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Analysis for pillar extraction potential (A-PEP) is an intelligent tool, which could be used as a preliminary output indicator when considering the secondary extraction of regional support pillars in the Witbank and Highveld coalfields of South Africa. The safe and economic extraction of underground coal pillars is of paramount significance and importance to the South African coalmining industry to ensure continuity of supply of this fossil fuel. Pillar extraction practices in South Africa have been responsible a significant proportion of safety and fatality statistics in relation to its relative output (less than 5 per cent of total South African coal production) and, as a result, research was undertaken in local pillar extraction operations and extended to similar operations in New South Wales, Australia to assess a way forward for pillar extraction in South Africa. It was found that, although little in the way of new technologies has emerged in this field in the recent past, significant contributions could be made in the field of risk analysis to obtain a generic design methodology for pillar extraction in South Africa. The resultant A-PEP tool to assess pillar extraction potential is based on certain physical, risk and economic factors, which combine to indicate operational success in terms of economic, health and safety attributes. At the time of A-PEP?s development there was alack of operating underground coal pillar extraction operations, which made it difficult to validate its applicability. Since then, however, A-PEP has been successfully tested and validated against two unique underground coal pillar operations, which is the discussion of this paper. One operation is situated in the Witbank coalfield and is extracting pillars, which are 20 years old and at a depth of 80 metres below surface, while the other operation is situated in the Highveld coalfield-which is extracting 6 month-old-pillars underneath a massive dolerite sill at a depth of 220 metres. A-PEP has shown that its predictive nature is consistent the workings at both operations, irrespective of their unique conditions, and as such it can be successfully used as a mine planning tool. The A-PEP mine planning tool thus represents a positive step toward an integrated approach to underground coal pillar extraction when considering legal and operational aspects, which could form the basis for legislative guidelines when considering the future of pillar extraction in South Africa.

Jan 1, 2005

An Integrated Solid Waste Management Method for Western Macedonia, Greece

Sep 13, 2010

Project cost control procedures and computer systems have enjoyed a successful and simple relationship over the past decade, thanks primarily to the proliferation of portable computers or PC's. Prior to the introduction of this technology, project control was largely a manual and somewhat onerous task of historical data compilations, with little time available for dynamic forecasting, staged planning, or pre-emptive cost control. Automated systems developed during this era were resident on "Heavy Iron" or mainframe computers and were expensive to maintain and operate. Use of these early systems was limited to large engineering, construction, and industrial concerns with the economies of scale and funding required for their successful application. Systems were either designed for critical path analysis or task scheduling, but rarely integrated with the other, much less cost control.

Jan 1, 1990

By Yong Li, Tao Jiang, Xiangxin Xue, He Yang

"In this paper, we describe the current status and research progress on the utilization of typical industrial solid wastes in China. We propose a creative method called “eco-utilizing wastes” with an aim of both integration and increment but without second-time waste and pollution, in terms of the characteristics of typical industrial solid wastes, such as titanium-bearing blast furnace slag, high-silicon iron tailing and boron-enriched slag as well as oil shale.Situation of Typical Industrial Solid Wastes in ChinaThough mineral resources in China are abundant, most of these are low grade ores. Moreover, the distribution of mineral resources is asymmetric, which causes the increase of cost and decrease of the economic benefit. Over-exploitation of mineral resources results in a large number of solid wastes. The accumulation of solid wastes not only means the waste of valuable resources, but also causes environment deterioration. There exist some problems in the current practice of the disposal of industrial solid waste, such as only emphasizing the final results and causing new pollution and waste [1]. So the research and development of a high value-added method has a high practical relevance to our nation. Based on the present status and research progress of industrial solid wastes in China, a creative new idea and method for eco-utilization of solid wastes is proposed in this paper."

Jan 1, 2012

An Integrated Study of Bubble-Particle Attachment Mechanisms

Sep 13, 2010

By C. L. Sainsbury

For 10 years, the author has been engaged in a program of geologic mapping of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, for the U.S. Geological Survey. Initially, two 1:63,360-scale quadrangles were napped by traditional methods of traverses by foot and by tracked vehicle, supplemented by reconnaissance from a light aircraft owned and piloted by the author. Five summers were required to map those two quadrangles, which lie north of the tree lice in typical Arctic climate. In 1967, the project was reoriented toward the reconnaissance capping of four 1:250,000-scale quadrangles, with helicopter support to be used for cart of each of four summers amounting to about 45 hours time per support year. The light aircraft was use-,' to support the field operations. Over the year,, the aircraft was used in progressively more geologic tasks, culminating in 1970 with a successful field test of rudimentary devices made to collect soil, rock, and sediment samples while the aircraft remained airborne. Additionally, an attempt was made j- 1970 to prepare reconnaissance geologic maps entirely by the use of the light aircraft combined with foot traverses [fr??], the landed aircraft. Several such maps, prepared at the rate of about one 1:63,360-scale quadrangle per day, were checked from a helicopter by an impartial observer end were found to be sufficiently accurate for reconnaissance mapping when reduced to 1:250.000 scale.

Jan 1, 1971

By P. Rocque, S. Talebi

Although the measurement of blast vibration close to the blasthole is critical to the understanding of rock fragmentation mechanisms and blast damage in the rock masses, limited experience for such monitoring exists. Because much higher vibration amplitude and frequency ranges are expected in rock masses close to an explosive charge as compared to far field vibrations, different problems from those for the far field monitoring must be considered for near field blast vibration monitoring. Currently, guidelines for design of the near field blast monitoring systems do not exist. This paper describes the development of an integrated technique for vibration monitoring close to a blast hole, including selection and installation of transducers, design of a monitoring system and signal recording. A densified cement was designed for grouting accelerometers in order to match p-wave impedance between the rock and grout. The monitoring technique described has proven suitable for blast vibration monitoring within 2 m to 15 m of a blast hole having loading conditions similar to production blasts.

Jan 1, 1993

By C Parihar, R Garg, A Bhandari, S Bhandari

Blasting can impact the efficiency of entire downstream mining operation. Individual technology solutions for blasting have been available in the industry for many years but all of them only cater for certain aspects of blasting. Many of them are based on individual research and/or experiences. Some of the available software solutions are not suitable to be used in the field as that they need advanced skills or tools. Also, most do not take technology advancements like mobility, advanced data analytics, web solutions and integration into consideration. Hence, no technology platform is currently present in the industry that addresses all potential needs a blaster may need in an integrated manner.This paper presents an integrated solution that takes care of all aspects of blasting – design blasts according to mine plan; collect data after drilling has been carried out (as there is often difference in designed and actual drilled hole locations in the field); predict blast results in terms of fragmentation, flyrock, ground and air vibrations, wave front reinforcement and flyrock distance; and after assessment, allows changes in charging, delay timing and sequence. The technology solution is a secure, cloud-hosted, web-based software-as-a-service solution that can be accessed from anywhere. Also it has a mobile app, which is available for both Android and iPhone/iPad. The mobile app is also integrated with the web-based solution using application programming interface calls to the central data repository.Case studies for two limestone mines are presented where this solution is being used in its initial format. This software platform enabled analysis of the outcome from a previous blast pattern and then subsequently allowed optimisation of blasting operations based on historical data. Uses of this platform have resulted in improved key performance indicators in these two limestone mines. The mobile app as part of this platform enables extensive field blast data capture and analysis and also various predictions before a blast. Data collected include blast parameters, individual hole charging, initiation pattern, videos, photographs and vibration records for analysis/reporting. The key features of the solution are a blast designer, a detailed blast data collection/analysis and a series of environmental predictors. These predictors give blast results in terms of fragmentation, flyrock, ground and air vibrations and wave front reinforcement and take remedial steps before blasting to optimise and control adverse environmental impact. Many features, such as fragmentation predictor and mobility solution, are completely unique features that are not available elsewhere in such a field personnel-friendly manner.CITATION:Bhandari, S, Parihar, C, Garg, R and Bhandari, A, 2015. An integrated technology solution for optimised and environmentally-controlled blasts, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 393–400 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By Leroy G. Hagenbuch

"IntroductionAn integrated Truck Management Information System (Truck MIS) evolves as seemingly separate functions combined to yield a single homogeneous result / product. The concept of a computer integrated Truck MIS includes truck dispatch, truck maintenance management and truck weighing.A truck management system is only as good as the information / data bases input to it. The concept of an integrated system works best with automated data gathering. Automated data gathering provides timely and normally, the most accurate historical information/data bases. Data bases are, however, historical, which is a problem to be overcome in a computerized truck management information system, especially in regards to a truck dispatch system as loading sites / loading conditions and some dump site conditions continually change. As these changes occur, data base s must change as well, and thus the need for the continual update of data bases that the computer uses for a Truck MIS.For a truck dispatch system to achieve reliability / viability, dispatch decisions need to revolve around real time data gathered in an automated way. Integration of all truck management function s through automated data gathering lead s to the best over-all system.An integrated system is a combination of many different factors and is only as good as each factor / building block put in the system. With the proper building blocks, an integrated Truck MIS is very feasible - an MIS System that includes weighing, time and motion study, truck maintenance and maintenance management, as well as truck dispatch.Truck MISAn integrated Truck MIS provides for truck dispatch as the ultimate end result, a truly automated /integrated truck dispatch system (to function non-operator-dependent). The following comprises its central building blocks:-Time.- Haul Cycle Segments.Truck Status, i.e. Load on truck,- being loaded,- loaded,- unloaded,- in service,- out of service.- Vehicle Location.Loading Equipment Status.- in service,- out of service.Optional- distance travelled in each haul segment.With this data provided on a non-operator dependent basis, it is possible to build good data bases so a computer can make truck dispatch decisions. Knowing what information is needed as the central core to a good Truck MIS, how can this information be automatically gathered and fed into a central control computer?"

Jan 1, 1986

By Barber S

The Golden Cross Mine is located within the Waitekauri Valley near the southern end of the Coromandel Ranges, eight kilometres north-west of Waihi, North Island, New Zealand. The mine is owned and operated in a joint venture by Coeur Gold NZ Ltd (80 per cent) and Viking Mining Ltd (20 per cent). The underground mine produces gold and silver from low sulphidation epithermal quartz veins which developed in the shallow parts of a meteoric water dominated system during the Upper Miocene (7.36 - 6.67 Ma). The Empire Vein System is hosted within a dilational structural environment which developed at the lithological contact between acid intrusives, rhyolitic-dacitic tuffs and reworked pyroclastics, and undifferentiated andesites. The formation of the Empire Vein System was controlled by the rheological properties of the host rocks and variable displacement along a series of normal, right lateral, easterly-dipping faults. These faults represent sub-parallel zones of master shearing within a Riedel shear model. Underground mining extracts ore from the steeply dipping hangingwall and the complex footwall veins of the Empire Vein System. Initially sills are driven along the hangingwall vein on ten to fifteen metre sublevel intervals. In the footwall zones where significant mineralisation adjacent to the hangingwall sill drives has been identified, a series of cross-cuts and footwall drives (sub-parallel to the hangingwall sill) are also developed. Where continuity of mineralisation and ground conditions permit a combination of post pillar flatbacking and AVOCA longhole benching methods are used. Detailed underground mapping of lithology, quartz veining and major structures provides the information for designing ground support and footwall pillars, planning mine development and ore extraction sequencing. Sectional interpretation displays the vertical extent of faults, fractures and the vein system. The mining methods used underground at the mine have evolved through a thorough understanding of the structural complexity and the systematic geological mapping of the Empire Vein System.

Jan 1, 1997

By I. Sanchez

The development of the recent generation of large mining projects in South America has been challenging in many ways, but especially in the management of water in all its aspects. As a result, a number of projects have experienced difficulties and in some cases significant delays due to a lack of a clear and approved definition of the supply, use and discharge of water from mining and processing sites. The development of the recent generation of large mining projects in South America has been challenging in many ways, but especially in the management of water in all its aspects. As a result, a number of projects have experienced difficulties and in some cases significant delays due to a lack of a clear and approved definition of the supply, use and discharge of water from mining and processing sites.

Feb 23, 2014

Oil sands processing generates huge volumes of slurry, known as tailings, that is being stored in tailings ponds. The volume of produced tailings is a very important factor in oil sands surface mine planning, because the available area for dam construction is limited to the lease areas. On the other hand, oil sands operators cannot leave mine sites without reclaiming the tailings ponds. Since most of the reclamation material is generated in either oil sands mining or processing, it is reasonable to include reclamation material requirement as part of long-term mine planning. In this paper, an integrated optimization framework is proposed to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the produced oil sands, with respect to tailings capacity constraints and reclamation material requirements. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed to find the optimal solution for long-term mine planning problem. A sample bitumen processing flow sheet is used to formulate the volume of produced tailings, based on Clark hot water extraction method. To verify the proposed model, it is coded in Matlab and run using CPLEX. Run results for real-case oil sands dataset show that the optimal production schedule meets material requirements for reclamation, tailings volume is within tailings capacity range in all periods and the production schedule follows the predetermined horizontal direction.

Feb 27, 2013

By K. Kasas, J Kermeci, S. Vujic, S. Secei, P. Kermeci

On the ‘Majdan III’ open pit mine, supplying with brick clays the production plants of the industry of building material ‘Potisje-Kanjiza’ from Kanjiza, a modern ECS (excavator-conveyor-spreader) complex was built, integrating four bucket excavators, six conveyors and one spreader into a whole. This complex connects the mineral-exploitation unit with the final brick-products plant of the company. Monitoring and management of the ECS complex is carried out by modern computer-supported information-management system (IMS) implementing most modern measuring-regulation, computer and GPS equipment. It was concluded that, for safety reasons, the functions of the IMS should be developed by a component of active visual monitoring of the ECS complex. For this purpose, the task of making a project on intelligent system for visual monitoring of the ECS complex was entrusted to the Department of Computer Application at the Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Belgrade. This paper gives a review of basic project solutions. Keywords: Automation, process management, information management technology, visual system, intelligent systems, TV monitoring, surface exploitation, clay, Majdan III, Potisje-Kanjiza.

Jan 1, 2003

Automation and robotics are the keys to new intelligent autonomous mining systems which can remove operators from the hazardous and stressful mining environment and provide the tools for greater productivity. This pa-per presents the components necessary for a mining Intelligent Task Control System (ITCS) in dynamic unstructured mining environments. The proposed concept is applied to develop the ITCS for an autonomous excavator. The design and implementation of a fuzzy logic controller for an excavator that uses force/torque sensor feedback to complete excavation tasks is presented. Initial experimental results are also given.

Jan 1, 1994

By Shankar S. Hegde

In many areas of the United States much of the most readily minable coal is nearing depletion, while at the same time, increased national attention is being given to coal as a major alternate energy source. If some of the thinner, more erratic, deeper and lower quality coals, which comprise the great bulk of U.S. resources, are to be mined efficiently and economically, greater attention must be devoted to careful planning of mines and to preparation facilities. One of the cornerstones to careful and successful mine planning is precise knowledge of coal thickness and areal distribution, roof and floor quality, and seam quality. Data on which this knowledge is based are obtained from various borehole techniques and, in some cases, seismic methods. Despite the many technical innovations that have been made in acquiring subsurface data, little attention has been given to the problem of systematic storage and retrieval procedures of the data and assembling them in a form that can be used for various computer mapping programs now available. (See Bilter and Martin, 1977; Bryant and Zobrist, 1977 and Farrell and Wherry, 1978). The purpose of this paper is to describe a series of user oriented programs developed over the past five years which are specifically designed for precise logging of rock core, accurate storage and retrieval of this data, correlation of seams between logs, tagging seams, computer assisted data posting of maps and preparing maps and profile sections for report illustrations. The entire system stresses increased precision and speed for a series of operations which are now largely manual, time consuming and prone to error.

Jan 1, 1980

By P. K. Chatterjee

Computer aided design and inter active graphics have been well established in the electronics, automotive and mechanical engineering industries. The use of such aids in underground mine design and planning, however, has been noticeably absent. The large expense involved in the research and development of CAD and graphics systems and their highly specialized techniques have rendered investment in these areas difficult to justify. Optimum mine planning involves an interactive procedure of evaluation of several alternative plans. Generally the development of each mine plan of a given operation can take many man-months. This time constraint on planning precludes any comparative analysis and evaluation of alternatives, thereby introducing the possibility of unrealized gains. This paper outlines the development of a computer aided mine design program utilizing interactive graphics for the design, simulation and scheduling of underground coal mines. The program developed examines exploratory borehole information and produces a structured database of the sampled data. This database is utilized to generate seam sections and different mine layouts. A simulation of mine extraction and production levels and a schedule of proposed alternatives are then performed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Jaroslav Horskoý, Miroslav Raudenský, Bogdan Filipic, Božidar Sader

This paper describes main elements and practical use of the computational system for automated setting of optimized casting conditions in the continuous casting of steel. The system consists of the heat transfer model of the process, empirical metallurgical criteria, and optimization algorithm. The physical model of the, strand temperature distribution relies on the classical Bennon-Incropera mixture continuum formulation for the convective-diffusive heat transport. Fluid flow effects are considered through enhanced thermal conductivity of the liquid phase. The model is solved by the operator-splitting Crank-Nicolson finite volume version of the Voller-Swaminathan scheme. The solution procedure is coupled with the IDS solidification analysis package. Boundary conditions for the strand cooling rely on combination of the generic and plant-specific mold, spray, and roll heat transfer coefficients ' by coping the effects of the casting speed, casting temperature, casting powder, mold oscillation mode, steel grade, water or air-mist spray type, running water, trapped water on the rolls, and radiation. The caster safety and productivity and the quality of the strand are related to nine empirical metallurgical criteria. The criteria ensure the caster safety and economy as well limit the internal, longitudinal, and transversal surface cracking possibility. The problem of finding optimum casting parameter values is stated as a minimization problem based on the analytical form of the cooling criteria evaluated from the steady-state temperature distribution of the strand. To solve the optimization problem, a genetic algorithm is employed. The algorithm explores process parameters settings heuristically by applying the principles of biological evolution. It starts with a random set of solutions and iteratively improves them through selection and variation. Solutions are evaluated by running the heat transfer model of the process and extracting the values of the empirical metallurgical criteria.

Jan 1, 2000

By J. T. Clancey

The potential inadequacy of natural gas reserves to supply projected requirements in the 1980's has been pointed out.(1,2) As a result, interest has arisen in the development of new, potentially low-cost processes for the conversion of coal into high BTU gas. In June, 1964, the office of Coal Research (U. S. Department of interior) and Consolidation Coal Company (now a subsidiary of Continental Oil Company) entered into a contract to continue work on coal gasification utilizing the Consol CO2 Acceptor Process. Work under this contract has been specifically directed toward the use of lignite as the carbonaceous feed, although the process is also applicable to non-caking subbituminous coals. The primary objective of this work was to establish the technical feasibility in continuous bench-scale equipment, of the novel features of the C02 Acceptor Process. Secondary objectives were the testing of commercially obtainable acceptors and the design and economic evaluation of a commercial facility. The bench-scale process development has been completed successfully and the construction of a large pilot plant at Rapid City, South Dakota, has been authorized. It is the purpose of this paper to review the technology of this new gasification process and to present the current projected economics of a plant producing 250 MM SCFD of pipeline quality gas.

Jan 1, 1969

By Whiting AN

Major changes in the world in recent years are changing the criteria for selection of future developments. Oil prices soared during the 1970's while commodity prices including metals and minerals fell. Many new independent nations, have been created and now control the resources in areas which were once part of great colonial Empires.

Jan 1, 1983

By T. R. Ellis

Australia’s mineral valuation code continues to evolve, while mineral valuation standards are also being written for Canada and Southern Africa. The author is leading a task force for writing the extractive industries addition to the International Valuation Standards. Meanwhile, the International Accounting Standards Board is continuing the development of an extractive industries addition to its International Financial Reporting Standards, with an emphasis on valuation reporting. This paper analyzes the need, content and ownership for a U.S. minerals appraisal standard in the context of both these developing international standards and also existing U.S. regulations and appraisal standards. The author provides many questions for research and debate.

Jan 1, 2003