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By Cooper P. G

I he Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company (ER&S) has oper- ated a copper smelter at Port Kembla, NSW since 1908. The feasibility of modernising the smelter was recently studied and external influences were shown to have a substantial impact on the project economics. Profita- bility is determined by the relative magnitudes of treatment charge income earned from processing raw materials and the operating costs incurred. Treatment charges are usually denominated in U.S. dollars and are deter- mined by market forces in the world copper industry. ER&S is no different from other Australian manufacturing industries in that it must maintain its competitive position by controlling costs. The modernisation project seeks to achieve this through new technology and improved labour Productivity.

Jan 1, 1988

By Heidecks C

Sub-level stoping with consolidated rockfill is the main method for mining steep dipping baryte and fluorite veins in Germany. Drifting is fully mechanised using drill jumbos, LHD units and shotcrete support. Stopes have heights up to 50 m with sub-level distances up to 15 m. Winning of the pillars between sub-levels is done by longhole blasting in slices of 3-5 m length on strike. Mucking is done on the lowermost level by LHD units. After each blast rockfill with binder (cement and/or fly ash) is dumped into the scope from the uppermost level. Economic success depends on both geological and technical parameters and factors, eg vein thickness and dip, ore grade, size and distance of sub-level drifts. Of particular influence are ore loss in pillar winning and dilution both in drifting on vein and in pillar mining. A comprehensive computer program has been developed for calculating the total cost per tonne run-of-mine ore respectively per tonne of concentrate for a single stope. The cost model includes development, longhole blasting, mucking and haulage to the mill, milling and ventilation. All costs (labour, energy, supplies, maintenance, depreciation and capital cost) are taken into account. Dilution and recovery are both considered. The program can be used to estimate the cost of mining a particular stope. It can also be used to investigate the influence of relevant parameters and factors on the economic result. By this way it should be possible to optimise the technical design of a stope.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. W. Miller

One of the major problems confronting coal producers in this highly competitive era is whether or not the potential profit to be made from the products of coal flotation would warrant the capital investment required for the necessary equipment. The author supplies two theoretical cases to illustrate methods for computing such costs.

Jan 3, 1961

Capital expenditure on sampling and blending is often very difficult to justify. The costs are easy to estimate but the benefits likely to be obtained by constructing good sampling and blending facilities are generally difficult to estimate. For instance, improving blending of the ore feed to a smelter would improve throughput, yield and controllability ... but by how much? Similarly, better sampling would allow processing conditions to be dynamically adjusted and would improve extraction ... but by how much? Predicting benefits often requires the use of simulation models which carefully distinguish between true grades, predicted grades and observed grades. The parameters of these simulation models must often be estimated from rather inadequate information. These difficulties are illustrated using three scenarios.

Jan 1, 2005

By C. C. Johnson

In the fourteen years that Rössing Uranium Limited has been in production, the metallurgical operations and controls on the leaching plant have evolved through four basic stages. Initially, the emphasis was placed on the achievement of consistent plant operation by overcoming severe startup difficulties. The second stage involved the attainment of the design operating targets, and also the commissioning of the ferric-leaching reactors in order to achieve a ferric ion concentration of more than 3,0 g/l. Improvements in control then became the priority, with the emphasis on consistently achieving the target concentrations of ferric ions, total iron, and terminal acidity. The latest phase has concentrated on the optimization of costs by means of adjustments to the historically established operating parameters in order to achieve large savings on consumables while maintaining the leaching efficiencies. Apart from the obvious incentive of reducing costs in an inflationary economy and a depressed uranium market, impetus for this work was given by a change in the type of ore from the open pit, which has the effect of reducing the extraction efficiency while increasing the consumption of consumable materials. These problems and their solutions are discussed in detail, and the importance to cost-effective optimization of an accurate, up-to-date cost-reporting structure is stressed.

Jan 1, 1990

By Franklin J. Kay

Introduction The methods used in surface, mining vary throughout the world, depending on many variables such as: the types of over- burden materials, the depth of the overburden, the thickness of the seam, and other operational choices, both financial and functional. However, the stripping machines are typically draglines, stripping shovels, excavators, scrapers, loaders, and bulldozers. In all cases the economic feasibility of mining thin seams depends on the market needs, the market location, the equipment used, the mine management, the quality of the coal, and the labor market. Slight negative combinations of these parameters have closed many mines while positive combinations allow others to exist. The limited mobility or slow movement of large stripping shovels, draglines, and bucket wheel excavators make them more economically fitted to areas where large quantities of overburden are to be moved. This is necessary to keep the transfer and setup time between pits a negligibly small percent of the total operational time. Equipment such as the scrapers, loaders, backhoes, trucks, and bulldozers that are either very mobile or can be trailered is more versatile and can be used in the smaller area mines.* Mobile equipment is also more practical in areas with shallow overburden because of the constant movement required while removing overburden. In thin coal seams the equipment is usually paired such that the operational equipment can be listed as: (1) dragline-loader, (2) shovel-truck- loader, (3) scraper-loader. (4) loader-truck-loader, or (5) loader-loader. In these operations the overburden is removed with the first machine(s) of the pairing and the loader or loaders are used for coal production. Recent articles in Coal Age (Chironis, 1978) and Mining Engineering (Wiebmer, 1978) have discussed varying philosophies in mining similar seams of coal. One operator uses draglines for competitive mining while the other uses scrapers for the same purpose. Both cite strong cases sup- porting their choice of equipment as good sound economic decisions and their success supports their choices. The drag-line operation is adding new larger draglines to decrease the cost of mining, rather than to increase coal production. The scraper operation has also gone to more and larger scrapers for basically the same reasons. These operations and all

Jan 1, 1981

By Koppe J. C, Dimitrakopoulos R, Costa J. F

Grade control and the delineation of ore/waste in open pit operations is traditionally based on the comparison of estimated grades with an economic cut-off. This paper deals with an alternative approach to grade control based on estimating gra

Jan 1, 1998

By Randall D. Peterson

Economic operation of a mine ventilation system must include some means by which operating costs can be quantified and evaluated periodically. Current practice at most mines relies upon the best judgement of foremen, engineers and managers to identify high cost or problem areas in the system and to estimate potential costs and benefits of work proposed to reduce inefficiencies. The problem with this is that significant savings can be overlooked or sub-economic projects may be undertaken when sufficient attention is not paid to the interrelationship between airflow characteristics and corporate financial criteria. In order to accurately determine costs and benefits it is necessary to view the solution of each potential ventilation problem as a separate economic opportunity.

Jan 1, 1993

By P. Pal Roy, Ajit Raj Ostwal, M. M. Singh

Field investigations have revealed that sawdust can be used as an efficient additive to ANFO for carrying out production blasts in limestone mines. Sawdust can be used at a reasonably reduced cost without sacrificing fragmentation, muck profile and wall control. Such additives lower the detonation pressure of ANFO by acting as low-grade fuel that reacts or burns more slowly in the presence of ammonium nitrate than does fuel oil. On detonation, it eventually forms near-ideal oxygen balance that helps in liberating maximum energy to break the surrounding rock. It also forms a low-density stable mixture that helps in reducing loading density (kg/m) of explosive in the blasthole. Experiments performed at the Hirmi Limestone mine, M/s L&T, and at the Lambasta Limestone mine, M/s Jaypee Rewa Cements, showed the novel acceptance of the technique in a highly competitive market where cost reduction has been a major area of thrust.

Jan 1, 2003

By F. N. Earll

4.1 – DEFINITIONS 4.1.1-MINERALS, ROCKS, ORES AND NONMETALLIC MINERALS F. N. EARLL A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound. Most minerals are distinctly crystalline in habit, and many commonly occur in well-formed crystals or crystalline aggregates, but a few species are characteristically amorphous or noncrystalline. Nearly 2,000 mineral species are now recognized but, perhaps fortun¬ately, a rather large proportion are rarely encountered. Even so, the application of modern mineral-detection and identification techniques reveals the presence of surprising numbers of mineral species, even in deposits of outwardly simple mineralogy. A rock is an aggregate of grains or crystals of one or more minerals. Some rocks are essentially monomineralic. Thus, limestone consists largely of the mineral calcite, and many sandstones are dominantly quartz. Most rock varieties, however, contain a number of mineral species, and their classification or identification depends upon the minerals present, their relative abundance, and such factors as rock tex¬ture and origin. Ore is defined as an accumulation or deposit of one or more minerals that can be exploited at a profit. The profit criterion commonly is taken somewhat liberally, however, for, although always present, the specific mineral content that constitutes a viable product is transitory. The term ore, usually, but no longer consistently, is restricted to the description of mineral deposits that are of value for their metal content. Nonmetallic deposits, although similar to metallic ores in many respects, generally are valued for the minerals or compounds present, as with rock salt (halite), rather than for individual contained elements, though such minerals as elemental sulfur are of much value. 4.1.2-ROCK TYPES F. N. EARLL Rocks arc grouped tinder three broad headings: (1) igneous rocks formed by the crystallization of magma; (2) sedimentary rocks formed by surface processes of weathering and deposition; and (3) metamorphic rocks, which may have been derived from either of the foregoing, but have undergone important physical and/or chemical changes through the application of heat or pressure, or both. The three groups can he further subdivided for convenient reference. Thus, igneous rocks are described as being abyssal or plutonic if formed at great depth, hypabyssal if formed at intermediate depth, and extrusive or effusive if formed at or on the earth's surface. The sedimentary rock group is similarly subdivided into clastic sediments and chemical precipitates. The clastic sediments form by deposition of preexisting minerals that were released from their place of origin by weathering and were transported to their point of deposition as discrete grains

Jan 1, 1973

By Y. Zimmels, C. Feldman

Closed-circuit grinding processes are considered in the context of a reactor-separator circuit that involves multifraction streams and products. Because grinding circuits are low-efficiency, capital-intensive operations, modeling to maximize their economic return is appropriate. An attempt to develop and test such a model is presented in this work. The model relies on process simulation for both the mill and the separator, in conjunction with constraints imposed by product specifications. The grinding process was simulated using breakage functions, which provided complete data on the feed and product of the mill. A cyclone bank used as the separator was also simulated using known models. The overall process model provided a complete simulation of the multistream grinding and separation process. The process model was then incorporated into an economic model that predicts grinding cost, subject to process constraints, for a given set of operating variables. The model facilitates economic optimization of the grinding process as it relates to process variables and process hardware.

Jan 1, 1993

By M. Allingham

This paper examines the contribution which econometric methods may be expected to make to the specification of commodity agreements, and how in turn computer methods may help in this. Starting from the specification of a model, the paper examines four activities: estimation of the unknown parameters; analysis of the properties of the model; simulation experiments with the model; and control of the model. In each of these activities the basic methodology is outlined, and the contribution of computer methods assessed.

Jan 1, 1977

Mining executives often have a difficult task determining what the strategic objective of the business should be as this can be impacted by the prevailing market conditions. In addition, they have no mechanism to quantitatively 'test' the impact of this strategic decision on the business and understand the underlying dynamics. During the commodities bull run of 2003 to 2008 the strategic objective may have been to grow the long term value of the business (NPV) through increased tonnage, acquisition and finding new reserves, which all came with an increasing fixed cost base. Now with the financial crisis upon us and the collapse of commodity prices and demand, executives have adjusted their strategies as 'cash is king' and short-term cash flow, in some instances at the expense of long terms value, is the order of the day. For many mining companies, mine closures, reductions in production and cost cutting exercisers are now the focus. In many instances, management do not have an ability to rapidly test different strategic alternatives to 'test' the impact on value, unit costs, reserves and profitability at the operational level and optimize the underlying trade-off variables. Economic modelling of the complete business value chain is a means of linking the operational 'reality' and strategic choices, so that the full impact can be assessed. This paper describes some of the challenges facing mining executives and how economic modelling can be applied to make decision making more rigorous.

Jan 1, 2010

By N. Sasto, E. Bondi, G. R. Lane

Cyest Corporation has been involved in economic modelling and optimisation with various mining clients within South Africa, and internationally, for the past 5 years. In the mining industry in particular, the relationships between variables that are controllable, and those that are not, and the physical and economic outcomes are complex and often non-linear. These relationships constitute an economic system. In the mining context, although many of the relationships can be accurately quantified on a ?single variable to single variable? basis, such simplistic relationships will not suffice in order to understand the dynamics of an entire mine. One has to specify and quantify the relationships between hundreds, if not thousands, of variables. Furthermore, in reality, these relationships change over time. This is the role of an economic model where all the relevant cause-effect relationships, within pertinent constraints, are accurately represented. Models that are used for optimisation must therefore capture the dynamics of the economic system in question as well as anticipate changes to the relationships between these variables. An accurate economic model is a prerequisite for successful optimisation. Optimisation entails the allocation or configuration of resources, within control of management, which will maximise (or minimise) a desired objective function. An optimal configuration (implying trade-off) of controllable variables therefore exists for a given set of assumptions that will yield a maximised objective function. Due to the multi-variant trade-offs required for optimisation, the concept of the ?Economic Surface? or ?Hill of Value? has been used to represent these optimisation outcomes and to discern the route to an optimal configuration. A good example of this is the volume versus cut-off grade trade-off that yields an optimal value for a particular shaft with its unique geological and economic assumptions. More recently, Cyest has extended these economic models to incorporate risk associated with variance in assumptions and inputs. This is termed DFA (dynamic financial analysis) and incorporates stochastic modelling and some of the latest actuarial techniques around modelling global assumptions (such as pricing and exchange rate). This paper will cover the theory around mine optimisation through some example case studies, and also explain the latest thinking regarding incorporating DFA.

Jan 1, 2007

By W. Biermann

All industrial processes are economically driven, resulting in the ever increasing need for process optimization in order to stay competitive and profitable. Numerous models has been published depicting the optimization of the raw material usage in an arc furnace, as well as the thermal and electrical efficiency; however, to obtain a holistic view of the cost-effectiveness of the process one needs to expand the model to include the cost of all the operational variables. This project therefore aimed to not only include the raw material feeds and power consumption as input variables, but also the labour, maintenance, and environmental costs to generate an all-inclusive financial balance. In the end, the model was able to mathematically optimize the ferrochrome (FeCr) production process through evaluating the effect of a specified combination of input parameters. It could therefore be used as a tool to aid in managerial decision-making; to appraise and correspondingly adjust certain operational variables in order to achieve a maximum return on investment. This paper fully describes the reasoning behind the choice of the essential model components, the assumptions made during the models development, the calculation approach, as well as the advantages, limitations, possible applications, and areas for expansion of the final model. Through running simulations with plant data, it was found that the accuracy of final model remained fairly constant when applied to stable furnace conditions, but was met with a number of limitations when applied to more complex situations. These limitations could, however, be overcome through further development and expansion of the existing model to include a larger number of process variables.

Jan 1, 2012

By Alexander Sutulov

The Western industrial nations are facing today what can be defined as a gradual takeover of their investments in the developing world and more importantly, they are beginning to feel approaching problems with their adequate raw materials supply. This puts them into a strategically hazardous situation, which years ago would probably have been solved by conventional wars. However, the present political and military situation, and particularly the development of nuclear arms, makes such confrontations almost impossible or at least extremely dangerous. Thus other peaceful and more pragmatic solutions should be sought. This is particularly important because the present supply-demand situation in raw materials has a very strong political and ideological background. In the ultimate analysis there are two economic systems, that of free enterprise and the other of the collective or socialistic ownership. Both are competing for world domination, and it seems that both are eager to prove their advantages to the yet uncommitted Third World, which commands the great majority of the human race and a large part of its natural resources.

Jan 7, 1974

By Paul M. Tyler

OF THE 92 elements generally accepted by chemists as constituting the primary building blocks of matter, all but the very rarest have been investigated with a view to employing them in steel manufacture. The surprising thing is that so few have been found commercially acceptable. Despite the relatively small number of elements involved, the use of alloys in steel making is one of the most complicated and probably one of the least well understood of modern industrial enterprises. The action of individual elements in steel making has been described often and a profuse and somewhat acrimonious literature covers pretty much the whole field of ferroalloy ore supplies. In the middle ground between the miner and the -steel maker developments are less carefully watched by most observers and except for an occasional description of the technique of some conversion process or the tariff hearings in Congress, little is said about them. The present paper has been submitted in the hope that it will stimulate broader constructive economic thinking. It undertakes to describe in' relatively nontechnical terms this great and growing though highly complex industry and to study its relations to national progress.

Jan 1, 1932

By Paul Tyler

THE extensive employment of nonmetallic minerals antedates the use of metals, but only within the last two decades has the production of nonmetals begun actually to keep pace with the complicated activities which characterize the so-called Machine Age. The economic changes ushered in by the Industrial Revolution were reflected first in an increased demand for metals and for fuels. In the modern sense, therefore, the nonmetallic mineral industries are new and afford new opportunities for engineer and economist alike. A certain amount of caution is indicated, therefore, before attempting to apply ready-made formulas to the problems of these industries. Economics is not an exact science. In the field of production technology where the number of variables is fairly well known, the principles of economics are readily applicable, but as the student proceeds through the province of marketing into the unexplored regions of psychology and sociology he must distinguish carefully between scientific reasoning and purely metaphysical speculation, even when the latter masquerades as economics. The present paper attempts to prove no preconceived theorems and is designed primarily to stimulate careful thinking on sundry neglected phases of these industries. An attempt is made to differentiate the general problems into single aspects which afford promise of being comprehended separately; also, some fundamental statistical data are presented, but merely to indicate a method of scientific approach applicable to more intensive studies.

Jan 1, 1933

By René E. Fuenzalida

The copper market has become highly competitive around the world; therefore, operations efficiency is a must for copper producers. The economic outcome in a day-to-day milling is not evident at the concentrator stage, when traditional procedures are used in operations management, based on the supervision of process variables and metallurgical indices. Therefore, in such a complex business, there is a strong need to devise an approach to furnish concentrator's operators with procedures and tools to state and solve the problems related to operational decision making, leading to maximize the economic return of investment; this is what is aimed to be presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 1998

By Carlos Avalos Casillas, Saul Ortiz Landeros

The current work shows metallurgical results obtained at the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico (Peñoles CIDT), as a continuation of the work first published in February 2012. With the aim of optimizing the economic values of the products, ores from San Julian (Fresnillo) were selectively floated to produce a lead concentrate and a zinc concentrate containing high silver values. In the laboratory, this included regrinding of the rougher and scavenger lead concentrate to increase the liberation of mineralogical species and thus lower zinc recovery. Cyanide leaching bottle tests were conducted to improve the value of the silver. It is proposed to leach the silver contained in the zinc concentrate and then recover the silver using the Merrill Crowe process. The results show a reduction of zinc recovery in the lead concentrate from 11.3% to 2.0% after regrinding to a P80 of 10 microns, improving the metallurgical quality and economic value of the lead and zinc concentrates. Also laboratory and pilot scale cyanidation tests showed that about 65 to 80% of silver will be leached from the zinc concentrate, after regrinding to a P80 of 10 microns. The proposed processing increases the economic recovery of silver from 72.7% to 78.8%.

Jan 1, 2014