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By R. D. Archibald

Currently, around 100 million tons of construction materials and aggregates are shipped annually by rail. And recently, producers are looking much more carefully at rail not only to reduce fixed costs through increased volume, but also to eliminate operating headaches, such as increasing community pressures about trucks on the road, noise and dust. Many producers are uncertain as to how to enter the rail shipping business since railroads have historically been reluctant to ship small quantities short distances. This article provides strategies to help producers examine and pursue moving their rock by rail.

Jan 1, 1995

By Jerry C. Tien

An overcast is a form of air bridge which permits one air current to pass another without mixing. It is an essential and indispensable ventilation device for underground air distribution in horizontal mineral deposits. Overcasts are also a major source of shock pressure loss under- ground. However, a well thought out overcast plan, and a well constructed overcast, will give minimum shock loss, which in turn can save money (Tien, 1986). So far, most research on shock losses has been concentrated on splits and junctions, and bends and turns, or on underground regulators. Practically nothing could be found in the literature regarding losses caused by overcasts (see reference on shock losses). In this investigation, shock losses are quantified for an overcast with different configurations, which will give useful clues toward an aerodynamically designed overcast.

Jan 1, 1987

By A. Mayton

The prolonged exposure of equipment operators to shock and whole-body vibration (WBY) is linked to cumulative back, neck, and abdominal disorders. In low-coal mines, space restrictions make seat suspensions difficult to use in isolating operators from shock and WBY. Researchers at NIOSH, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, are responding to these issues by investigating viscoelastic foams. For the full-load case. an ergonomic seat with viscoelastic foams isolated the shuttle car operator from shock at 15Hz. Researchers used results from additional foam testing with an analytical model to identify viscoelastic foams that provide shock isolation at a frequency below 5 Hz.

Jan 1, 1998

By Betty L. Gibbs

A short course, held during the SME Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ in February, focused on software for surface and underground mine modeling. The objectives of the short course were to review techniques for surface and underground mine planning. Mine planning software vendors were invited to demonstrate how their software runs, given a standard data set. Six vendors of mining-specific software participated in the workshop. They were Exploration Computer Services (MINEX 3D), GEMCOM Services, Inc. (PC-MINE), KJRA Systems (VULCAN), Mine Development Associates (SURPAC), Micromine and MINEsoft (TECHBASE). Data set A data set was created to challenge the capabilities of each vendor's software. The criteria used for the data set selection were: • a minimum of 300 drill holes; • the data must include topography, drill hole survey, assay and formation contacts; • the deposit was multimetallic; and • there was the potential to be mined by surface and underground methods. The data set used was an actual, complex copper ore body with a small amount of gold. The ore body was close enough to the surface to be mined by surface techniques. Part of it, though, was also amenable to underground mining. To further complicate the problem, a river ran across the area of the ore body. This presented mine planners with the problem of either moving the river or mining around or below it. The ore body had not been mined, so no data was available for the tons and grade actually produced. Data for the mine planning problem was distributed to each vendor about two months before the short course. They had the opportunity to load the data into their systems, build an ore body model and perform preliminary work. During the first day of the workshop, the vendors received problems concerning the ore body. They went to work on their machines, attempting to show short course participants how their software could help solve the problem.

Jan 1, 1992

By Gordon R. S. Smith

This paper is in two parts. The first part describes Membrane Back-Pulse Filtration and the effects of very short filter downtimes on cycle filtration rates. Part II describes the use of Membrane Back-Pulse Filtration for combined thickening and polishing soda ash thickener feed material followed by a description of computer modeling of CCD circuits by Iterative solver.

Jan 1, 1991

By Thomas V. Mullen

Some 146 kt (4.69 billion oz) of gold have been mined throughout history. Of this, 70% has been mined in this century alone, with 17% produced from 1985 through 1996 (Fig. 1 and Table 1). Until the mid-19th century, placers were the chief source of gold. Advancements in mining, metallurgy and geological thinking have resulted in underground mining (first of veins plus stockworks and later of Rand-type deposits) becoming the principal source of gold. With the demise of the South African deposits and the move towards lower grade ores, the primary source of gold will be from disseminated deposits exploited through large, open-pit mines. For the past 200 years, there has been a fairly constant ratio of about 31 g (1 oz) of gold to each person alive. If this ratio is to be maintained, annual gold production will have to rise from about 2.3 kt/a (73.9 million oz/year) to more than 3.1 kt/a (99.7 million oz/year) by the year 2000. To effect this increase, an unforeseen breakthrough in exploration or metallurgy is needed. Barring this, there will be pressure for an increase in the price of gold. This article traces the historical production of gold from 4000 B.C. - the earliest record of gold mining - to today and relates this 6,000-year record to advances in geological thinking, mining engineering and extractive metallurgy. It also proposes that man's thirst for gold, reflected in the price he will pay for gold, and his ability to find, mine and refine gold have combined to effect an equilibrium based loosely on the historical ratio of 31 g (1 oz) of cumulative gold production per each man or woman alive.

Jan 1, 1998

By Mark J. Zdunczyk

Short Mountain Silica mines the Clinch Formation, an orthoquartzite, for silica sand. The operation is located near Mooresburg, TN, about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Knoxville. Short Mountain is a local geographic name given to an area of resistant sandstone (Fig. 1). The area is part of the Clinch Mountain system that extends from eastern Tennessee to southwestern Virginia. The thick sandstone unit is more technically called a quartz arenite (orthoquartzite) that forms most of the mountain. In 1980, a Knoxville resident brought the Clinch Formation - Short Mountain in particular - to the attention of the large silica-sand producers as a potential silica-sand mine. Working with a local contractor who owned several hundred acres on Short Mountain, the Knoxville resident contacted interested companies. Many silica companies reviewed the property including Ottawa Silica Co., Pennsylvania Glass Sand Co. (both now US Silica Co.),Unimin Corp.,The Morie Co. and others. AFG Industries was the main market for the glass sand product from this potential mine. It had two plants, both within trucking distance from the site. All the silica sand producing companies, however, declined to develop the site. A few years later, Unimin Corp. decided to drill and evaluate the deposit. From that evaluation, Unimin leased the property but later dropped it. The relatively limited market for the Short Mountain product as well as Unimin’s recent acquisition of Carolina Silica were reportedly instrumental in the company’s decision to let go of the lease. Several other companies-unrelated to the silica sand industry - looked at the site but no one was interested in developing it. In 1986, J.D. Nicewonder, owner of coal mines in Virginia and Kentucky, was approached to investigate the site. Nicewonder began to develop the site with the intent to produce glass sand to supply AFG Industries. In May 1988, the first shipment of sand was trucked to AFG Industries.

Jan 1, 1992

By M. J. Zdunczyk

Located approximately 50 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tennessee, Short Mountain Silica mines the Clinch Formation, an orthoquarzite, for silica sand. In 1980, a Knoxville resident and area contractor visualized mining Short Mountain for silica sand. Because APG Industries, the main market for the glass sand product, was only 48 kilometers from the site, many silica sand companies became interested in the property. In 1986, J.D. Nicewonder began to develop the site, and in May of 1988, APG Industries received the first sand shipment.

Jan 1, 1992

By R. W. Barbaro, R. V. Ramani, K. V. K. Prasad, P. T. Luckie

The limitation of sulfur dioxide in power plant In this study, the following quality parameters of the coal emissions dictates that sulfur in coal be reduced to the lowest possible level before combustion to not aggravate the emission control problem at the stack. For coal-fired power plants, the methods in practice to achieve low-sulfur coal include mining areas with relatively low sulfur, reducing sulfur in the mined coal through preparation techniques and blending high- and low-sulfur coals. A prerequisite to the successful implementation of any of these practices is the knowledge of the spatial distribution of sulfur and the capability to predict its value in mining blocks. In this paper, the results of a study conducted to evaluate the applicability of geostatistics for describing the short scale variability of sulfur in a coal seam are presented. Four sides of a block of coal to be mined by the longwall method were extensively sampled at closely spaced intervals. The details of the longwall sampling plan and analysis procedures are discussed. The results of the statistical and geostatistical analysis are presented. The implications of these for prediction of sulfur for control purposes are examined.

Jan 1, 1991

By Matthew Burdick, Andrew Rule, Erica Bailey

The Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel, Burrard Inlet Crossing project for the Greater Vancouver Water District entails deep shaft construction, subway sized pressurized face tunneling through highly variable ground conditions, installation of three permanent steel water mains and construction of elaborate valve chambers adjacent to either shaft. The paper discusses key elements of the planning and implementation of 6.69 m Ø slurry mixshield tunnel boring machine (TBM) assembly in a small diameter deep shaft including incorporation of a fully pressurized launch lock, preparations for saturation diving, surface support infrastructure and initial mining sequence.

Jun 13, 2021

By P. Brumit, L. Grady, R. Mitts, V. Holm

The Mesquite mine is a large, open pit, heap leach gold mine owned and operated by Gold Fields Operating Co.-Mesquite. The mine uses a fully integrated mine planning and reserve modeling software system developed at the mine. This system has recently been extended to include short-term mine planning, grade control, and daily production reporting. The grade control portion of the program uses a multiple indicator kriging (MIK) approach using the blast-hole spacing and exploration assays. The program permits ore control geologists and mine planning engineers to have immediate access to all the information.

Jan 1, 1991

The Mesquite mine is being operated by Gold Fields Operating Co.-Mesquite, a subsidiary of Gold Fields Mining Corp. The mine Is located in southeastern California about 56 km (35 miles) east of the farming community of Brawley, California. The mine has been in commercial production since early 1986 and Is a conventional open pit mine developed on 6.1 m (20 foot) benches. The gold is recovered by heap leach using permanent heaps built in multiple 6.1 m (20 foot) lifts. This year's gold production will be in the range of 5,600 kg (180,000 troy ounces). Current ore production is about 18,140 tonnes (20,000 tons) per day while the total tons mined Is averaging 65,000 tonnes (72,000 tons) per day. The climate at the mine is extremely arid with rainfall of 7.6 cm (3 inches) per year. From early May until late October daytime temperatures generally exceed 37.8 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and can be as high as 37.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Jan 1, 1989

By R. W. Barbaro

The limitation of sulfur dioxide in power plant emissions dictates that sulfur in coal be reduced to the lowest possible level before combustion so as not to aggravate the emission control problem at the stack. For coal fired power plants, the methods in practice to achieve low sulfur coal include mining areas with relatively low sulfur. reducing sulfur in the mined coal through preparation techniques and blending high and low sulfur coals. A prerequisite to the successful implementation of any of these practices is the knowledge of the spatial distribution and the capability to predict sulfur values in a coal seam.

Jan 1, 1988

By Kenneth S. Graham, S. C. Gambrell

A short term, simple roof bolt load cell which uses a birefringent (photoelastic) coating as its sensing element has been developed. The load cell is installed between the bearing plate and the nut/washer and measures the initial force after installation by the bolting machine. The load cell can be removed from the bolt and used again to measure initial force in another bolt if desired. Because temperature and humidity changes in the mine cause creep/relaxation of the coating and/or adhesive, the load cell is useful for accurately measuring force for a period of only two weeks after installation. Force in the bolt is determined by referring to a calibration curve for the load cell.

Jan 1, 1992

By Michael Gilbert

In the world of tunneling the glamour is in the large diameter, long tunnels, but perhaps the number of projects for small diameter and short length tunnels are greater and generally have higher risk factors. Reasons for these higher risks include both the ?boiler plate? contract provisions used on these types of contracts, the technical specifications related to the tunnel work (versus the pipeline construction), the bid practices including measurement and payment and the construction. This paper reviews and comments on some of the key issues the authors have observed in recent major pipe-line projects that involve a small percentage of tunneling footage of the total contract.

By David Smith

Construction of a new transportation link frequently requires crossing under an existing highway or railroad. Although traffic diversions may permit a cut and cover structure to be built, ‘zero impact’ tunnel solutions are becoming increasingly popular. The vertical clearance between the new tunnel structure and the existing highway or tracks may be very low; sometimes less than two meters. This leaves little room for error since any ground loss can rapidly translate into surface settlement. Problems can be avoided by maintaining the stability of the tunnel face and by minimizing ground movement around the tunnel lining. This paper examines construction methods that have been used to construct short tunnels with shallow cover, and highlights factors to be considered for future projects.

Jan 1, 2005

By Lewis L. Oriard

The authors outline the development and application of blasting methods put into use 11 years ago at the Berkeley Open-Pit Mine, Butte, Montana. The blast design uses a very short delay (5 milliseconds) between detonation of explosives charges, a feature challenged several times in principle despite its success for Anaconda. Concern is expressed over the categorical rejection of very short delay blasting which can make the difference between success and failure of major mining operations. There is ample evidence to show that the method can be used successfully and not violate the concerns of the public.

Jan 1, 1980

By B. M. Flohr

Railroads are cost competitive with trucks for hauls greater than 500 miles - WRONG. Today I will tell you about many rail movements of less than 100 miles throughout the country. Rail is a short haul transportation alternative you must consider. Transportation today is the largest controllable cost in the total cost of production of goods. In fact it is the one cost area where aggressive management, using new tools, can achieve significant reductions. You can't control the price of metals in the world market, you can't control labor rates since they are tied to industry norms, and the price of raw materials are relatively insensitive to specific price reductions to your firm. Transportation is the one area where major savings are now being realized. Sample Movements First, I will give you several examples of short haul rail moves to make you a believer that they do exist. Then I will show you the reasons why railroads suddenly "like" short hauls.

Jan 1, 1986

By J. Schleifer

On short term, planning techniques require more details to ensure feasibility, giving importance to operation constraints and use of available resources. In GUEMASSA (Morocco), the ore mass is mined by cut-and- fill method. Correct organization requires to forecast a few weeks ahead the schedule of blocks to be mined, in order to respect ore quantity and grade constraints. While operating constraints are tackled, feasibility is assumed with an average production capacity suggesting that resources will be available. In ST-SALVY (France), scheduling operations is not possible if not considering account resource allocation. In any stope within the vertical vein zinc deposit, the cut-and-fill method enables to mine each horizontal slice according to various strategies, de- pending how to use manpower and equipment, and selecting among predefined scenarios known as realistic. For KOFFIEFONTEIN (South Africa), the kimberlite pipe is mined by a sub-level-stoping method. To achieve the production target, precise organization over one month is obtained, using on& resources when available and respecting all mining rules. This combined operation scheduling and resource allocation is called sequencing. While following the BONANZA concept, providing a planning- retrieval process, sequencing offers more. Very detailed, it is possible to check the impact of resource parameters and mining rules. The sequencer, like a simulation platform, enables expertise. Each sequencer must be tailor-made to fit to each specific mine. The next challenge is to produce a generic environment.

Jan 1, 1996

By M. Kumral

The in-situ mineral characteristics of a deposit are simulated by sequential co-simulation and averaging the simulated characteristics within specified block volumes creates a three-dimensional block model. This model is then submitted to optimal open pit and production scheduling algorithms. As the market values of industrial minerals depend on the satisfaction of predetermined blending criteria rather than metal content, a Linear Programming (LP) scheme has been used to identify all blocks that can be included in the blend without violating the grade requirements. The Lerchs-Grosmann algorithm using the blocks identified by the LP program determines optimal pit limits. All blocks that lie outside the optimal pit are removed from the system and the blocks within the optimal pit are submitted to the production-scheduling algorithm. Production scheduling optimisation is done in two stages: Lagrangean parameterisation, resulting in an initial sub-optimal solution, and multi-objective simulated annealing (MOSA) improving the sub-optimal schedule further.

Jan 1, 2002