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Alluvial gold was found in the Terawhiti area, West of Wellington, in the 1850s. This led to the discovery of reef gold. Periods of minor 'gold fever', company flotations, and mining activity occured between 1869 - 1973, 1881 - 1986, and in the late 1880s, with one final company active in 1911 - 1914. 1n the early 1980s, further field work was carried out. No viable mining operations resulted from any of this activity.

Jan 1, 1993

By S. A. McGhee

ASARCO Incorporated embarked on a modernization and expansion program to improve overall operating efficiencies and to more effectively develop the large mineral reserve at the Ray Complex Open-Pit Mining operation located near Kearny, Arizona. Major elements of this Ray Modernization and Concentrator Expansion Project included engineering and construction of a 54,400 MTPD (60,000 STPD) In-Pit Crusher and Overland Conveying System. and a 24,200 MTPD (30,000 STPD) Copper SAG Concentrator and Tailings Disposal System. Detailed engineering, procurement, and construction management were initiated in November 1989 under contract with Bechtel Corporation. Field construction commenced in May 1990 leading to mechanical completion and start-up during February 1992.

Jan 1, 1993

By Orlando C. Rojas

The Potrerillos Smelter commissioned a new El Teniente converter in 1985. As a result of the use of this technology, the Peirce-Smith converters have been processing only high grade matte or white metal. These operational changes resulted in damages to the converter shells, excessive splashing and cold dope generation and very short refractory campaigns. The paper shows the modifications to the tuyere angle, mouth design changes and new techniques for mouth cleaning and gas handling. Operational results up to 1991 are also shown.

Jan 1, 1993

By Zhang Hengzhong

Based on thermodynamics of surfaces and a proposed two-dimensional state equation for surfaces, the relationship between the surface tension (Y) of a solution and the activity (a1) of its component (i) was derived: (1/Y)r2-.¬E (ai/Yl) The derived equation was verified with reported experimental data of water-alcohol systems and water-acetone system, the calculated results showed astonishing coincidence with experimental. Applications of the equation to the five matte systems Cu2S-FeS, Ni3S2-FeS, FeS-PbS, Cu2S-PbS and FeS-Cu22S-PbS also demonstrated that at given matte compositions the calculated surface tensions agreed with experimental fairy well.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. D. Hagni

Pyrometallurgical products from lime roasting of refractory gold ores, pyrite, and arsenopyrite have been examined for their mineralogy, porosity, permeability, retention of contaminant sulfur and arsenic, and potential effectiveness of gold extraction. Cathodoluminescence microscopy, supplemented by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive analysis study, has shown that the products phases have characteristic cathodoluminescence properties as follows: anhydrite (CaS04), deep blue; unreacted portlandite (Ca(OH)2), deep purple; oldhamite (CaS), light yellow to rarely pink or orange; a sulfur-rich, arsenic-poor phase, violet; an arsenic-rich, sulfur-poor phase, non-CL. Within the temperature range examined (400-850°C), hematite exhibits greater porosity and permeability at the intermediate roast temperatures of 600-650°C.

Jan 1, 1993

By Nielen van der Merwe

Mr Janisch' s comment' in the August issue on Dick Stacey's remarks about safety factors indeed requires wider debate. The example he quoted to illustrate the successful application of the safety factor concept in coal mining, namely the Salamon formula, is to my knowledge the only recognized application of that concept. Not only that, but that particular formula should be used only for what it was intended, namely to prevent major disasters. It was never intended to indicate long-term pillar stability, and it should not be used for that.

Jan 1, 1993

By C. Díaz

Roast-reduction smelting (RRS) of nickel concentrate, combined with flash smelting of copper concentrate, was one of the process options that Inco considered as a means of meeting its 1994 sulfur dioxide abatement target at its Copper Cliff operations. RRS involves deep roasting the nickel concentrate in fluid bed roasters. The roaster off-gas is heated in a sulfuric acid plant, and the low sulfur calcine is reduction smelted with coke in an electric furnace to yield a sulfur-deficient matte. The latter material is converted to Bessemer matte in Peirce-Smith converters, with minimal evolution of sulfur dioxide, and the converter slag is reverted to the electric furnace. Excellent nickel and cobalt recoveries are obtained. This paper discusses the development of RRS, including extensive commercial scale testing at Inco's Thompson Smelter, and its key operating parameters.

Jan 1, 1993

By D. A. Peterson

A research program is currently in progress at the University of British Columbia to determine the potential of composite cable bolt reinforcement in Canadian mines. Several prototypes of glass fibre cable bolts have been tested. Their evaluation consisted of lab testing at the University of British Columbia, United States Bureau of Mines (Spokane) and trial installations at Detour Lake, Winston Lake, and Myra Falls Mines. A market analysis of cable bolts within the Canadian mining industry has been completed. Fibre reinforced polymer composites have a high potential as cable bolt reinforcement in mining applications. They prove to be a viable alternative to steel cable bolting.

Jan 1, 1993

By P. E. Lenz

In Nevada, large deposits of diatomite were formed during the Miocene / Pliocene in deep, alkaline lakes. Associated sediments are predominately fine-grained lacustrine with varying fluvial-clastic layers. Tephra layers are common, and probably served as a source of soluble silica for the extensive diatom colonies. Four companies are currently producing diatomite from Nevada deposits. Nevada ranks second to California in annual domestic production. Nevada diatomite is used in filter aids, fillers, absorbents, catalyst supports, and many other products. Economics and mineral reserves indicate that diatomite production in Nevada will be significant well into the next century.

Jan 1, 1993

By G. D. Hood

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated rapid froth flotation through more efficient bubble-particle collisions that improved the overall flotation kinetics. An in-line static mixer efficiently mixed the bubbles, water, and ore, selectively attaching these bubbles to the hydrophobic mineral's surface. As the mixture entered the flotation chamber, the hydrophobic mineral was already attached to the bubbles and was quickly floated away from the remaining ore pulp. The rapid flotation system was evaluated for beneficiation with a western porphyry copper ore containing 0.67 pct copper, and a phosphate-bearing amine flotation tailings sample containing 9.5 pct P2O5 in a quartz matrix. Over 88 pct of the copper was recovered from the ore in a rougher concentrate containing 5.9 pct copper at a rate 7 times faster than conventional flotation. Sixty percent of the quartz in the phosphate-bearing sample was floated at a rate 4 times faster than conventional flotation. The unfloated product retained 80 pct of the phosphate in a l6.9-pct P2O5 concentrate.

Jan 1, 1993

By Peter Cain

The Phalen Colliery in the Sydney Coalfield is extracting the 2.6 m thick Phalen Seam by the panel and pillar longwall retreat method. Abandoned workings occur in the Harbour Seam 140 m above and overlie the Phalen Colliery. Parts of these workings are flooded, and pose a number of questions relating to the safety of operations in the Phalen Colliery. In order to answer some of these questions, the Cape Breton Development Corporation re-entered an abandoned non-flooded roadway in the Harbour Seam directly above a retreat panel in the Phalen Seam to allow the deployment of instrumentation to monitor interaction effects. Fifteen monitoring sites, each 4.5 m apart, were installed in the 5 East Top Level after it had been re-entered and made safe. Each monitoring station included a vibrating wire strain gauge piezometer and a potentiometric extensometer. The piezometers were attached to rock bolts anchored into the floor and were connected by a flexible standpipe to a constant head apparatus. Variations in hydraulic head due to subsidence were monitored to determine subsidence. The extensometer units were mounted on rock bolts anchored into the floor of the roadway beneath the ribside and monitored ground strains. The instrumentation was capable of remote reading in the event that access to the site was restricted after installation. This paper describes the instrumentation, the installation programme, and some preliminary results.

Jan 1, 1993

By Xuanxue Mo, Kaihui Yang

"Abstract- The Laochang mine, located in the Sanjiang area of southwestern Yunnan Province of China, is a volcanogenic massive Pb-Zn-Cu sulfide deposit. It is hosted by a pyroclastic sequence of Barly Carboniferous age, namely the lower member of the Yiliu Group, which was intruded by syenite and rhyolite porphyry . The volcanic suite is basaltic or basaltic-andesitic in composition, has alkaline affinities, and is associated with the initial rifting along the margin of the Baoshan-Shanstate continental rnicroplate (Yang, 1989). The ores are typically Pb>Zn>Cu in composition, averaging 3.820Jo Pb, 3.51% Zn, from 0.01% to 1.85% Cu (0.107% av.), a high average content of Ag (113 g/t) and recoverable amounts of Au, Tl, Gd, Ga, Ge, In. A massive sulflde zone, in which lenticular and stratiform orebodies are localized in a sulflde-carbonate-silica shale unit or sulfldic tufflte horizon that usually overlies coarse-grained pyroclastic rocks, is underlain by a stringer sulflde zone developed in a subvolcanic intrusion or volcanic sequence. The sulfide mineral assemblages, from the top to the bottom of the deposit, are: realgar + orpiment - galena + sphalerite + pyrite- chalcopyrite + pyrite + pyrrhotite + arsenopyrite. Oxide and sulfate minerais occur rarely in the massive ores. The massive ores are generally fine-grained and banded, but coarse-grained ore, colloform and framboidal texture, and growth-zoned pyrite and sphalerite are common. Sedimentary features such as graded bedding, brecciated and deformed ore clasts, and chaotically emplaced blocks, are well preserved, indicating that the massive orebodies have undergone slumping and dis­ placement. Alteration is weak in the hanging-wall rocks, but strong in the stringer zone. Two dis­ tinctive alteration zones have been identified: the upper zone, characterized by an assemblage of quartz, carbonates, chlorite, albite, zeolite and sericite, and the lower zone containing diopside, trema­ lite, actinolite, gamet, clinozoisite, and epidote.The general features of the Laochang deposit are in accord with the descriptive mode! of VMS deposits (Lydon, 1984). However, it falls into neither the Zn-Cu group nor the Zn-Pb-Cu group chemically (Franklin et al., 1981). The depositional setting of the Laochang deposit is quite different from Cyprus or Besshi-type massive sulfide deposits. Laochang is hosted by alkaline lavas that were erupted in a submarine continental rift. Although some features of the Laochang deposit are similar to those of Kuroko-type deposits, there are remarkable differences in the alteration mineral assemblage, the proportion of ore-forming elements (lead enriched) and the amounts of oxides and sulfates. These suggest corresponding differences in ore fluid composition and the associated ore-forming environment. Thus, the authors suggest that the Laochang deposit may be a distinct type of VMS deposit."

Jan 1, 1993

By Deno M. Pappas

The purpose of this U.S. Bureau of Mines study was to determine the material stiffness properties of the gob for use in numerical models of rock mass response to longwall mining. Photographs of actual mine gob were used to approximate particle size gradations of gob material. The gradation curve was shifted down to a laboratory scale, and 20 uniaxial compression tests were conducted on simulated gob material from 3 different rock types. The study found that the nonlinear stress-strain curves obtained from the three materials were similar, and could be represented in terms of moduli as follows: Es = 2.36s + 1,360 (1) Et = 0.00181s2 + 9.33s + 294 (2) where Es = secant modulus, psi Et = tangent modulus, psi and, s = stress level (due to overburden), psi. These curves correlated well with the theoretical solution curves developed by Salamon. Other effects on gob behavior were attributable to these studied factors including void ratio, thickness-to-width shape ratio, and rock compressive strength. The generated equations should provide numerical modelers with a practical means of estimating gob modulus as a function of stress level.

Jan 1, 1993

By Egan J. R

Changes have recently been applied to the Sullivan Concentrator lead and zinc circuits to treat fine-grained ores which make-up the majority of ore reserves in the mine. Pilot plant testwork conducted in 1990 - 91 indicated that concentrate grades would be substantially improved by reducing the particle size (Pao) of the lead from 38 to 15 ¦m and the zinc from 45 to 24 ¦m. Circuit revisions involved installation of major new equipment including: two 600-kilowatt Vertimills for regrinding, a four metre diametre column flotation cell and a four metre diameter hyperbaric pressure filter for dewatering. Duties of the existing regrind mills were Reassigned.

Jan 1, 1993

By Hoberg H, Schneider FU

The stability of suspensions can frequently be controlled only by the use of supplementary polymeric agents. Such methods date back to the time of the ancient Egyptians, who used natural rubber as a deflocculant for carbon black in the manufacture of ink (Anon, EncyclopediaBritannica, 1968). Since the development of synthetic polymers in the 1950s they have been deployed in all manner of applications. Indeed the mining and paper industries as well as industrial or communal waste water treatment plants are largely dependent on flocculants which make a major contribution to the relief of the environment. As some of the polymers used are carried out from the process via purified water, problems can emanate from the application itself as long as no reliable data is available as to the exact whereabouts of the polymers and their impact on the biosphere. In order not to invade other systems, they would have to be biologically degradable which has not, until now, been confirmed (Blockhaus, Sequaris and Schwuger, 1991; Schumann, 1991). It has, however, previously been demonstrated (Hoberg et al, 1990) that when process water circulates in mineral processing operations, residual amounts of polymeric flocculants can have extremely adverse effects on the selectivity of flotation processes. The adsorption behaviour is consequently one of the most important considerations in the development of new polymers, the aim being to minimise the amount of non-absorbent matter. The objective of the investigations carried out on ampholitic synthetic polymers of high molecular weight to be reported on here was to permit the connection between settling index and adsorptivity to be characterised in greater detail. As the level of knowledge concerning flocculation and polymer adsorption in real systems is still limited in spite of numerous practical and theoretical studies in this field, the experiment was designed to be relatively broadly-based. As well as investigating various raw materials, an attempt was made to compile results on the influence exerted by different surface charges.

Jan 1, 1993

By F. D. Wicks

This paper summarizes the direct operating cash costs for the Barrick Mercur open pit gold mine. A comprehensive, detailed system of cost management has been in effect for the life of the Mercur operation. This system provides the basic data for operations control and is the basis for drafting budgets as well as analyzing impact of change on operations costs. The ore body is complex geologically and metallurgically, requiring operators to pay close attention to mining and processing costs. The cost history provides data which enables analysis of changes in production levels, aging of the mine production fleet, and the impact of specific cost changes through time.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. A. Bradbury

N. A. Degerstrom, Inc. has constructed and operated a processing plant approximately five miles north of Soda Springs, Idaho for processing a byproduct phosphate treater dust from Monsanto's elemental phosphorus plant, also located in Soda Springs. The plant is designed to produce agricultural-grade phosphoric acid, gallium, and silver. The design capacity of the plant is 54.4t (60 st) of treater dust per day, which can produce 16,326t (18,000 st) of phosphoric acid, 6,600 kg of gallium, and 6,033 kg (194,000 oz.) of silver per year.

Jan 1, 1993

By Thomas J. Peters

The King Mountain study area is centered about 120 air km northwest of Blackfoot, and 30 air km north of Arco, Idaho. The study area makes up the southern one-third of the northwest-trending Lost River Range--the highest mountain range in Idaho. The area is predominantly underlain by Paleozoic-age marine limestone and lesser dolostone, with a relatively small inlier of silica-rich, Ordovician-age quartzite. There are vast, unquantified resources of these industrial minerals present; however, special markets need to be developed for these resources which are near enough for transportation costs to be competitive. Five prospects were found in the study area; however, only one, the Elbow quartz silica prospect, contains resources and current claims. There has been no mineral production in the study area.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. V. Ramani

One area of study in the Coal Mine Injury Analysis project was to illustrate and enhance the ability of mine safety management personnel to apply analytical techniques to injury experience data and to justify requests for funds for safety enhancement actions on a cost/benefit and other quantitative basis. Four volumes of this final project report detail (1) the objectives and scope of the mine safety management research, (2) the results of literature review, and case studies, and (3) models developed for mine safety management. The four volumes are titled as Volume III: Mine Safety Management, Volume IV: Analytical Techniques for Mine Safety Management; Volume V: Mine Safety Management Case Studies and Volume IX: Training Cost Model. This volume deals with the development of a microcomputer based training cost model (TCM) which can be used to analyze training cost implications of various types of training. The model has been developed using Aston Tate's dBASE III plus language. The computer program and a test run of the model are presented in this report.

Jan 1, 1993

By John R. Goode

The fist part of this paper comprises a general discussion on refractory gold ores and their mineralogy. Processing methods now in use are reviewed and test procedures for the important methods are discussed. Factors determining the selection of a process are outlined. The paper includes a survey of production plants using pressure oxidation, roasting and biological oxidation to process refractory ore. The status of processes under development is briefly reviewed.

Jan 1, 1993