Search Documents

By Michael Hughes, Selva Selvamohan, Ray Costa

"Cutoff walls are commonly used to mitigate underseepage problems for levee remediation projects. At abrupt changes in seepage cutoff wall depths there is a potential for water to flow around the back of the deeper cutoff wall leading to elevated seepage pressures on the landside that could result in exit gradients exceeding design criteria. This condition is referred to as end-around-effects and is a complex problem that requires detailed and time consuming 3-D numerical modeling to represent accurately. This paper presents a simple approach for assessing end-around-effects using the results of 2- D seepage analysis to determine if lateral extension of the deeper portion of the cutoff wall is required. This simplified approach provides a pragmatic solution to a complex 3-D problem. The presented procedure was used as part of the Feather River West Levee Project in Yuba City, California, to assess end-around-effects at 26 locations. The results showed that wall extensions of up to 100 feet were needed at only 2 locations.INTRODUCTIONAs the lead geotechnical consultant for the Feather River West Levee Project, AECOM were responsible for designing levee remediation works for approximately 35 miles of levee protecting the area around Yuba City, California, and communities to the north and south. Due to land use constraints, seepage cutoff walls were the main remediation alternative selected to address underseepage issues for the project.As part of the design review process, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) requested AECOM to look at 26 locations along the levee alignment where the depth of cutoff wall changed abruptly from shallow to deep, or vice versa. At these locations there was the potential for seepage pressures to pass behind the deeper section of cutoff wall and stress the blanket layer landward of the cutoff wall. A condition referred to as end-around-effects.End-around-effects involve complex 3-D ground conditions that have traditionally been addressed by laterally extending the deeper section of cutoff wall an arbitrary distance based solely on engineering judgment. In discussions with DWR, AECOM developed a simple procedure to provide a more objective assessment of end-around-effects without the need for detailed and time consuming analysis. This procedure allows the engineer to make an informed decision of whether end-around-effects are a problem at the location of a cutoff wall transition rather than laterally extending the deeper section of cutoff wall an arbitrary distance based on engineering judgment alone."

Jan 1, 2015

By Rimas Pakalnis

This paper describes a focus of work presently being conducted at the Rock Mechanics Research Group at the University of British Columbia. The underhand method under consolidated fill ensures a high recovery under an engineered back that is comprised of cemented rock fill and/or cemented paste fill. This method of mining is generally necessary either due to a weak rock mass comprising the immediate back and/or high induced back stresses. A major concern in the design of sill mats is the loading and strengths associated with the overlying sill mat. This paper reviews past practice coupled with present observations and measurements from over ten(10) mines throughout North America. It outlines areas of concern in terms of design requirements.

Apr 1, 2005

By Rimas Pakalnis, Ted Williams, Tom Brady, Wilson Blake, Mary MacLaughlin, Kathryn Clapp, Cristian Caceres, Mario Morin

This paper describes a focus of work presently being conducted at the Rock Mechanics Research Group at the University of British Columbia. The underhand method under consolidated fill ensures a high recovery under an engineered back that is comprised of cemented rock fill and/or cemented paste fill. This method of mining is generally necessary either due to a weak rock mass comprising the immediate back and/or high induced back stresses. A major concern in the design of sill mats is the loading and strengths associated with the overlying sill mat. This paper reviews past practice coupled with present observations and measurements from over ten (10) mines throughout North America. It outlines areas of concern in terms of design requirements.

By Nicolas Gatelier, Sophie Laurent, Thierry You

Hard-rock caverns for hydrocarbon storage are a very particular type of underground facility controlled not only by local administrative and regulatory constraints that can be very specific, but also by the possible risks of geotechnical or geomechanical failure. Each such facility throughout the world is a prototype that needs to be adapted to very different site conditions. The straight forward application of design methodologies from relatively similar fields (mines, tunnels) can be very useful, but risks holding back the scientific and technical improvements needed by an engineering industry in full development. Here we look at various case histories and at problems that have been raised where recent attempts at standardization would appear to have been ill adapted, and where storage designers, through experience and judgment, may still provide innovative engineering solutions.

Jan 1, 2015

By G. R. O?Neil

The justification for a "ligand- selective' approach to fine mineral beneficiation via flocculation is established initially. Special emphasis is placed upon the need to identify non-selective, interfering and complicating adsorption effects. Specific strategies directed towards the design and synthesis of complementary selective flocculants are detailed using a number of different polymers and chelating agents as examples. In this regard, the affinity of polymer-bound ligands for metallic cations, ligand concentration, possible modes of attachment, the application of spaced-out ligands and other considerations in the preparation of selective flocculants are highlighted.

Jan 1, 1983

By Chu E. Ho

Field load tests on deep slurry stabilized bored piles have shown that end bearing resistance was unreliable due to soft toe conditions caused by debris accumulation at the bottom of the hole during pile installation. This is true whether bentonite or polymer slurry was used. Skin friction resistance was less affected by the slurry and is more reliable. A design strategy is proposed which ensures that an adequate factor of safety against the ultimate shaft resistance is maintained for any chosen design working load, such that a pile settlement of 12mm would not be exceeded.

Jan 1, 2002

By D. A. Trotter, G. J. Goddard

"This paper describes a method of deciding on various design parameters for a sublevel caving layout. Layout design curves are obtained from the output of a computer optimization program. The program uses mathematical relationships derived from the theory of gravity flow of material to optimize the large number of interdependent design variables which are involved.IntroductionIn the design of an efficient sublevel caving mining system, a large number of interrelated variables need to be considered. Although many papers discuss individual variables, very little exists in the literature to show how these variables interact to achieve optimum results. This can lead to trial and error in sublevel caving design, which can prove costly, particularly because sublevel caving is a mining method which requires integration with sublevels above and below. With no pillars being left, experimental stopes cannot be isolated for study. Unfortunately, the complexity of layout design and the costs associated with trial and error have caused many planning engineers to choose more tried and tested mining methods.Sublevel caving works best to extract low-value ore surrounded by incompetent rock. All phases of the mining method can be highly mechanized, allowing low operating costs and high production rates. Good safety records are achieved, as workers are always in 'good' ground and the method is regular, making it comparable to an industrial process."

Jan 1, 1981

By A Kemp, I Taylor, S C. Lamoureux

Detailed landform designs were completed for six (integrated) iron ore waste rock dumps at a Western Australian iron ore mine site to meet closure objectives and to optimise material movements for closure. The designs were based on specific physical and geochemical properties of waste material and the design was undertaken to enhance long-term stability of the dumps and optimise material movements, and therefore minimise closure cost. Construction of the re-shaped waste rock dumps have been completed. Following construction, surface material characteristics were found to deviate from those used in the design assessment. Materials present at surface following re-shaping were generally finer textured than those sampled for modelling. It is anticipated that the embankment slopes may experience increased rates of surface erosion compared to the rates predicted from modelling and used in design. The finer textured material is thought to be generated from exposing finer material that has migrated into the coarser matrix over time or that was not present in the sampled top surface of the landforms. This is due to armouring processes over time and this phenomenon is likely to recur following further wet seasons. The majority of the waste materials present in the waste rock dumps were subgrade banded iron formations (BIF) and chert, which are generally competent and geochemically inert. Some waste material was known to have an elevated risk of erosion but present in relatively small quantities. The presence of a large number of dolerite dyke swarms indicates appreciable volumes of dolerite were produced as waste from the pits. This material has an elevated risk of being highly erodible/dispersive. Clays and shales are also likely to be present in the dumps and are considered to be less competent material (relative to the BIF/chert). This paper presents the process from upfront materials assessment through detailed design to construction of the rehabilitated waste rock dumps, and post-construction sampling and testing to validate model findings.CITATION:Kemp, A, Taylor, I and Lamoureux, S C, 2017. Design to closure – construction of detailed rehabilitation designed iron ore waste rock dumps based on upfront site specific assessment, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 353–358 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By Scott G. Britton

Up to now, the hands-on approach to construction has been stressed. This chapter reviews the basic tools available for construction design and monitoring of a construction project. It is divided into three discussions, all under the general title of computer aids, since the trend for using these tools-is via the computer. In the context of our discussions, the focus for computer aids will be on the use of evaluation and analysis techniques for coal mine construction applications, including mainframe programs, CPM techniques, as well as mini and microcomputer applications. Although the presentation of material in this chapter may be detailed at times, by no means does it cover the entire field of computer applications for design or project scheduling and monitoring. It is only an attempt to illustrate the possibilities that are available to construction and mine engineers. Interested persons can pursue computer applications for coal mining by reviewing Computer Methods for the 80's. by Alfred Weiss, editor, published by SME-AIME.

Jan 1, 1983

The design of solvent extraction plants has been generally based on the assumption of steady operating conditions in both the settler and the mixer units. However, recent experience in both large and small plants has shown this not to be the case. Mixer transients include start up aqueous locking and partial phase separation in secondary mixers, which both lead to reduced plant capacity or overflow of upstream mixers. Analysis of the hydraulic pressure profiles has generated new design methods to eliminate the effects of the partial or complete phase separation. Changes to the method of specification and selection of primary and secondary mixers have been made to eliminate the onset of partial separation during operation. The observation of settler operation has shown that it is also a dynamic process, even under "steady-state" conditions. Four transient phenomena have been identified that lead to internal circulating flows, poor disengagement of fine secondary haze and erratic and high entrainment levels in the discharges. A, first approximation analysis has shown that there are significant pressure differentials within settlers, and these change along the length and with the phase separation rates. A technique to control the effects of these transients was developed that allows plant performance to be improved beyond "standard" expectations. The design and selection of the settler internals is described. Key words: Solvent extraction, Mixer-settlers, Phase separation, Entrainment, Mixer transients

Jan 1, 2003

By G. Miller

The design of solvent extraction plants has been generally based on the assumption of steady operating conditions in both the settler and the mixers. Recent experience with both large and small plants has shown that this is not the case. Mixer transients include start up aqueous locking and partial phase separation in secondary mixers. Both of these lead to either reduced plant capacity or overflow of upstream mixers. Analysis of the hydraulic pressure profiles has generated new design methods to eliminate the effects of the partial or complete phase separation. Further, changes to the method of specification and selection of both primary and secondary mixers have been made to eliminate the onset of partial separation during operation. Observation of settler operation has shown that it is also a dynamic process, even under ‘steady state’ conditions. Four different transient phenomena have been identified that lead to internal circulating flows, poor disengagement of fine secondary haze, and erratic and high entrainment levels in the discharges. A first approximation analysis has shown that there are significant pressure differentials within settlers and these change along the length and with phase separation rates. A technique to control the effects of these transients has been developed which allows plant performance to be improved beyond ‘standard’ expectations. The design and selection of the settler internals is described.

Jan 1, 2001

A comprehensive review of ore pass records, from ten Quebec underground mines, indicated some of the limitations of available design tools to predict the occurrence of ore pass interlocking hang-ups in metal mines. The Distinct Element Method was used to perform a series of numerical experiments in order to investigate the influence of ore pass geometry, rock fragments shape and size distribution on material flow in an ore pass. Guidelines have been developed to help limit the occurrence of interlocking hang-ups in an ore pass. The proposed guidelines were evaluated with respect to field observations. Ein kompletter Bericht der Erzrollezeichnungen, von 10 Quebec unterirdischen Gruben, hat einige der Beschränkungen der vorhandenen Designwerkzeuge angezeigt, um das Auftreten Erzrolle der blockierenhang-ups in den Metallgruben genau vorauszusagen. Eine Reihe numerische Experimente mit der eindeutigen Element-Methode, wurden aufgenommen, um den Einfluss von Erzrollegeometrie, Partikelform nachzuforschen und Felsenkorngrößenverteilungen auf Materialfluss in ein Erz überschreiten. Dieses hat zu die Entwicklung der Richtlinien geführt deren Implementierung das Auftreten der blockierenhang-ups in eine Erzrolle begrenzen sollte. Die vorgeschlagenen Richtlinien wurden in Bezug auf Labor- und Feldbeobachtungen ausgewertet. Une revue de la performance actuelle des cheminées à minerai dans 10 mines souterraines du Québec a indiqué les limites des outils de conception servant à dimensionner les cheminées pour minimiser le nombre d’accrochages par enchevêtrement rocheux. Des séries de modélisations numériques, utilisant la méthode des éléments distincts, ont été réalisées afin d’évaluer l’influence de la géométrie des cheminées, de la forme des fragments rocheux et de la distribution granulométrique sur l’écoulement du matériel dans les cheminées. Cet exercice a permis de développer des lignes directrices pour le dimensionnement des cheminées afin de limiter l’occurrence d’accrochage par enchevêtrement rocheux. Les lignes directrices proposées ont été évaluées en fonction des observations effectuées sur le terrain.

Jan 1, 2003

By James H. Fletcher

Much data and experience has been accumulated, especially in the last 5 or 6 years, to show that modern roof trusses, both of the Birmingham type and the bolt-and-channel type, perform well to support certain kinds of coal mine roof. For some time now, roof trusses of the Birmingham type have been effective in controlling thick shale roof, which tends to sag and fall over a period of about eight weeks. These falls leave dame-shaped cavities which are reminiscent of the pressure arch theory of roof failure. Lately there has also been significant interest in supporting some longwall panel entries with channel and-bolt systems. These systems utilize two vertical center bolts and two 45 degree end bolts through a heavy gage channel. Both types of truss systems have long bolts, which require 8 to 9 Foot holes on a 45 degree angle, and point anchor resin bolts, which utilize a 2 or 3 foot rebar grouted in a thin annulus of polyester resin. Consequently, many coal mining people have been impressed with the very good anchorage characteristics and tensionability features of these systems. However, the same people have been proportionately dismayed to find that very often the most difficult part of introducing a trussing program to a mine is deciding on the machine specifications which determine the truss installation rate. The purpose of this paper is to indicate aspects of truss bolter design and use which are not shared by roofbolter design and its vertical pattern of bolts. Of the two types of drill units conventionally accepted, arm feed units and mast units, only one 15 judged suitable. While the arm feed unit offers low collapsed height with a long drill feed length, a great attribute for low seam use, it has not lent itself to being rolled over to a 45 degree angle. One reason for this inability is that many items which are conventionally mounted on the arm feed unit cannot be allowed to rotate with the unit. These items include drilling controls, tool Cray, lights, canopy or safety post, panic bar, and stab jack(s). If these items were independent of the arm feed drilling unit, they would have to be out of the way of the boom arms, links, and feed cylinder as the unit moves. To ease this problem, the arm feed unit can be made very short and even mounted across the machine. However, the resulting short feed length is undesirable. Several short drill steel extensions are required to drill a relatively long hole, making this procedure time-consuming as well as increasing the likelihood of drilling a crooked hole. Another reason for abandonment of the arm feed unit is that a very stiff drill guide (or "centralizer") is required to start the hole. Using the mast tilt control, the roof bolter operator will force the bit against the roof and will rotate the bit without feeding to cut sideways into the roof to form a hole face. Omission of this step often results in the skidding of the bit toward the rib. To date, no such sturdy drill guide has been designed for an arm feed drill unit. The mast style unit has been the most successful design for angle drilling. It is easily rolled over to a 45 degree angle or to 90 degrees and, on single head models, often has been made to roll through 180 degrees. The mast style is compact, in plain view and is easily fitted with heavy duty manual or hydraulically operated drill guides. It can be mounted directly on a machine chassis, or onto a swinging boom, or onto a slider arrangement in a broad variety of configurations which will accommodate controls, tool trays, stab and roof support jacks, lights, canopies, and panic bars. The only significant difficulty with mast drilling units occurs in lower mining heights when desirable low mast height is accompanied by undesirable short feed length. While the lead extension in the drill string can be as large as the mining height will allow, a short feed length will permit only the use of shorter middle extensions and drivers, and perhaps will. require the use of two different length wrenches. The associated problem is the relatively short distance from the drillhead to the drillguide. This distance is further shortened when raising the drillhead to get the bit to the roof. One might keep longer lead extensions on the machine; drill a vertical pocket for the bit, starting the angle hole at this pocket; or modify the mast. If the mast is made so that the distance from the drillhead to the drillguide remains constant while the mast extends, after which the drillhead travels up the mast, the shorter mast can be made to start the hole more easily. However, short teed length will still result in longer drilling time. It is obvious from these points that a proper choice of mast is simply the highest one which will be moved easily in the given mining height. This, of course, goes against the grain of most experienced coal mining people who realize that a relatively small decrease in mining height can create a problem correctable only with the purchase and installation of shorter masts. If the mining

Jan 1, 1982

By Jagger ND

Pressure filters were found to be necessary to produce Elura silver/lead and zinc concentrates at sufficiently low moisture contents for bulk cargo shipment by sea to smelters.The difficulty in obtaining low moistures was due to the fine primary grind, 80% passing 45 microns, and resultant fine concentrates, 97% passing 45 microns.The filtration system was designed to filter up to 90,000 tonnes/year silver/lead concentrates and up to 130,000 tonnes/year zinc concentrates.This paper details the preliminary test work to select Larox automatic pressure filters, and the commissioning and operation of these filters to achieve design criteria for both concentrates. The design criteria for both concentrates have been bettered due to the concentrates being coarser than the design sizing.

Jan 1, 1985

By Jack Zhang, Yunguo Tang, Baodong Zhao

"Rare earth elements (REEs) have numerous key applications in both traditional and advanced technologies. A shortage of some critical REEs is expected due to the discrepancy between the REE abundance in REE deposits and the REE demand from the market. For example, Neodymium, Europium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Erbium and Yttrium are expected to be in short supply. REE recovery and separation from secondary resources such as uranium wastes, heavy mineral sands, and recycled materials can balance the shortfall in a cost effective way.The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is engaged in the development and commercialization of complete REE recovery and separation technologies in Canada. One of SRC’s newest developments is the design and commissioning of a heavy rare earth (HREE) separation pilot plant. The pilot plant uses hundreds of stages of solvent extraction (SX) to produce high purity individual HREEs from both primary and secondary resources.This paper presents the design of an HREE recovery process for the particular case of uranium processing wastes. The separation results of a group separation are reported and discussed, as well as the issues and the challenges of the development, commissioning and operation of the continuous SX pilot plant.IntroductionSignificant amounts of strategic specialty heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) are found in uranium wastes in Saskatchewan. It estimated that about 47 tonne/a of heavy rare earth element oxides (HREO) including 27 tonne/a of Y2O3, plus 6 tonne/a of Sc2O3 are in the raffinate of every uranium mill for potential recovery. Since the HREEs are already in the raffinate, cost effective HREE production is promising in Saskatchewan.Selective precipitation including nutraulization, oxalate and double-salts precipitation, as well as sulfide precipitation, ion exchange (IX) and SX are commonly used technologies for the recovery and purification of REE solution. REE oxalate precipitation is an effective technology to remove Fe, Al, Ca, Si and other impurities by taking the advantages of the solubility difference between oxalates of REEs and impurities in acidic solution (Xu, 2005)."

Jan 1, 2017

By Adam Moore, Ryan Gillespie, Jarrett Quinn, Audrey Walters, Peter Radziszewski

"Vale Long Harbour Processing Plant (LHPP) was designed to process Voisey’s Bay nickel concentrate into finished nickel and associated copper and cobalt products. The plant includes a secondary grinding circuit comprising two Stirred Media Detritors (SMDs) operating in parallel. The ultrafine grinding circuit was designed to process concentrate at a rate of 33 t/h and produce a ground product (P80) of 20 µm to feed the leach circuits. Start-up of the grinding circuit at LHPP was undertaken in December 2014.The objective of this paper will be to describe the design, commissioning, start-up and performance of the secondary grinding circuit with a focus on the two Metso SMD-355-C mills. Following a brief overview of Vale’s LHPP and the SMD technology, the paper will review the design of the SMD secondary grinding circuit from lab tests through to scale-up performance prediction. This will be followed by the results of circuit commissioning outlining some of the issues raised and addressed after which SMD performance will be outlined. Specifically, the SMD circuit grinding performance will be examined since start-up which will include the effect of media size and wear on grinding. Furthermore, impeller wear will be examined by determining initial “shear volume” and worn “shear volume” as well as its effect on mill power and the means to maintain it. The paper closes with a discussion on grinding performance."

Jan 1, 2016

By A. A. Gupte

Auger piling system which was developed in the United States in the 1940's is gaining acceptance in many parts of the world. Although primarily used to support foundations, the system is very useful for many other applications such as soil anchors, temporary and permanent earth retention systems, restricted headroom piling and underpinning of existing foundations. In this paper, review of current construction design techniques for the Auger piling system for earth retention and underpinning of structures is presented.

Jan 1, 1989

By Lightfoot BW, Foo KA, Conochie DS

Aberfoyle Limited operated a matte fuming pilot plant, incorporating a SIROSMELT furnace in 1980/81. This plant was a significant advance in both smelting and tin extraction technology. Important design, construction and commissioning aspects are discussed and some of the key points to emerge from this phase of the work are reviewed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Peter Makuvise, Alain M. Bantshi

"The Mazowe Gold Mine is managed by Metallon Gold (Zimbabwe) and is situated in the west-central part of the Harare greenstone belt. Orebodies here generally comprise shear zones which are in-filled with gold-bearing sulphides and quartz. The mineralised zones are up to 1 m in width, have average grades of 4 to 5 g/t, and mostly dip between 10º and 60º to the north.Mazowe Mine is one of the oldest mines in Zimbabwe, and exploration and development in this region dates back to 1890, with over 1.4 million ounces of gold produced to date. Mazowe mine comprises two underground operations, Mazowe and the BSV sections. Ore is processed in a single plant which consists of conventional crushing and milling and carbon-in-leach facility.Baldmin Projects was awarded the contract for the design, construction and commissioning of the 60,000 tonnes per month plant at Mazowe mine in 2014 for the processing of sand and slimes tailings from previous operations at Mazowe mine. The average grade of the tailings is 1.1 g/t. The plant consists of feed preparation, grinding, flotation, thickening of flotation concentrate, and carbon in leach (CIL). A pump station for hydraulic mining of the slimes tailings dam also part of the plant.Key features of the Mazowe sands Plant are described and include:• Hydraulic mining of gold tailings dump.• Feed preparation section that includes a (W x L) 2.4 m wide x 4.8 m trash screen, 250 m3 surge tank, a cluster cyclones with 2 x 500 mm diam. Cyclone.• Comminution circuit designed for a bond work index range of 10-12 kwh/tonne. comminution circuit is constituted with 3 ball mills, 1.83 m diam. X 6.71 m Long, 280 kW.• Flotation circuit comprising rougher bank, scavenger bank and cleaner bank. Rougher Scavenger bank is constituted of 6 x 6m3 flotation cells and 3 x 30 m3 flotation cells and the cleaner is constituted of 3 x 6 m3 flotation cells.• Concentrate Thickening with 6 m diam. Thickener.• Concentrate CIL (carbon in leaching): CIL circuit is comprised of 7 tanks with 2 leach tanks and 5 Carbon in leach."

Jan 1, 2017

By F Cesnik, P Griffin, S Green

In July 2004 a flotation concentrate regrind circuit was commissioned in the æHigh GradeÆ Ridgeway concentrator at NewcrestÆs Cadia Valley Operations. This was the culmination of two years of project testing, process design and planning which commenced shortly after commissioning the concentrator in March 2002. During the two-year project evolution alternative grinding technologies were evaluated from conventional ball milling through to sand milling. A Detritor mill was eventually selected for the duty and the criteria on which this selection was based will be presented. As the project evolved so too did the equipment sizing with the concentrator quickly exceeding design capacity of 4 Mtpa and currently averaging 5.6 Mtpa, the process design had to accommodate this and future potential throughput increases. This paper will focus on the supporting testwork, circuit surveys and concentrate properties which were used as the design basis for the project. The economic evaluation which led to the project receiving board approval in November 2003 will also be presented. Detailed design and construction management issues will be discussed as will preliminary results and findings up to November 2004.

Jan 1, 2005