Colombian Mining Research Articles

MANAGEMENT OF PROCESSES FOR ENRICHMENT OF COPPER- MOLYBDENUM ORES USING QUALITY CONTROL QUALITY

An overview of the Colombian economy is presented and mining is made special between 2000 and 2016. The most important aspects of Colombian mining production are presented and the sector is characterized in terms of extractive industry and environmental components. It presents an historical evolution of the mining sector in terms of production and prices and presents a global picture of mining income, employment generation, reserves of the most important minerals, as well as foreign direct investment in mining. Finally, data on exports of the most important minerals produced in Colombia are presented.

Gold electroleaching in a porous bed reactor

The application of an electric potential difference on the leaching of an auriferous mineral typical of Colombian mining was analyzed in an electroleaching reactor. Electric potentials of 5, 30, and 60 volts were evaluated during 4, 6, and 20 hours. In each of the conditions evaluated, samples of the liquors were taken near the cathode and anode and were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. It was observed that there is a direct relation between the applied electric potential and the migrational flow of the gold species to the anode. After the electroleaching process, the used electrodes were analyzed by SEM-EDX, where the presence of gold deposits was detected on the surface of the electrode under all the potential difference conditions applied. Based on the results obtained, a mechanism is proposed to explain the influence on the kinetics of gold cyanidation of the application of an electric potential difference on a column leaching process.

Ignition and explosion parameters of Colombian coals

The explosivity of coal in Colombia is usually determined by chemical analysis based on the volatile ratio. To improve the assessment of the explosivity of those coals that have led to numerous explosions in Colombian mines, 22 coals from the department of Antioquia were analyzed. Flammability characteristic parameters were determined, such as minimum temperatures and energy for ignition and the lower explosive limit. Also explosion data, ie. Pmax and Kmax values were obtained. In addition, the susceptibility to spontaneous combustion was studied by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, together with chemical attack with hydrogen peroxide and also measuring the temperature of ignition of flammable volatiles. Finally the effect of particle size and the percentage range of limestone needed for inerting coal under two different granulometries were determined.

Guía discursiva para la mediación de conflictos de intereses en zonas mineras

<p class="Abstract">Este artículo expone, a partir del análisis semiótico (análisis de significados culturales) de la situación conflictiva colombiana, elementos simbólicos que sirvan como mediadores cuando se presentan conflictos de intereses, particularmente entre las poblaciones endógenas (viven en el sitio de actividad minera) y exógenas (relacionadas con la zona minera pero que no habitan el sitio) de zonas mineras colombianas. Aunque se aborda el caso colombiano, es posible deducir después de la lectura del contenido de este documento, que las mediaciones semióticas (discursos) propuestas pueden aplicarse a otros contextos que pertenezcan a la cultura latinoamericana, caracterizados por sufrir situaciones conflictivas similares a las expuestas, en áreas de actividades mineras (exploración, explotación, transporte, procesamiento, transformación y comercialización). Así, se ofrecen en primer lugar, datos relevantes acerca del problema de la inexistencia de guías discursivas que le permitan al ingeniero, administrador, o persona encargada de las actividades mineras, mediar asertivamente en la búsqueda de soluciones ante conflictos de intereses que surgen entre poblaciones de zonas mineras. En segundo lugar, se plantea la metodología base de para la guía discursiva que inicia con la recolección y rastreo de frases idiosincráticas, para continuar con su análisis y finalizar con la interpretación de los significados culturales analizados.</p>

Efecto del rango de carbones colombianos y su tecnología de alimentación en la producción de gas natural sustituto, mediante gasificación en lecho arrastrado

Presenta los resultados de un estudio del efecto del rango del carbón usado (desde subbituminoso hasta semiantracita) y de la tecnología de alimentación (seca o húmeda) sobre el proceso de producción de gas natural sustituto (GNS) en gasificadores de flujo arrastrado. Se analizaron diez carbones provenientes de importantes minas de Colombia. El proceso de producción de GNS a partir de gasificación de carbón se modeló bajo equilibrio termoquímico en Aspen Plus. El rendimiento del proceso se evaluó en términos de parámetros de salida, que incluyen el poder calórico del GNS, el índice de Wobbe, la eficiencia de conversión de carbón, la eficiencia en frío, la eficiencia del proceso, la eficiencia global y la tasa de producción de GNS, entre otros. En orden descendente, el proceso carbón-GNS mejora energéticamente con el uso de carbones con alta relación material volátil/carbón fijo, bajo contenido de ceniza, alta relación C+H/O y alto valor calórico del carbón. La eficiencia energética global para la producción de GNS vía gasificación es 17% mayor para la tecnología de alimentación en húmedo con respecto a la tecnología de alimentación en seco, esto posiblemente se da por la mayor concentración de CH4 en el syngas (alrededor del 7% vol.) cuando se usa alimentación en húmedo. El GNS simulado cumple los estándares de calidad de gas natural (GN) en Colombia, por lo tanto, el combustible gaseoso sustituto podría transportarse directamente por gasoductos. Por lo anterior, es técnicamente viable considerar el proceso carbón-GNS como una alternativa no convencional para la producción de GN.

Characterization of bacterial diversity associated with calcareous deposits and drip-waters, and isolation of calcifying bacteria from two Colombian mines

Bacterial carbonate precipitation has implications in geological processes and important biotechnological applications. Bacteria capable of precipitating carbonates have been isolated from different calcium carbonate deposits (speleothems) in caves, soil, freshwater and seawater around the world. However, the diversity of bacteria from calcareous deposits in Colombia, and their ability to precipitate carbonates, remains unknown. In this study, conventional microbiological methods and molecular tools, such as temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE), were used to assess the composition of bacterial communities associated with carbonate deposits and drip-waters from two Colombian mines. A genetic analysis of these bacterial communities revealed a similar level of diversity, based on the number of bands detected using TTGE. The dominant phylogenetic affiliations of the bacteria, determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, were grouped into two phyla: Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Within these phyla, seven genera were capable of precipitating calcium carbonates: Lysinibacillus, Bacillus, Strenotophomonas, Brevibacillus, Methylobacterium, Aeromicrobium and Acinetobacter. FTIR and SEM/EDX were used to analyze calcium carbonate crystals produced by isolated Acinetobacter gyllenbergii. The results showed that rhombohedral and angular calcite crystals with sizes of 90μm were precipitated. This research provides information regarding the presence of complex bacterial communities in secondary carbonate deposits from mines and their ability to precipitate calcium carbonate from calcareous deposits of Colombian mines.

La importancia de los fondos de garantías y estabilización en las políticas minero energéticas colombianas

La función para los cuales fueron establecidos los fondos de garantías y estabilización en las políticas minero energéticas colombianas es para resolver las variaciones en las regalías que puedan presentarse en momentos de crisis en la economía derivada de la desaceleración de la industria. La importancia de dichos fondos, radica en que estos se convierten en una estrategia fundamental que permita ahorrar ingresos de las regalías en tiempos de auge minero y petrolero, para posteriormente utilizarlos en proyectos de inversión social y en estimulación del sector, en momentos de crisis económica o baja de ingresos.

Governing Mining Resources in the History of Colombia: Between Official Institutions and Resistance

AbstractThe article analyzes the history of mining in Colombia from an institutional perspective. Since colonial times the official order established formal institutions to govern the mining resources, institutions that, for the most part, created an exclusive and extractive system that became a historical constant. However, local agents did not passively receive those official institutions and in consequence have established parallel systems of management of mining resources based on community authorities and experiences. Therefore, the history of mining activity in Colombia has been the one created by the interaction and collision of those different legal orders. The interaction of those legal orders have been particularly tense in the last couple of decades due to the increased pressure that local territories are experiencing, a socio-economic dynamic that has triggered a complex socio-environmental conflict that is defining not only the areas in which mining is taking place, but also rural areas in general. The official legal system lacks the categories to solve the conflicts and to understand the regulatory complexity that characterizes those resource rich areas. In consequence, the article closes with a call to explore legal pluralism as an alternative framework capable of decoding the regulatory diversity seen in Colombian mining areas, as well as a first step to start organizing the multiple legal orders operating on the ground in these complex social areas.

Implementation of strategic planning to mining in Colombia

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the importance of strategic planning applied to Colombian mining. This research was performed the literature review and case studies of countries that have implemented a method that seeks continuous improvement of processes and making sound decisions mining companies based on factors that were not taken into account previously. We selected two investigations, one applied to surface mining and underground mining other, showing significant progress in using strategic planning as a means to an ongoing development. Each case is unique but can be applied anywhere in the world depending on the characteristics of the areas where the project will take place, also emphasizes the current framework of strategic planning and trends that this methodology presents a future in mining Colombia where intervention is necessary to achieve ideological and procedural significant development within the industries of the continent, it shows the lack of new methodologies and best in business investment from the country's mining mining institutions to mining companies.

Transnational Organizing: A Case Study of Contract Workers in the Colombian Mining Industry

AbstractThis article examines recent organizing successes in the Carbones del Cerrejón coal mine, reversing the organizational crisis of the Colombian mining union, Sintracarbon. Using Wever's concept of ‘field‐enlarging strategies’, we argue that these events were facilitated by the dissemination of organizing experiences between affiliates of a Global Union Federation, International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which recently merged to form IndustriALL. Additionally, we argue that this articulation between international and national unions, based on the principle of subsidiarity, was facilitated through sustained ICEM educational project activity, providing multiple entry points for Sintracarbon to operationalize its strategy and re‐establish bargaining with multinational employers.

Metodología para la exploración de gas asociado al carbón (gmac o cbm) en las cuencas carboníferas de Colombia

Normalmente se considera que los gases comercializablesestán exclusivamente asociados al petróleo, pero lasinvestigaciones han demostrado que el carbón es una fuentegeneradora considerable de gas metano en grandes volúmenes(CBM). Colombia cuenta con un buen potencial en reservasde carbón, y se espera que contengan suficientes reservas deCBM que puedan comercializarse durante los próximos años.Este artículo presenta las metodologías estandarizadas deCBM utilizadas en el laboratorio de materiales, carbón y gasasociado al carbón de la UPTC, seccional Sogamoso.La minera colombiana ha presentado tradicionalmente el gasmetano (grisú) como un factor de riesgo debido a lasexplosiones ocasionadas por las emisiones de gas en muchasminas ubicadas en las zonas carboníferas de Colombia, peroesas explosiones y accidentes han llevado a algunos aconsiderar el CBM como un recurso energético. Por eseinterés, es que el objetivo principal de esta investigación se hacentrado en adaptar y establecer dichas metodologías yprocedimientos que se deben utilizar para determinar elcontenido de gas metano mediante el uso de equiposcanisters. Estos canisters y sus equipos adicionales se hanadecuado y mejorado en la UPTC por el grupo deInvestigación de Ingeniería Geológica, durante los últimosaños. Las guías se han realizado siguiendo los conocimientosactuales que hay sobre CBM, y se han propuestorecomendaciones adicionales para hacer más confiable elmuestreo y la medición del gas en los diferentes proyectos deexploración de CBM que se están desarrollando actualmente en las diferentes cuencas carboniferas de Colombia.

La silicosis o tisis de los mineros en Colombia, 1910-1960

Silicosis is a disease associated with mining work, whose importance was first recognized in the medical, economic and legal fields in the 1930s. It has become an important object of historical study for both social and occupational medicine. Through the history of silicosis it has been possible to study the adoption of the concept of "occupational disease" and the birth of occupational medicine in Colombia. This process is analyzed in the article through a reading of medical publications from the first half of the twentieth century regarding silicosis in Colombian mining

Are the characteristics of the new Colombian mining code sufficiently competitive in attracting investment to the mineral sector?

During the past 40 years, developing countries with non‐renewable natural resources have sought to develop their mining industries along lines parallel with the political climate current at the time. In the 1970s, the Colombian government followed the current trend in the developing world when they opted for direct participation, as owner‐operator in the exploitation of natural resources, especially coal, deeming it to be of great importance in Latin America. However in the 1990s, the country, in line with a changing global trend, adopted policies that focused its strategy on regulation of the mining sector, while leaving the operational risk in the hands of the private sector. The role of the state was redefined from ‘owner operator’ to ‘regulator’. The World Bank Group, Review of Legal and Fiscal Framework for Exploration and Mining, (chapter 4) (London, England: Mining Journal Books,). The new mining code of Colombia (Law 685/2001) is a contribution to the ongoing modernisation process in the mining sector, the aim of which is to develop a regulatory framework which can be used as an instrument to attract investment. This paper will attempt to identify the main characteristics of this new law and compare them with the idealised criteria defined by the World Bank for attracting mineral sector investment. It will also critically analyse the potential of this new law to serve as an effective means of attracting private investment in the context of an intensively competitive globalised mining industry.

Oxygen isotopes and emerald trade routes since antiquity

Oxygen isotopic compositions of historical emerald artifacts from the Gallo-Roman period to the 18th century indicate that during historical times, artisans worked emeralds originating from deposits supposedly discovered in the 20th century. In antiquity, Pakistani and Egyptian emeralds were traded by way of the Silk Route. Together with Austrian stones, they were the only source of gem-quality emeralds. Immediately after the discovery of the Colombian mines by Spaniards in the 16th century, a new trade route was established, first via Spain to Europe and India and then directly via the Philippines to India. Since then, Colombian emeralds have dominated the emerald trade, and most of the high-quality emeralds cut in the 18th century in India originated from Colombia.

Comparison of Cost Structures at Selected US and Colombian Coal Mines*

This paper summarizes a study designed to measure the differences in production costs at certain US and Colombian coal mines and to identify those factors, including mine health, safety and environmental requirements, which account for the difference. Meaningful cost‐structure comparisons required that mines with similar geology, techniques and sizes be evaluated in each country. Standard engineering estimating techniques were used to develop costs at three roughly matched pairs of mines, one from each country. Tax and labour cost differences were found to be more important factors than regulatory differences in the cost advantage of the Colombian mines in each set.