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By S. Hunt, D. de Vries

Kansanshi Copper Smelter began operation in March 2015. The smelter features a single Isasmelt furnace for smelting, one 6-in-line electric furnace for matte-settling and slag-cleaning duties, four Peirce- Smith converters and two rotary anode furnaces. A 1,450 t/day oxygen plant and a 4,085 t/day sulphuric acid plant are included in the smelter operations. This paper gives an overview of the operational performance to date with summary data for each smelter section. Challenges such as an unforeseen refractory failure in the Isasmelt furnace in 2016 are discussed. Design improvements around the electric furnace are mentioned. Plans for potential future improvements are put into context. A consistent focus on operations, maintenance and continuous improvement has seen the smelter easily achieve its nameplate capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum of copper concentrate throughput. The smelter now operates consistently at a concentrate throughput rate of 1.38 million tonnes per annum of copper concentrate. INTRODUCTION The smelter was commissioned in March 2015. Design and commissioning of the smelter have been discussed by de Vries, Hunt, Hanschar and Louie (2016). The smelter rapidly ramped up to achieve nameplate production (1.2 million tonnes per year concentrate) and in 2018 operated consistently at the rate of 1.38 million tonnes per year concentrate. This paper presents major operational data for each section of the plant and describes significant events and improvements during the first four years of operation. The smelter flowsheet is shown in Figure 1.

Jan 1, 2019

By Truman P. Stauffer

Secondary use of mined-out space in underground limestone quarries is emerging in the Kansas City area where abandoned quarry sites are being renovated into warehouses, factories, and offices. Mining techniques, ceiling heights, and pillar distribution are being altered as planning for the secondary use of mined-out space is combined with the quarrying process. Even the historic urban- quarry land use conflict invites a reappraisal in that this development provides a potential resolution of the problem. Mutual subsidization by dual rock and space interest is changing the economics of rock production. A city is much more than a surficial adjunct superimposed upon the topography of an area. Its development and growth are deeply rooted in the resources, benefits and problems of its underlying geology. The environmental geologist must address himself to more than the quality of a particular resource. He must comprehensively relate resource extraction and processing with the urban emphasis of optimal use which favors long term usage of land over one time economic ventures. Limestone quarrying, closely allied with the growth of many cities, has commonly left a series of scarred landscapes in the path of the burgeoning metropolis. These abandoned quarry sites are barriers to orderly city growth and fail to serve the people as useful and taxable land. Where quarries are functional, supplying the city with needed growth minerals, problems of blasting damage, noise, and dust exist. Technology faces the challenge of making mineral production and processing good neighbors to the urban market they serve. Continued growth of cities may require more efficient use of space below as well as above the surface optimizing land usage so that long term economic benefits may be reflected in improved mining methods.

Jan 1, 1973

By Clay Haynes

While the Kansas River Tunnel is a relatively short, small diameter tunnel, the shaft excavation methods implemented were long and large on innovation and use of reverse circulation drilling equipment. ATS Drilling, L.P. used mechanical excavation techniques for both soil and rock segments of the 42.7 m (140 feet) and 38.1 m (125 feet) deep shafts that were 2.9 m (9.5 feet) and 4.1m (13.5 feet) diameter, respectively.

Engineering Experiment Station, Kansas State College, Manhattan, Kansas. For publications or a list of publications, address the above Of the 29 Bulletins issued by the Engineering Experiment Station, a few on cement and road-building materials may well be listed here: Bulletin 12, Road materials of Kansas; 15, Tests of Kansas road materials, 17, Some strength characteristics of portland cement; 25, Volume change of concrete, 26, A study of fourteen brands of standard portland cement and four early-strength concretes, 28, The durability of concrete, 29, The effect of aggregate and other variables on the elastic properties of concrete

Jan 1, 1933

By Haydn H. Murray

Since the advent of machine coated paper in the mid 1930's, the kaolin industry has had a remarkable growth, In 1935 the domestic production of kaolin was 500, 000 tons and in 1970 the estimated production was in excess of 3. 5 million tons. The process industries which use kaolin most extensively are paper, rubber, paint, ceramics, plastics, catalyst manufacturers, ink, and pharmaceutical. The paper industry is by far the largest consumer of kaolin using approximately 70 per cent of the total tonnage mined and beneficiated. Up until 1970 the major kaolin producers were able to expand rapidly enough to supply the demand but for the first time in thirty years the demand is expected to be in excess of mining and beneficiation capacity through at least 1975. The major reason for this is the expansion of coated paper production in Europe and Japan. Two areas supply the lion's share of kaolin for the world markets. These are the Cornwall area in extreme southwestern England and a limited area of Georgia and South Carolina in the southeastern U. S. The English kaolins are primary - (found in decomposed granite) whereas the Georgia-South Carolina kaolins are secondary - (found in lenticular, continuous beds in the Tuscaloosa formation of Cretaceous age. ) The English kaolins are mined by hydraulic methods whereas the Georgia-South Carolina kaolins are mined by dragline or shovel and benefidated by using a wet process for the majority of the production and/or a dry

Jan 1, 1971

By Kenneth J. Hartman

Introduction The term kaolin is derived from kauling, a Chinese word meaning high ridge. This was the name of a hill in China where kaolin was first mined several hundred years ago (Murray, 1976). Other common names used for kaolin include clay and China Clay. Clay technically has a broader meaning and could refer to bentonite and ball clay as well as kaolin. China clay, as a descriptive term, apparently results from kaolin's origin. But it could also be due to a significant historical use in ceramic applications. The terms kaolin and clay will be used interchangeably in this analysis because of the common practice of using these terms in the paper industry. Major reasons for kaolin's wide-spread industrial usages center on kaolinite's physical features of good color, low viscosity, and inertness. Kaolin is described as a hydrous aluminum silicate with an approximate composition of 2H2O • A12O3 . 2SiO2. A new version of the product is calcined clay with modified hydration content. It is gaining widespread use. Components of any particular kaolin, in addition to alumina and silica, are viewed as impurities. The more values deposits and, hence, higher priced kaolin products are those of the highest purity. Kaolin is the most widely used mineral in paper manufacturing throughout the world. Key production centers are located in England and the US. Most of the Tatter's production is located in Georgia. The key markets for Georgia kaolin are paper markets - both paper coating and paper filling. These paper markets extend throughout the world, not just to domestic markets. In fact, export markets are second in size only to domestic paper markets for Georgia's producers of kaolin. Just as the paper markets are important for kaolin producers, kaolin is an important raw material for papermakers. Compared to the other three major pigments - titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, and talc - kaolin's 1984 tonnage for papermaking represented 85% of the total. Even though titanium dioxide's unit value is much higher, kaolin's estimated total 1984 value still represented 51% of total dollars spent by papermakers for the four pigments. Kaolin grades- are briefly defined using particle size and brightness as principal means of classification. Likewise, grades of papers using kaolin are defined using the American Paper Institute's guidelines. From these definitions, associated kaolin grades used in particular grades of paper are reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on how qualities desired in certain papers are achieved through the use of specialized kaolin grades. World kaolin production World production statistics (Coope, 1979; Table 1) demonstrate that kaolin is produced in many areas of the world. About 60% of production is centered in the US and England (Fig. 1). Deleting Eastern Europe's produc-

Jan 4, 1987

By Tim B. Vander Wood

Standard methods of determining clay mineral powder aspect ratios involve manual scanning electron microscopy analyses of shadowed particles in order to measure both platelet thickness and diameter. We present a method whereby the diameters of platelets are quickly determined by automated scanning electron microscopy and their images are recorded and digitally transferred to a transmission electron microscope equipped for parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy. Thickness' of platelets whose diameters are known from the previous analyses are determined by measurement of the ratio of scattered and unscattered electrons in the beam after it has been transmitted through the platelet.

Jan 1, 1995

By K. J. Hartman

The term kaolin is derived from "kauling". a Chinese word meaning high ridge, which was the name of a hill in China where kaolin was first mined several hundred years ago.(1) Other common names used today for kaolin include "clay" and "China Clay". The former word technically has a broader meaning and could refer to various types of clays such as bentonite and ball clay as well as kaolin. China clay, as a descriptive term, apparently results from kaolin's origin as described above but could also be due to a significant historical use in ceramic applications. The terms "kaolin" and "clay" will be used interchangeably in this analysis because of the common practice of using these terms in the paper industry. Major reasons for kaolin's widespread industrial usages center on the mineral's (kaolinite) physical features of good color, low viscosity and inertness. Kaolin is described as a hydrous aluminum silicate with approximate composition Of 2H20.A1203.2Si02. As will be shown later, a new version of the product, calcined clay with modified hydration content, is gaining widespread usages. Components of any particular kaolin in addition to alumina and silica are viewed as impurities. The more valued deposits and, hence, higher priced kaolin products are those of highest purity.

Jan 1, 1986

By A. R. Negele

Kaolin-based pigments are the most widely used pigments in the paper industry. Several types are available and include standard hydrous, delaminated, calcined, chemically-structured, and most recently, composite pigments. Within each category, a spectrum of products is available to satisfy the application requirements of paper producers. The paper industry has a broad range of applications including fillers in woodfree and groundwood-containing papers, pigmented size press applications, ultra-lightweight and lightweight coated papers, coated merchant papers, cast coated papers and coated paperboard. Each application has its own set of performance criteria and suppliers must work with mills to identify appropriate product(s) to fulfill these requirements.

Jan 1, 1993

By K Nilsson, D Connelly

Troy Resources acquired the Karouni Gold Project in Guyana, South America in 2014 and immediately proceeded to a Pre-Feasibility Study and project implementation. The study considered two open pit mines feeding a conventional carbon in leach (CIL) gold plant with a capacity of 1Mtpa. The study assumed a total of 2.61 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 3.84 g/t gold with a recovered gold production of 303,526 ounces over a three year mine life.The project development involved drilling metallurgical test holes, securing second-hand major pieces of equipment where suitable, and arranging shipping to Guyana. The remote location meant logistical considerations were paramount. The plant consists of conventional two-stage crushing with single stage ball milling and a gravity circuit. The tailings circuit includes DETOX.The extremely high rainfall presented challenges with water management and the necessity to dispose of clean water to the environment. The DETOX was also mandatory due to the highly sensitive environment and past history in the area. The criticality of this meant that in the design, any cyanide in the tailings would precipitate in a plant shutdown.Lessons were learned and the project has been both profitable and successful for Troy Resources in a new operating location. In addition, the project has created jobs, delivered royalties and brought new skills into an area where previously there was little current mining activity.CITATION:Nilsson, K and Connelly, D, 2015. Karouni Gold Project from drill core to commissioning, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 197–206 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By A. E. Brugger

SOME 2,000 years ago Pliny is supposed to have said, "Out of Africa always something new." It may perhaps even now be news to a great many that the Belgian Congo has in recent years been producing approximately a quarter of a ton of diamonds annually. For that is what the 1 1/4 million carats, the recovery from 40-odd operating mines, and about 20 or 25 per cent of the world's normal consumption, amounts to. In 1915, first exploitation operations produced less than 50,000 carats from two mines. The rapid expansion of operations following the Euro¬pean war meant a most rapid development of a virgin land. The interior is now reached by air in one day from the mouth of the Congo River, where steamers unload mail and passengers from Antwerp. This trip formerly consumed 4 to 6 weeks by a narrow-gage, wood-burning, railroad around the rapids of the lower Congo and Livingston Falls; by river boat to the heads of navigation, Djoko Punda on the Kasai or Luebo on the Lulua; and thence by caravan of native porters over narrow-trails to head¬quarters on the Tshikapa. Hundreds of miles of automobile roads have been constructed over veldt and through forest, bridging streams and ferrying rivers. The railway from Capetown to the Katanga copper district to the East, once two months away by trail is now reached in 2 or 3 days over fair automobile highway. Native "boys" who a few short years ago wore little more than a smile and a string of beads and to whom a wheelbarrow was a complicated piece of machinery, are today driving Fords, tending boilers and engines and operating electrical equipment, or are capable mine workmen, machinists and artisans, and dressed in all manner of cast-off white man's clothing. Even as late as 1920, due to difficulties of securing and transporting machinery during and just after the war, the crudest hand operations were the rule for the excavation, sizing, and concentration of the diamondiferous gravel. All washing and concentration is now mechanized, using steam or electric power, and where operations are sufficiently large to permit competition with native labor costs, excavation and transportation are also accomplished by machinery.

Jan 1, 1932

By Steve Kral

Worker safety is an issue that transcends industries, whether it be mining, construction, manufacturing or even general office work. In the mining industry, safety and training are particularly important because mining is a dangerous occupation. Throughout the years, federal and state safety regulations have been written and revised to keep up with the changing technologies. And mine operators have installed their own safety and training programs. They have come to realize that a safe and healthy workforce has positive effects on productivity and profitability —not to mention avoiding the high costs of injury-related absenteeism.

Jan 1, 2003

By D Rubery, C Croker

The Boddington Gold Mine (BGM) is located 120 km south east of Perth, Western Australia. The operation is managed by Worsley Alumina Pty Ltd and mined by contractor Henry Walker Eltin (HWE). The mine has been operating since 1987 with ore extracted from a series of pits along strike. Ore is contained within the basement rock, which is overlain by a cap rock layer and transition zone. Cap rock and basement zones require blasting.As the mine neared completion, a high-grade deposit was discovered within 50 m of an existing Western Power substation and 100 m from the processing mill. The substation provides power to the Boddington area and is a back-up power supply to the city of Perth. Due to the delicate nature of the transformers located at the power station, overhead power lines and the mill, blasting in the area was considered very high risk. As such blasting needed to be controlled for flyrock, airblast and most importantly peak vibration and frequency limits which had the potential to damage the transformers.The mine was due for closure in March 2001. The decision to mine the pit was based on its high grade, ability to be blended with lowering grades from other pits and changing of the processing technique with the expansion. This decision extended the life for a further six months.Due to the high potential risks a detailed risk assessment was conducted by Orica, Worsley and Henry Walker Eltin. The completed assessment and the major design parameters were presented to Western Power for approval. The ability to reduce the blasting risk was focused on limiting of vibration through controlling maximum charge initiated per delay, blast timing and firing direction, and other innovative control measures. OricaÆs SHOTPlan« and Sabrex« computer modelling packages were used to predict the outcome of blasts.The success of this project has opened the doors for other high risk blasting projects, which otherwise may be left unmined.

Jan 1, 2002

By Barlow S

The Kelian Gold mine project won two excellence awards from the Victorian Division of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. It was a challenging project, fast tracked in a remote and inhospitable tropical environment. The creation of a profitable and efficient mine was a significant engineering and project management achievement. The difficulties encountered and the way they were managed provide valuable lessons. These include the importance of sufficiently detailed engineering in all aspects of the job to enable the best estimates possible to be prepared during feasibility studies, the need to prepare the project scope and execution plan with disciplined and rigorous attention to detail by a highly experienced team and the value of identifying, assessing and mitigating risk and uncertainty during execution. The practical benefits of applying these lessons were demonstrated in the successful management of technical uncertainty on the recent diversion of the Kelian River to allow the expansion of the Kelian mine.

Jan 1, 1997

By K. S. Liddell, L. A. Smith

"Kell is a hydrometallurgical treatment option for the recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs), gold, silver, and base metals from flotation concentrates to refined products on site. The process is cyanidefree, while eliminating emissions of sulphur dioxide, arsenic trioxide, and other toxic species often emitted by smelters and roasters. Kell has been tested on a range of concentrates, including PGMs (UG2, Merensky, Platreef, Great Dyke, Great Lakes, Lake Superior and others), refractory gold-silver, coppergold, and polymetallic concentrates. High extraction efficiencies (>95%) are achieved for value metals (Pt, Pd, Rh, Au, Ag, Ni, Cu, Co) and secondary metals (Sb, Zn, Pb, and others). Studies comparing Kell with smelter-refining show economic benefits: capex 18–33% of smelting; opex 51–66%; electricity consumption 13–46%; and environmental benefits: greenhouse gas emissions 57–61% of smelting, acidification 5–27%, human toxicity 37–62%, and freshwater ecotoxicity 43–55% of smelting. Synergies for Kell plants alongside smelter-refineries include utilization of recovered acid from sulphur abatement systems and excess capacity in precious metal refineries. Kell is unconstrained by concentrate grade and impurities, allowing the co-location of Kell plants for treatment of non-smeltable concentrates alongside existing smelters.Kell has been demonstrated in a nine-week integrated pilot campaign at 1:1000 scale, supporting a bankable feasibility study for a 110 000 t/a plant treating a UG2-Merensky concentrate at Pilanesberg Platinum Mine (PPM), owned by Sedibelo Platinum Ltd, which has along with South African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), invested in Kell. Zimbabwean Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with KellTech for a centralized PGM concentrate processing plant."

Jun 1, 2019

By K. S. Liddell

The Kell Process has been developed for the extraction of platinum group metals (PGMs) and base metals from sulphide flotation concentrates. The process has been successfully tested on several different sulphide flotation concentrates, including those from the UG2 chromitite horizon and the Platreef mafic/ultramafic layer. It has been shown to provide high (>95 per cent) and selective extraction efficiencies for the key valuable metals, i.e. Pt, Pd, Rh, Au, Ni, Co, and Cu. The Kell Process consists of several commercially proven unit operations. S, Ni, Co, and Cu are first selectively removed by use of a pressure oxidation step during which the dissolution of PGMs is minimized. The residue from pressure oxidation is subjected to a thermal treatment to ensure efficient PGM recovery by subsequent chlorination. All the core steps are very similar to well-proven conventional unit operations in common use, as are the subsequent metal recovery steps to provide marketable end products. Typical metallurgical responses of flotation concentrates from UG2 and Platreef to the Kell Process are provided, and key outcomes of an energy comparison study with smelting are summarized in this paper. Kell presents a potentially substantial improvement in PGM concentrate processing technology, in terms of economics via much-reduced power costs, ease of processing, and various environmental benefits. It allows for the treatment of high-chromium low-grade 'dirty' concentrates, such as secondary concentrates from the platinum industry's 'mill-float-mill-float' (MF2) flotation circuits and concentrates from retreatment of tailings. It allows greater concentrate mass pulls, has higher tolerance to gangue intergrowths in concentrates, and its use can provide substantial increases in overall PGM recovery. Its adoption would be a step change in the platinum industry, and given the commercially proven unit operations embodied in the Kell Process, at much-reduced risk compared with other more experimental technologies. Since the initial process development work, significant improvements and refinements have been introduced as a result of further compre¬hensive testing and process modelling. Pilot-scale testing and engineering study work is in progress for several selected sites.

Jan 1, 2012

By P V. A van der Westhuyzen

Namakwa Sands is a heavy minerals mining and beneficiation business in the Exxaro Sands Division, and operates along the West Coast of South Africa (see Figure 1). The business encompasses mining, mineral concentration, separation, and smelting operations. Inflated commodity prices and increasing operating costs demands greater attention to the management of process performance and the company wide coordination of resources. Consequently, the task of deploying operational/technical skills and budgets into the most appropriate parts of the business assumes great importance in order to increase productivity from its capital assets. The mineral sands industry is under the same sort of economic scrutiny that all other industries find themselves, and as such, Exxaro – Namakwa Sands has taken the strategic initiative to improve overall resource utilisation within the processing steps and to measure the costs associated with obtaining this value.This paper provides details of the successful implementation of a Kelsey Centrifugal Jig (KCJ) at Namakwa Sands to recover primary and secondary zircon products from the wet gravity (quartz) rejects generated and stockpiled at the Mineral Separation plant (MSP).

Oct 5, 2011

By Carl Edmunds

Talk Outline Deposit?s Vital Statistics and Economic Environment Regional Geologic Setting Deposit Geology UBC Research Search Model and Current Exploration Plans Kemess Operations Kemess South Mine Mining rate (2006) ?135,000 tonnes / day Mill throughput (2006) ?52,000 tonnes / day Average Annual Production ?300,000 oz gold and 75 million lbs copper ?Production until mid-2009 Kemess North > Open pit reserve 423.8 million tonnes @ 0.3 g/tgold and 0.18% copper > 4.1 million ounce gold reserve (127 tonnes) > 1.45 billion pound copper reserve (636,000 tonnes) > 0.75:1 Strip Ratio

May 1, 2006

By Georgia J. Lysay

Kemess South Mine ended operations in March 2011. Final reclamation works began during operations in 2008 in anticipation of closure. The focus of reclamation during mine operations was on the inactive areas of the tailings dam, waste rock dumps, and expended borrow areas. The general reclamation strategy for the Kemess Mine site marries long-term erosion control with successional reclamation principles. For disturbed areas, this requires application of growth media, proper preparation of surfaces, and introduction of native pioneer plant species to initiate successional processes of recovery. Tailings are retained behind an earthfill dam of approximately 140 m in height, with a crest length in excess of 1 km. Reclamation activities at the dam have included placement of growth media, specialized surface preparation and construction of diversion ditches. The final closure spillway is currently being constructed, with completion scheduled for summer 2011. The two main waste rock dumps contain segregated non-acid generating (NAG) waste rock and potentially acid generating (PAG) waste rock. Resloping of the NAG dump for long-term stability commenced in 2009, followed by placement of growth media and ground preparation. The PAG waste rock will be fully relocated into the expended open pit for final, permanent subaqueous disposal.

May 1, 2011

By D Timms

The Kempfield deposit is located in the Hill End Trough, one of several intracratonic basins developed during Silurian–Devonian time, in the eastern province of the Lachlan Orogen, Eastern Australia.The deposit contains an oxide resource of 5.8 Mt @ 58 g/t Ag and a sulfide resource of 14.4 Mt @ 45 g/t Ag, 1.7 per cent Zn and 0.6 per cent Pb, classified and reported in compliance with the JORC Code. The deposit has been previously explored by a number of companies, including INCO, Shell, Jones Mining, Golden Cross Resources and recently Argent Minerals Ltd (Argent). Argent is currently completing a definitive feasibility study with a view to mining the deposit.The deposit is hosted at the boundary between the Molong High to the west, comprising Ordovician sediments and volcanic rocks and the Hill End Trough to the east, interpreted as a back-arc basin containing Silurian sediments and siliceous-feldspathic volcanic rocks. The boundary between these two strato tectonic units is an imbricate thrust fault zone known as the Copperhannia Thrust.The Kempfield deposit is hosted in felsic volcanic rocks known as the Kangaloolah Volcanics. These have been in-faulted and folded into the Middle Ordovician meta-sediments of the Coombing Formation of metasediments along the Copperhannia Thrust. The Kangaloolah Volcanics belong to the Late Silurian Mumbil Group, comprising submarine carbonate-shale facies interspersed with extensive felsic volcanic piles, which grade conformably upwards into turbiditic sandstone and siltstone sequences (interpreted to represent a deeper depositional environment). These turbiditic rocks are known as the Campbells Formation, comprising siltstone, sandstone and andesitic tuff. The rocks at Kempfield are metamorphosed to lower greenschist facies, reflected through the different type of schists.Silver, gold, lead, zinc mineralisation is hosted in barite-rich horizons, near the boundary to quartz-phyric tuffaceous rocks in submarine, immature, reworked felsic ash tuffs. Barite appears to be hosted in greatest concentrations by the coarser grained volcanoclastic sandstones and grits, whilst intercalated siltstones are volumetrically minor and tend to return low barite and silver. Mineralisation is hosted in stratiform and probably stratabound barite-rich horizons. A northeast-trending, steeply dipping, metamorphic cleavage (S1) occurs throughout the project area.

Aug 22, 2011