Topic Review
Dispatch Optimization Model for Haulage Equipment between Stopes
The working environment of underground mines is complicated, making it difficult to construct an underground mine production plan. In response to the requirements for the preparation of a short-term production plan for underground mines, an optimization model for short-term resource planning was constructed, with the goal of maximizing the total revenue during the planning period. 
  • 467
  • 14 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining
The aim of this work is to explain the concepts of sustainability with respect to small artisanal gold mining. For this, a qualitative approach with a descriptive scope was used, for which the bibliographic review technique was conducted. In this sense, articles, theses, books and institutional documents, and any contribution related to the research topic were taken into consideration. Likewise, this documentation contributed to the delimiting aspects that allowed a contrast between the proposed definitions and small artisanal mining in the Northeast Antioquia region in Colombia. Based on the reviewed sources, different needs were recognized in artisanal small-scale gold mining in Northeast Antioquia that still need action. In conclusion, through the exposition of sustainability theories, three common factors were identified within the various positions that were raised—the environmental, economic, and sociocultural dimensions. 
  • 591
  • 27 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Sublevel Caving Production Scheduling
Production scheduling determines the most beneficial mining sequence over the life of mine. Developing a schedule that meets all mining aspects can substantially reduce mining costs and increase profitability. Among all underground mining methods, the sublevel caving (SLC) method is a common method with moderate development requirements, high production rate, and high degree of mechanization and flexibility. None of the manual planning methods and heuristic algorithms used in commercial software will lead to a truly optimal schedule. In sublevel caving, mathematical programming models, particularly mixed-integer programming, have been applied to provide an operationally feasible multi-time period's schedule. However, confined blasting conditions, chaotic material flow, and frequent mixing of ore and waste while loading broken ore at the drawpoint make sublevel caving method unique to produce a holistic plan.
  • 2.2K
  • 27 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Strategic Mining Options Optimization
 It is important that the strategic mine plan makes optimum use of available resources and provides continuous quality ore to drive sustainable mining and profitability. This requires the development of a well-integrated strategy of mining options for surface and/or underground mining and their interactions. Understanding the current tools and methodologies used in the mining industry for surface and underground mining options and transitions planning are essential to dealing with complex and deep-seated deposits that are amenable to both surface and underground mining. 
  • 1.8K
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Submarine Tailings in Chile
In several countries, and especially in northern Chile, most mining operations and tailings disposal are carried out near the mine. However, the tailings disposal has turned out to have certain exceptions in managing waste from ores processing by froth flotation. Countries like Chile, Peru, Norway, Canada, the Philippines, Spain, and Indonesia have active or abandoned underwater tailings on the coasts and at the submarine level. The underwater tailings of Chañaral Bay, Chile, and Ite Bay, Peru, are examples of the lack of scientific studies that can damage the marine environment. Potential environmental disasters caused a change towards the surface disposal of the tailings. Nowadays, society’s pressures on surface tailing dumps have driven research on sustainable mining waste discharge to the seabed.
  • 522
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Mullite-Based Ceramics from Mining Waste
Mullite (3Al2O3·2SiO2) is an aluminosilicate characterized by excellent physical properties, which makes it an important ceramic material. In this way, ceramics based on mullite find applications in different technological fields as refractory material (metallurgy, glass, ceramics, etc.), matrix in composite materials for high temperature applications, substrate in multilayer packaging, protective coatings, components of turbine engines, windows transparent to infrared radiation, etc. However, mullite is scarce in nature so it has to be manufactured through different synthesis methods, such as sintering, melting-crystallization or through a sol-gel route. 
  • 939
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Talc Flotation
Talc is a naturally hydrophobic gangue mineral in most sulfide ores. However, talc has vast applications in the cosmetics, paper, and paint industries due to its high chemical stability, and its demand continues to grow. Since flotation is the most effective beneficiation technique for upgrading sulfides, the high hydrophobicity of talc has made its selective separation challenging. 
  • 854
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Production of Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide
The ferromanganese (FeMn) alloy is produced through the smelting-reduction of manganese ores in submerged arc furnaces. This process generates large amounts of furnace dust that is environmentally problematic for storage. Due to its fineness and high volatile content, this furnace dust cannot be recirculated through the process, either. Conventional MnO2 production requires the pre-reduction of low-grade ores at around 900 °C to convert the manganese oxides present in the ore into their respective acid-soluble forms; however, the furnace dust is a partly reduced by-product. A hydrometallurgical route is proposed to valorize the waste dust for the production of battery-grade MnO2. By using dextrin, a cheap organic reductant, the direct and complete dissolution of the manganese in the furnace dust is possible without any need for high-temperature pre-reduction. The leachate is then purified through pH adjustment followed by direct electrowinning for electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) production. An overall manganese recovery rate of >90% is achieved. 
  • 4.3K
  • 08 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Ferroelastic Twinning in Minerals
Ferroelastic twinning in minerals is a very common phenomenon. The twin laws follow simple symmetry rules and they are observed in minerals, like feldspar, palmierite, leucite, perovskite, and so forth. The major discovery over the last two decades was that the thin areas between the twins yield characteristic physical and chemical properties, but not the twins themselves. Research greatly focusses on these twin walls (or ‘twin boundaries’); therefore, because they possess different crystal structures and generate a large variety of ‘emerging’ properties. Research on wall properties has largely overshadowed research on twin domains. 
  • 1.3K
  • 15 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Rotary-Percussion Drilling
The rotary-percussion drilling method is a prospective way to decrease drilling costs. It is obvious, based on literature analyses and finished geothermal drilling, that the Lublin Basin can be perceived as the one where rotary-percussion drilling can be used to drill an overburden of shale rocks. The paper explained the geology of the Lublin Basin, its’ geological structures, and the possibility of the use of drilling with a down-the-hole hammer, which could significantly decrease the cost of the whole shale gas drilling investment. Data collected from the wells drilled in the Lublin Basin were compared and analyzed to determine the viability of rotary-percussion drilling. Provided analyses showed that using the rotary-percussion drilling method in the Lublin Basin had a greater possibility of application than in other Polish shale basins (Baltic and Podlasie). 
  • 9.1K
  • 28 May 2021
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