WMC takeover of the mine management was expected to bring in additional capital and technological expertise in order to modernize operations, increasing both efficiency and output. During the year, rate of recovery was only about 75% of the gold contained in the ore and only 40% of the contained silver. Mining at the Vatukoula Mine was done using bath opencut and underground methods, with about 60% of the ore mined attributed to the underground operations.

Jan 1, 1985

By D. B. Taliaferro

[Recovery of core specimens from subsurface formations and their subsequent analysis are important aids in efficient development and operation of oil and gas fields. Core specimen first were obtained mainly for the geologic information they revealed; now they are on analyzed to determine many of the physical characteristics and conditions of the subsurface formations as well. Cores recovered from the producing formations may be analyzed for porosity, permeability, oil content, "connate" water content, and other physical and chemical properties of the formation, all to the end of furnishing enough data for making reliable estimates of the quantity and availability of oil and gas within reservoir and in devising efficient means for their withdrawal.]

Jan 1, 1939

By P. Nicholls

Though the burning of fuels extends far back into antiquity, and though fuel beds are the most common and widely distributed example of chemical actions and engineering practice, there has been little attempt to group fuel beds by types or to define the principles associated with them. This paper does not profess to cover completely the subject of fuel beds. It suggests some of the over-all principles of the two more common types. No new investigational data are included, but the deductions are largely based on a recent publication of the U.S. Bureau of Mines'. Definition of Types There are three primary types of fuel beds: (I) Underfeed, in which the fuel and the air move in the same direction; (2) overfeed, in which the fuel and the air move in opposite directions; (3) crossfeed, in which the fuel and the air move at right angles to each other. The principle that fixes the type is the relation between directions of the flow of fuel and of air. Fig. 1 shows the three types diagrammatically. All other types are compounded of these three in a simple or more or less complex manner. It does not follow that these three type designations are limited to the methods used in representing them in Fig. 1; they may be turned in any direction, and as long as the relative directions of the fuel and air are the same the type is not changed. For example, A as shown .resembles a pot-type stoker, but the air and fuel can move downward as in the so-called smokeless heating boiler furnace. Also, C can be placed horizontal, as in chain-grate stokers. For this reason, the terms used to designate the three types are not all that could be desired; more logical ones could be coined, but those used probably are satisfactory until the discussion of fuel-bed types becomes more common.

Jan 1, 1936

By P. Nicholls

Though the burning of fuels extends far back into antiquity, and though fuel beds are the most common and widely distributed example of chemical actions and engineering practice, there has been little attempt to group fuel beds by types or to define the principles associated with them. This paper does not profess to cover completely the subject of fuel beds. It suggests some of the over-all principles of the two more common types. No new investigational data are included, but the deductions are largely based on a recent publication of the U.S. Bureau of Mines'. Definition of Types There are three primary types of fuel beds: (I) Underfeed, in which the fuel and the air move in the same direction; (2) overfeed, in which the fuel and the air move in opposite directions; (3) crossfeed, in which the fuel and the air move at right angles to each other. The principle that fixes the type is the relation between directions of the flow of fuel and of air. Fig. 1 shows the three types diagrammatically. All other types are compounded of these three in a simple or more or less complex manner. It does not follow that these three type designations are limited to the methods used in representing them in Fig. 1; they may be turned in any direction, and as long as the relative directions of the fuel and air are the same the type is not changed. For example, A as shown .resembles a pot-type stoker, but the air and fuel can move downward as in the so-called smokeless heating boiler furnace. Also, C can be placed horizontal, as in chain-grate stokers. For this reason, the terms used to designate the three types are not all that could be desired; more logical ones could be coined, but those used probably are satisfactory until the discussion of fuel-bed types becomes more common.

Jan 1, 1936

By I. G. Townsend, S. A. Buckley, C. I. House

"SummaryBritish Petroleum plc is developing a new gold recovery process known as coal gold agglomeration (CGA) for the recovery of gold from its ores. Liberated gold grains are recovered with high efficiency by adhering to agglomerates of coal and oil. The process is simple, can recover gold grains down to very fine sizes, avoids the large scale use of cyanide and provides the industry with an important new process option.A technical appraisal of the process has been performed on an extensive range of gold bearing materials. Ore types have been identified from which high gold recoveries can be achieved. A spreadsheet based computer program has been used to estimate the preliminary capital and operating costs of the process. Comparison with established gold production costs shows that the process costs of CGA, on the appropriate ore types, are potentially very attractive, which will enable economic treatment of lower grade ores than is currently possible using conventional cyanidation. Treatment of known placer deposits or gravity concentration plant tailings may be the most rapid means of demonstrating the process at a commercial scale prior to more widespread applications.1. INTRODUCTIONWestern world gold production for the 1980s has shown rapid growth sustained by a demand for gold at a favourable price (Fig. 1). Heap leaching and CIP/CIL operations have been responsible for the major part of new production during the 1970s and 1980s with present overall production costs averaging US$200/oz in Canada, USA and Australia and US$265/oz in South Africa [l]. A great deal of research and process development effort in the 1980s has been towards the treatment of refractory ores. Operating costs for the economic processing of these ore types by currently available routes are around US$300/oz [2]."

Jan 1, 1989

By J. L. Nebreda, Z. Fan, J. B. Patel

"A380 alloy has been widely employed to produce thin-wall components via high pressure die casting (HPDC). During HPDC processing, there is a significant problem of property variation even with the very stable and precision automated casting procedure. The enlarged variation lowers the component performance and affects the steady and uniform property distribution along the whole component. In this study, high shear melt conditioning technology was developed and applied to the melt prior to pouring into the shot sleeve. Experimental results show that with application of intensive melt shearing, the variation of elongation was decreased from 21.8to 13.9%, and yield strength variation was reduced from5.5to 3.6%. The improved property variation is attributed to enhanced nucleation both in shot sleeve and the die-cavity, and to the improved distribution of porosity and secondary phases as a benefit of high shear induced grain refinement. With application of high shear, large number of the Spinel phase (MgAl2O4) particles with double size distribution in average diameter of 80and 300nm were formed. Due to the good orientation relationship and small misfit between alpha Al and MgAl2O4, the particles act as the effective nuclei in shot sleeve and die cavity, respectively.INTRODUCTIONA380 alloy had been widely used for produce automotive components by cold chamber high pressure die casting(HPDC) processing, due to its relative good mechanical properties and cast ability performance, and more important most of A380 ingots were produced by recycled Al alloys. Therefore, to promote utility of A380 will contribute to reducing emission of CO2and to the lightweight of automotive industry as well. When cold chamber HPDC was employed to produce the components, the mechanical properties of A380 alloy always have a distribution range (named variation herein), or in other words the properties were not stable. The reason was ascribed to the typical solidification characteristics occurred in HPDC processing. During HPDC processing, there are three steps of melt movement. The first step is that the melt was poured into shot sleeve at temperature of about 680°C, in which shot sleeve was preheated by few shots of melt filling, or by heater. During step one, the first solidification of melt was happened in shot sleeve and about 20% solid made of coarse a-Al grains was formed(Li, Xiong, & Guo, 2016).Such kind of grains will retain in the final products and deteriorate the properties variation. The second step is that the melt was forced moving forward slowly by plunger at about 0.2–0.3m/s until the liquid melt front to the inner gate of mold. The third step is that the melt moved very fast to complete the filling of die cavity and refilling the solidification shrinkage by fast movement of plunger about 2–3m/s. The second solidification was occurred in die cavity and fine a-Al grains will be formed by high cooling rate at about 500–1000°C/s. From the solidification point of view, the grain size was dominated by nucleation and growth. When HPDC was employed to produce components, the melt quality becomes the priority factor to control the solidification process as the other casting parameters were kept at the same."

Jan 1, 2018

As metal prices fluctuated over the years, so too have the fortunes of many of those mining in Canada?s Yukon province. With a rich mining history that dates back to the Klondike gold rush of 1896 to 1898 and continues to thrive today, Yukon has experienced several ?boom-and-bust? cycles. However, during the world?s most recent mining ?bust? Yukon has held strong and has re-mained one of the world?s hottest destinations for mineral exploration. In fact, the area even exceeded forecasts in 2009, more than doubling last year. And the near-future looks just as bright.

Jan 1, 2010

When the first rush of miners took place on the Molyneux River, in the Dunstan Gorge, the gold was won by means of cradling the gravel, which was shovelled from the various beaches and crevices in the rock-bound sides of the river.The above method of winning the gold was only practicable when the beaches were not covered with water, hence the work was usually carried on during the winter months, the ordinary level of the river during spring and summer months being some ten or twelve feet above winter level. The melting of the spow in the Lakes water-shed being responsible for the high summer level of the river.As the available beaches were worked out, other methods of winning the gold were proposed and worked with more or less successful results the first advance being to work the bed of the river by means of a spoon dredge. The spoon was made with a round lip or ring of iron, having a steel cutting edge on one half of the circumference, at the opposite side a socket being forged to take a long spar or boom, which was securely fitted thereto. At intervals round the hoop, half-inch holes were bored to enable. a bullock-hide bag to be laced on to same. The spoon was worked from a pontoon which carried a crab winch, tackles and the necessary washing appliances to treat the washdirt lifted. In starting to dredge, a tackle was attached to near the upper end of the boom, and a line or chain was carried over a cat head from the crab winch...

Jan 1, 1901

By David Berberick

"Hecla Limited’s No. 4 Shaft at the Lucky Friday Mine is the largest capital expenditure in the corporation’s 128-year history and is considered the deepest shaft in the United States. This paper will discuss the project’s history and lessons learned from the initial conceptual design work in 2007 through project commissioning in 2017. Change management was key for the owner, contractors, and vendors in delivering the operational and organizational success on the project. The No. 4 Shaft has extended the life of the Lucky Friday Mine by 21 years to 2039. INTRODUCTION The Lucky Friday Mine of Hecla Mining Company (Figure 1) is the oldest active (77 years) and deepest mine in the Coeur d’Alene mining district, producing approximately 725 tonnes (800 tons) per day from narrow, vertical, silver, lead, and zinc veins. Primary access into the mine is via the Silver Shaft, a 5.5-m (18-ft) diameter, concrete lined shaft sunk to an original depth of 1,890-m (6,200-ft). Current production is from the Gold Hunter vein system, approximately 1,525-m (5,000-ft) northwest of the Silver Shaft.Cut and fill stoping is currently employed at depths to 2.3 km (7,500 ft) below ground surface, making it one of the deepest mines in the western hemisphere. No. 4 Shaft is a 5.5-metre (18-foot) diameter, concrete lined circular shaft, constructed as a 1.2 km (3,860 feet) deep winze in the Lucky Friday Mine. The 2.4 m (8 ft.) diameter, double drum, double clutch, Siemag hoist and associated headworks are situated at the 4760 level, top station at 4940 and shaft stations at 5900, 6500, 6580, 7500, 7580, 8300, 8380, 8500, and 8620. Shaft stations reference depth below Silver Shaft top station. The 4 Shaft was designed, constructed and commissioned over ten years, between 2007 and 2017. Basic design work was completed by Nordmin Engineering, followed by detailed design completed by Cementation Canada. Shaft construction was awarded to Cementation USA and lateral development was initiated in early 2008. Over the course of the next nine years, the project was suspended and restarted twice, dealt with the loss of a miner, added scope including shaft depth and mine infrastructure facilities, experienced squeezing ground that required liner replacement, changed excavation section, and dealt with a final alignment that was not within design requirement for verticality. Hecla and Cementation were successful in delivering a facility that provides fully functional access from collar at 4940 level to shaft bottom at the 8620 level. Two active mining levels below the collar, 5900 and 6500 are accessed. In addition, the shaft provides access to the future mining level at 7500, skip loading facility at 7580 level, station and loading pocket cutouts at 8300 and 8380 levels, spill pocket at 8500 level, and shaft bottom pumping facility at 8620 level (Figure 2)."

Jan 1, 2019

By L. J. Froisland

Water classification and heavy-media sink-float methods were investigated for concentrating metallic junk automobile shredder rejects initially upgraded to about 75-percent metal content in an air elutriation system. An 8-inch-diameter water elutriation column with a feed capacity of 2.7 tons per hour was constructed and operated. The results obtained were compared with those produced by sink-float methods. Tests made on duplicate samples of an intermediate-grade metal product were successful in upgrading the metal con-tent from 75 percent to 98.7 and 99.1 percent with respective recoveries of 95.5 and 98.9 percent for the water classification and sink-float procedures. Tentative flowsheets for treating junk auto shredder rejects are outlined.

Jan 1, 1972

Using a series-model of an automotive short range radar sensor (SRR) and a recently completed experimental radar system, field tests have been performed in a surface mine. It was examined, to what extent low-cost electronically scanning radar sensors can provide useful data for assistance systems on large scale mining machines. Simple sensors are useful for anti-collision safety zones or hopper car automation. The more complex and sophisticated experimental radar system using digital beam-forming can clearly detect and map the contours of trenches and slopes. The overall promising results refer to many more potential applications for electronically scanning radar in surface and underground mining as a reliable alternative to mechanical laser scanners.

Jan 1, 2007

Jan 1, 1967

By E. H. McCleary

The Alamo Mine The Alamo mine is located about seventeen miles northwest of Walsenburg, Colorado, on the Loma Branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad, in the foothills of the Black Mountains of Huerfano County. Prospecting Mr. W. B. Lewis of New York City, president of the Oakdale Coal Company and also president of the Alamo Coal Company first became interested in this property in 1920. After all natural features of the surface had been carefully examined by Mr. Lewis, he was convinced that the property was underlaid with coal seams. Plans for prospect drilling were made at once and this drilling was started late in 1921. In all, eight drill holes were put down to the Trinidad sandstone which underlies the coal measures in this field. These drill holes in general, showed very satisfactory results. Two workable coal seams were penetrated by most of these drill holes, the upper seam being six and one half feet thick and the lower seam having a thickness of ten and one-half feet. The two seams are separated by forty feet of sandstone and shale. Analyses of the seams proved each to be of a very high grade bituminous coal possessing hardness much above other bituminous coals, and having very bright lustrous appearance. Tests of more than a year's duration proved the coal to store excellently in closed bins and also in open bins where coal is exposed to elements. The drill hole data further showed the coal seams to pitch more than fifty per cent or about twenty-six and one-half degrees. The pitch direction being approximately South 65 degrees East. The drill holes further proved the coal seams did not outcrop at any point on the property, and no evidence of coal outcrop has been found in near vicinity. A splitting and pinching out of seams was found to occur some two hundred to three hundred feet of theoretical outcrop at very Western boundary of property. The most Easterly or No. 6 drill hole has a depth of eight hundred fifty feet to floor of lower coal seam. The Trinidad sandstone was found to be immediately under the lower coal seam, and the Pierre shales lying under this sandstone. Plans for Development and Sinking Having obtained sufficient data, plans for development of the property were carefully made sometime in advance of the actual opening of the mine. Every condition was carefully studied and the maximum production of clean and well prepared coal at as low a cost as possible during the entire life of mine was kept uppermost in the minds of all. The life of mine is estimated at approximately fifty years. It was decided to open up the lower and thicker seam first, and due to the pitch and other conditions a slope opening was decided upon for its extraction. The pitch of the coal having been found to be from fifty to sixty per cent or twenty-six to thirty degrees, the plan of driving the slope directly down the pitch of seam was eliminated and a plan that would give a more economical grade was decided upon. To obtain a lesser grade, a point several hundred feet west of-and at a less elevation than the theoretical outcrop of coal seam was selected for the slope opening. (Fig. 18.) To have driven directly down the pitch of coal seam would also have given the slope an uneven grade as the pitch of coal seam varied as it approached the crop. From this point of opening, the slope was to be driven on a thirty-one per cent, or' about seventeen degree pitch to intersect coal seam in No. 6 drill hole, a distance through the Pierre shales and Trinidad sandstone of two thousand five hundred fifty feet, the slope to be driven practically due East

Jan 1, 1925

By J. A. Botín

NPV is a static measure of project value which does not discriminate between levels of internal and external risk in project valuation. Due to current investment project?s characteristics, a much more complex model is needed: one that includes the value of flexibility and the different risk levels associated with variables subject to uncertainty (price, costs, exchange rates, grade and tonnage of the deposits, cut off grade, among many others). Few of these variables present any correlation or can be treated uniformly. In this context, Real Option Valuation (ROV) arose more than a decade ago, as a mainly theoretical model with the potential for simultaneous calculation of the risk associated with such variables. This paper reviews the literature regarding the application of Real Options Valuation in mining, noting the prior focus on external risks, and presents a case study where ROV is applied to quantify risk associated to mine planning.

Jan 1, 2012

By Robert M. Doerr

Isothermal oxidation kinetics were determined for three grades of Ni and for 99.99 percent Co in Ca and in air from 800° to 1,200° C. The oxidation reactions followed approximately the parabolic rate law. For 99.99 percent Ni in 02 at 1,200° C, the parabolic rate constant was 2 mg cm-2 hr-2. For 99.99 percent Co in dry air, the constant ranged from 1 mg cm-2 hr-2 at 800° C to 18 mg cm-2 hr-2 at 1,200° C; for 99.99 percent Co in 02 the constant was 2 mg cm -2 hr-2 at 800° C and 10 mg cm-2 hr-2 at 1,000° C. For 99 percent Ni in dry air, the constant ranged from 0.2 mg cm 2 hr-2 at 800° C to 3 mg cm 2 hr-2 at 1,200° C. By X-ray diffraction measurements, only divalent oxides were found in the scales. Volumetric and quartz-helix gravimetric methods were used. The volumetric apparatus was designed to permit less stringent restrictions on the corrosion specimens; it was also more convenient to use. The agreement between the weight gain determined gravimetrically and the 02 consumption determined volumetrically was not good enough for direct comparison of gravimetric and volumetric results.

Jan 1, 1963

By W. M. Jansen

In many mineral processing operations, the reported production figures for an accounting period may not make the best use of available data. While most of the mathematical approaches, such as check-in/check-out, mass balancing, used in effective metallurgical accounting strategies are well understood, the sources and magnitude of measurement errors generally are not. As part of the 'AMIRA P754-Metal Accounting and Reconciliation' project, a study was undertaken at the Northparkes copper/gold concentrator near Parkes, New South Wales to examine the data used in their concentrator metallurgical accounting system. This paper summarises the results of a detailed examination of the mass measurement systems around the concentrator as well as the primary sampling system used for grade estimation. The goal of this work was to develop practical techniques to quantify the error (ie both accuracy and precision) of the measured metal accounting information. With this information, statistical confidence levels for this data can then be calculated. If the errors are small, the effect of error in each piece of measured data can then be propagated to other calculated production figures such as recovery and feed grade using a statistical technique called `the propagation of error'.

Jan 1, 2007

By Charles T. Steuart

The Arkansas Novaculite of Devonian and Mississippian age is the most distinctive formation in the central Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas from the standpoint of both topography and lithology. The formation typically forms precipitous, narrow ridges (hogbacks) which reflect the steepness of dip and the resistance and thickness of the rock units. The Arkansas Novaculite varies from less than 200 feet thick in the north to locally over 800 feet thick in the south and outcrops over an east-west distance of 360 km (200 miles) in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Most of the rocks of the formation are highly siliceous with novaculite predominating, and lesser quantities of chert, siliceous shale, conglomerate and rarely sandstone. Novaculite is commonly defined as a homogeneous mostly white rock, translucent on thin edges with a dull to waxy luster and composed almost entirely of microcrystalline quartz. The word novaculite comes from the Latin word novacula, meaning razor hone. This term was first used by Richard Kirwan in his mineralogy text of 1784. The origin of novaculite remains controversial but we believe it was a primary silica derived mostly from the alteration of submarine volcanic-rich materials, with numerous fine biogenic components and some minor clastics (derived mostly from foreland facies via turbidity currents) and deposited as an amorphous siliceous ooze in the deep Ouachita trough. It was subsequently converted to microcrystalline quartz during diagenesis by the compaction of the overlying rocks and the intense Late Paleozoic Ouachita Mountain tectonism. In the central and southern portions of the region three divisions of the formation have been defined: a Lower Division predominantly of light-colored novaculite; a Middle Division of interbedded dark chert and shale; and an Upper Division of massive often calcareous novaculite. In the northern exposures the formation is thinner and contains more black chert and shale, chert-shale conglom¬erate, sandstone and less novaculite. The massive novaculite of the Upper and Lower Divisions is a source of high purity silica (99+%). Indians were the first to use novaculite. They made their various tools and hunting implements from the weathered broken rock until they learned the quarrying techniques. The first white men in the area recognized the use of novaculite for sharpening their tools and knives: previously whetstones were obtained in small quantities from Europe. To this day whetstone is quarried mostly in areas which the Indians and possibly the Spanish previously worked. Some of the current mining practices have changed very little from those of the early quarryman. In areas where the novaculite of the Upper Division is poorly cemented, this friable tripolitic material has found applications in such uses as an abrasive, as a filler or extender in paints, plastics and other purposes. Some of the dense novaculite is suitable as a filler in fire bricks and also in plastics. Because some of it has the tendency to decrepitate when heated not all novaculite can be used for these applications. Several quarry operators are crushing novaculite for road, concrete, and other aggregate. This use was formerly rather limited due to the abrasiveness of the novaculite on crushing and screening equipment. Further potential uses of novaculite are speculative but include application of high purity silica in the production of silicon metal for solar cells, seed or "growing", and fusing quartz for electronics.

Jan 1, 1985

By Detnet Solutions

1. “Daisy-Chain” concept The term “daisy-chain” stems from the fact that when the HotShot? detonators are connected there is a chain or electrical path for electrical current to flow from detonator A to detonator B, detonator B to detonator C etc until the path is terminated by an electrical means. The “daisy-chain” concept has long been used in electronic detonator systems, historically used in Expert Explosives’ ExEx 1000 5/6 wire system and currently in use in African Explosives Limited (AEL’s) Electrodet? electronic detonator system and has been adopted as the basis upon which the “auto-programmability” of the HotShot? electronic detonator system functions. HotShot? Detonators are connected to each other in a string, completing a “daisy chain”, and during the auto-detection mode of the control equipment, it is possible for the equipment to determine the order of hookup of the detonators as well as map the entire blast layout. The auxiliary components (Row Controllers & Branch Controllers) assist the control equipment in mapping the entire blast by indicating different points on the blast, i.e. The inflection point of a row of blast holes on a closed chevron timing pattern, the beginning of row of blast holes on open chevron timing pattern and extra blast holes or extra blast rows.

Jan 1, 2004