Ore Price Research Articles

Investigação da alteração hidrotermal por meio de técnicas de PDI e SIG, no Distrito Fluorítico de Santa Catarina (DFSC), Brasil

Santa Catarina Fluorite District (DFSC) is the major producer of South America, and currently production has stabilized due the ore produced cost in Brazil is equal or smaller than the imported ore price. However, DFSC needs to increase reservations. The fluorite occurs in sub-vertical veins, 3 meters width by 400 meters length. The beds are controlled by faults and fractures that extend themselves for kilometers, and the hydrothermal alteration occurs in strips up to 100 meters width from the veins. The fluorite search in DFSC should be make by integration of structural data and alteration. The work objective was developing techniques to distinguish the hydrothermal alteration by application digital image processing (DIP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques on TM LANDSAT 5 data. The morpho-structures were obtained by filtering TM4 band, after digitalized and classified according to azimuth intervals related to the fluorite veins. To enhance alteration feature, 3/1, 5/1 and 5/4 band ratio was employed to discriminate iron oxide and hydroxide concentrations; 5/7 for clay mineral and 1/7 for general alteration. Grayscale images not enhanced the result and than reclassification was made based on their spectral behavior. SIG techniques crossed these data with structural vectors. It generated distance map around morphostructures and were multiplied by hydrothermal alteration images. Finally, more favorable zones were delimited, based on the pixel density of alteration around 100 meters of morphostructures.

Investigação da alteração hidrotermal por meio de técnicas de PDI e SIG, no Distrito Fluorítico de Santa Catarina (DFSC), Brasil

Santa Catarina Fluorite District (DFSC) is the major producer of South America, and currently production has stabilized due the ore produced cost in Brazil is equal or smaller than the imported ore price. However, DFSC needs to increase reservations. The fluorite occurs in sub-vertical veins, 3 meters width by 400 meters length. The beds are controlled by faults and fractures that extend themselves for kilometers, and the hydrothermal alteration occurs in strips up to 100 meters width from the veins. The fluorite search in DFSC should be make by integration of structural data and alteration. The work objective was developing techniques to distinguish the hydrothermal alteration by application digital image processing (DIP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques on TM LANDSAT 5 data. The morpho-structures were obtained by filtering TM4 band, after digitalized and classified according to azimuth intervals related to the fluorite veins. To enhance alteration feature, 3/1, 5/1 and 5/4 band ratio was employed to discriminate iron oxide and hydroxide concentrations; 5/7 for clay mineral and 1/7 for general alteration. Grayscale images not enhanced the result and than reclassification was made based on their spectral behavior. SIG techniques crossed these data with structural vectors. It generated distance map around morphostructures and were multiplied by hydrothermal alteration images. Finally, more favorable zones were delimited, based on the pixel density of alteration around 100 meters of morphostructures.

Vývoz československého uranu do Sovětského svazu v letech 1946-1959

Studie se zabývá zrodem československého uranového průmyslu a jeho rozmachem v 50. letech 20. století. Pozornost věnuje vývoji Jáchymovských dolů a činnosti čtyřčlenné stálé československo-sovětské komise, která v nich zajišťovala sovětský vliv. Zvláštní pozornost věnuje participaci československé a sovětské strany na financování provozu Jáchymovských dolů a konstruování ceny uranové rudy a jejích koncentrátů vyvážených do Sovětského svazu jakožto monopolního odběratele na základě mezistátní dohody z listopadu 1945. Do konce 40. let byla světová cena uranové rudy podstatně vyšší než za jakou ji Československo do Sovětského svazu vyváželo. Poté se však poměr začal měnit a Sovětský svaz platil za československou uranovou rudu ceny přesahující ceny světové. Činil tak proto, že ve srovnání se Spojenými státy byly zásoby uranové rudy v oblasti jeho mocenského vlivu relativně chudé. Snažil se však své závazky (např. financování geologického průzkumu, poskytnutí investiční půjčky) postupně snižovat. Pro československou ekonomiku byl vývoz produkce uranového průmyslu do Sovětského svazu mimořádně výhodný - koncem 50. let představoval 32,6 % hodnotového objemu vývozu do Sovětského svazu, který byl kompenzován dovozem pro ni důležitých komodit - železa, nafty, masa a zejména obilovin. Ukazuje se, že ochabnutí sovětského zájmu na těžbě uranové rudy právě na konci 50. let přispělo k prohloubení československých hospodářských potíží a narušilo jeho centrální plánování. To kalkulovalo s růstem příjmů účelově a neuváženě vybudovaného uranového průmyslu, jehož provozní náklady vzhledem ke stále složitějším geologickým podmínkám a chudosti rud trvale rostly a postupně se staly zátěží československé ekonomiky.

The transmission effects of iron ore price shocks on China's economy and industries: a CGE approach

This paper assesses the transmission impacts of world iron ore price fluctuation on China's macroeconomics and industries. The analytical framework is a computable general equilibrium model. The results demonstrate that a sharp increase in imported iron ore price will exert certain negative effects on macroeconomic and industries in China. It exerts a negative chain-effect on regional output and employment in Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanghai and Hainan province, while a slight impact on Gansu and Qinghai province. Finally, we carry out the systematic sensitivity analysis, and found that the sensitivity of the model results with respect to import trade function is not strong.

Technology for Nuclear Reprocessing: Present and Future Directions

A variety of factors have served to bring nuclear technology to international attention as a viable option to meet a major fraction of the energy needs of the future. This has also brought the US policy since 1977 of a once‐through nuclear cycle into question. Such a process uses only about 5% of the energy content of the nuclear fuel. Although recycling the unburnt nuclear fuel seems reasonable from a technology point of view, proliferation risks led to cessation of the technology, as conventional reprocessing can be used to make weapons grade plutonium. The economic viability of recycling is also questionable, since uranium ore prices make the once‐through nuclear fuel cycle cost effective. In addition to the standard reprocessing cycle used in many countries, there are efforts to introduce advanced fuel cycle technologies that deal with some of the issues associated with the older technology. This presentation discusses the concerns with present reprocessing technologies and with the planned repository systems. Advanced separation systems designed to reduce the possibility of diversion of reprocessed material to weapons production are also discussed in the presentation. Other goals of these advanced systems are increased reactor operational safety, the reliable disposal of nuclear wastes from reprocessing for the millennia required to allow radioactive decay.

A 3D mine simulation model for decision-making in mine design and production

In this paper, the philosophy, methodology, objectives, mining process logic, program structure and its state-of-the-art for our recently developed mine simulation model (a decision-making tool for mine design and production) are discussed. This simulation model is a detailed 3D model that can be used for many different mine sites without the need for programming but requiring only different input data that characterize the mine being simulated. The simulation model generates development, production and performance data throughout mine lifetime. The model also provides economics analyses such as operating cost, revenue, cash flow, rate of return on investment, net present value, ore tons mined and mine lifetime based on simulation results. Further, it studies the sensitivity and risk for the variation of parameters such as ore grade, dilution rate, market price and pre-production investment. The model thus provides all-important information for decision-making in mine design and production. This decision-making tool is very useful for mining projects since it is based on very accurate ore body data (from Datamine), mine layout data (from AutoCAD), equipment data, and production schedules and organization.

A simulated annealing approach to mine production scheduling

Increasing global competition, quality standards, environmental awareness and decreasing ore prices impose new challenges to mineral industries. Therefore, the extraction of mineral resources requires careful design and scheduling. In this research, simulated annealing (SA) is recommended to solve a mine production scheduling problem. First of all, in situ mineral characteristics of a deposit are simulated by sequential Gaussian simulation, and averaging the simulated characteristics within specified block volumes creates a three-dimensional block model. This model is used to determine optimal pit limits. A linear programming (LP) scheme is used to identify all blocks that can be included in the blend without violating the content requirements. The Lerchs–Grosmann algorithm using the blocks identified by the LP program determines optimal pit limits. All blocks that lie outside of the optimal pit limit are removed from the system and the blocks within the optimal pit are submitted to the production scheduling algorithm. Production scheduling optimization is carried out in two stages: Lagrangean parameterization, resulting in an initial sub-optimal solution, and multi-objective SA, improving the sub-optimal schedule further. The approach is demonstrated on a Western Australian iron ore body.

A Hazardous Bargain: Occupational Risk in Cornish Mining 1875–1914

The Mines Inspectorate routinely recorded errors of judgement, lack of care and defiance of the health and safety regulations by the underground labour force in the Cornish mines. This study explores the relationship between unsafe practices and the Cornish miners' bargain. The bargain was a contract of employment unique to the non-ferrous mining sectors in which individual bargaining and fluctuating ore prices determined wages and management rarely directly confronted labour, who regarded themselves as independent contractors. Supervision was minimal and the men operated with substantial freedom. They determined their hours of labour, provided their own tools, candles and black powder, and were responsible for timbering and the immediate security of their working environment. The system frustrated outside interference, promoted self-sufficiency, and emphasized individual responsibility. The men largely operated unsupervised and independently of health and safety regulations, relying upon their mining prowess, skill and experience to ensure the safety of their working environment. Rivalry and competition were intense and it is likely that the men subscribed to notions of masculinity widespread within working-class culture. This study will propose that whilst acts of bravado and daring demonstrated mining prowess and maintained notions of self-image, unsafe practice can be explained within a context of accident probability theory and notions of 'behavioural reinforcement'. This approach reveals that the rarity of adverse events, the individualized nature of occupational hazard and the premium placed on speed and effort perpetuated risky behaviour.

Explaining America's Surge in Manufactured Exports, 1880–1913

The United States became a net exporter of manufactured goods around 1910 after a dramatic surge in iron and steel exports began in the mid-1890s. This paper argues that natural-resource abundance fueled the expansion of iron and steel exports in part by enabling a sharp reduction in the price of U.S. exports relative to other competitors. The commercial exploitation of the Mesabi iron ore range, for example, reduced domestic ore prices by 50% in the mid-1890s and was equivalent to over a decade's worth of industry productivity improvement in its effect on iron and steel export prices. The nontradability of American ore resulted in its distinctive impact on the pattern of U.S. trade. The results are consistent with Wright's (1990) finding that U.S. manufactured exports were natural-resource-intensive at this time.

Intelligent selection of engineered wear linings in iron ore plant

Market forces, particularly iron ore prices, demand that plant operators achieve higher throughput in the World's iron ore beneficiation plants without compromising yields or efficiency. This means that production cost per tonne is of paramount importance and that all major pieces of processing equipment have come under close scrutiny to improve throughput at their most efficient performance levels and for the longest possible continuous running time. Without doubt the use of modern engineering standards and materials of construction has contributed to matching these throughput, efficiency and availability demands.However, often not enough attention is paid to the 'insignificant elements' connecting this metallurgical equipment, such as chutes, pipes or other conveying systems, and particularly to the sufficient protection of their wearing surfaces. The result can be an unplanned and expensive outage caused by the wear related failure of such components. The present paper discusses the theory of wear and the multiple factors of material and design that contribute to a reduction in wear and the combinations of modern wear resistant materials available to today's engineer and how, by intelligent selection and correct application, plant availability can be optimised. Examples are given outlining how these principles have been applied in South Africa, showing some improvements leading to increased plant availability.

An ores pricing mechanism for promoting sustainable development

SUMMARY In this present work, the authors, after a brief survey of current economic theories of non-renewable resources, propose an alternative mechanism for ore pricing that is consistent with sustainable development. Technological change, technological pluralism, costs and environmental issues are the main benchmarks of the present discussion. The are pricing mechanism proposed here try to encompass all of these aspects, and reconsider the role of technology and its various options. In fact, technology is strictly linked to its limits (above all those of productivity, efficiency and its resulting environmental effects) and can no longer be considered just in terms of the classical principles of the minimum cost without evaluating those aspects related to the goals of sustainable development, widely shared at the international level. Without making any claims to being an exhaustive treatment of this topic, the present work tries to apply these principles to price ores.

Determinants of China's import demand for Australia's iron ore

This paper analyzes China's imports of iron ore from Australia, using annual time series data for the period 1973–1996. Considerations include variables affecting iron ore trade between the two countries, such as the previous trade volume, GDP growth rate and steel production in China, labor disputes in Australia, the relative price of Australia's iron ore to the world average, and Chinese government policies. Results indicate that China's import of Australia's iron ore is positively affected by the volume of steel production in China and Chinese government's policy following the cultural revolution era. Increases in the relative price of Australia's iron ore and labor disputes measured by the working days lost in Australia appear to reduce China's import demand.

ALMR fuel cycle economics

The U.S. Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor concept, ALMR, is expected to use recycled metal fuel composed of plutonium, uranium and zirconium. Projections of fuel cycle costs for the ALMR indicate that they will be from 5 to 6 mills/kWh (constant 1987 dollars), which is less than or equal to current light water reactor fuel costs. Since the ALMR fuel costs are not sensitive to uranium ore prices, these costs will be more stable than those of future light water reactors. The ALMR also has the potential to fission actinides from both light water and liquid metal reactor fuels. This ability can reduce the time that high-level radioactive waste are hazardous from millions to hundreds of years with about a 1 mill/kWh increase in cost.

The tokamak hybrid reactor

At a time when the potential benefits of various energy options are being seriously evaluated in many countries throughout the world, it is both timely and important to evaluate the practical application of fusion reactors for their economical production of nuclear fissile fuels from fertile fuels. The fusion hybrid reactor represents a concept that could assure the availability of adequate fuel supplies for a proven nuclear technology and have the potential of being an electrical energy source as opposed to an energy consumer as are the present fuel enrichment processes. Westinghouse Fusion Power Systems Department, under Contract No. EG-77-C-02-4544 with the Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy, has developed a preliminary conceptual design for an early twenty-first century fusion hybrid reactor called the Commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (CTHR) [1]. This design was developed as a first generation commercial plant producing fissile fuel to support a significant number of ‘client’ Light Water Reactor (LWR) Plants. To the depth this study has been performed, no insurmountable technical problems have been identified. The study has provided a basis for reasonable cost estimates of the hybrid plants as well as the hybrid/LWR system busbar electricity costs. This energy system can be optimized to have a net cost of busbar electricity that is equivalent to the conventional LWR plant, yet is not dependent on uranium ore prices or standard enrichment costs, since the fusion hybrid can be fueled by numerous fertile fuel resources. A nearer-term concept is also defined using a beam driven fusion driver in lieu of the longer term ignited operating mode.

Supply Shifts and Iron Ore Pricing

THE surging technological changes in the iron and steel industry have been due to the depletion of high-grade ores, the appearance and mounting importance of substitutes for steel, the need to lower costs and to improve the quality of products and the expanding demand for steel. Geographic and technical explorations for new sources of iron ore have led the industry to turn to imported foreign ores and beneficiated domestic ores, which have helped to solve the raw material problem. Innovations for improving iron ore, such as beneficiation and ore sintering, are resolving the problems of cost and quality. The degree of competition within the iron and steel industry has been in the process of reflecting the geographically different and technically changed sources of iron ore. The shifts in the iron ore supply function already have had important effects upon the price of iron ore in the major domestic iron ore consuming districts.'