Processing Of Mineral Resources Research Articles

Commercial utilization of mineral waste - review of analysis methods determining its compliance with environmental laws

Optimal methods used in the analysis of waste material resulting from mining and processing of mineral resources that allow to assess the potential impact of waste on the environment, based on binding environmental laws regulating potential commercial utilization of waste were investigated . The paper is concerned mostly with mineral waste, constituting about 80% of all industrial waste generated. According to the principles of sustainable waste management, waste storage is considered to be the last resort. However, every year over 20% of the total amount of industrial waste generated is stored, which makes the amount of the already deposited materials, coming from the time when the commercial utilization was not common in Poland, even more considerable. When it comes to extensive, i.e. regarding great quantities, and long-term usage of industrial wastes, the identical composition of waste material coming from different batches is of the essence. Unfortunately, this condition is not always fulfilled, therefore chemical composition analyses need to be carried out for monitoring purposes. For the same reason the waste material used should also be tested to check whether the parameters of a given batch are within the limit values defined by the standards. Described methods are intended to facilitate waste characterisation with respect to their effect on the environment when used for commercial purposes. An individual method is never good enough to determine the full extent of environmental impact. It is therefore recommended to apply several methods in a logical sequence, depending on the type of waste material and its purpose.

Gărzile civice şi societățile de tir din Banat între anii 1717 – 1919 / Civic Guards and Shooting Societies in Banat between the Years 1717 and 1919

Gărzile civice şi societățile de tir din Banat între anii 1717 – 1919 / Civic Guards and Shooting Societies in Banat between the Years 1717 and 1919

Effect of stage development of mining operations on maximization the net present value in long-term planning of open pits

Long-term planning in the mining industry has one main goal: maximizing the value that is realized by excavation and processing of mineral resources. When designing the open pits, determining the stages of development the mining operations, (eng. Pushback) is one of the important factors in the process of long-term production planning. Using the different scientific methods and mathematical algorithms underlying the operation of modern software for strategic planning of production, it is possible to control the business economy. This work presents the influence of the open pit development phase of the South Mining District Majdanpek on significant increase the net present value.

Anisotropic Surface Charging of Chlorite Surfaces

AbstractChlorite is a layered silicate mineral group of importance in geology, agriculture, and in the processing of mineral resources. A more detailed analysis of the surface charge of chlorite minerals is important in order to improve our fundamental understanding of such particle structures and their behavior in suspension. In this study, the anisotropic surface charging of chlorite has been established using Atomic Force Microscopy surface-force measurements with a silicon nitride tip. The surface-charge densities and surface potentials at the chlorite basal-plane surfaces and edge surface were obtained by fitting force curves with the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theoretical model. The results show that at pH 5.6, 8.0, and 9.0 the chlorite mica-like face is negatively charged with the isoelectric point (IEP) less than pH 5.6. In contrast, the chlorite brucite-like face is positively charged in this pH range and the IEP is greater than pH 9.0. The surface charging of the chlorite edge surface was found to be pH-dependent with the IEP occurring at pH 8.5, which is slightly greater than the edge surfaces of talc and muscovite due to the larger content of magnesium hydroxide at the chlorite edge surface. Findings from the present research are expected to provide a fundamental foundation for the analysis of industrial requirements, e.g. collector adsorption, slime coating, and particle interactions in the area of mineral-processing technology.

Lessons Learned Following Macondo - Safety Enhancement

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper OTC 23436, ’Lessons Learned Following Macondo - Safety Enhancement on the US Outer Continental Shelf,’ by J.G. Lantz, P.E. Little, J.P. Nadeau, and J.D. Reynolds, US Coast Guard, prepared for the 2012 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 30 April-3 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The US Coast Guard is responsible for protecting the marine environment, promoting the safety of life and property, and ensuring security on the US outer continental shelf (OCS). Though the Macondo incident was not initiated by failures within areas of US Coast Guard jurisdiction and safety systems regulated by the US Coast Guard generally performed well under the extreme conditions, the US Coast Guard is reviewing its regulatory construct and seeking “lessons learned” from this tragic incident. Authority and Regulatory Construct The US Coast Guard, within the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has broad authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to regulate the safety of life and property on facilities and vessels engaged in US OCS activities and the safety of navigation. The US Coast Guard also is responsible for promoting workplace safety and health by enforcing requirements related to personnel, workplace activities, and conditions and equipment on the US OCS. A US OCS activity is any activity on the US OCS associated with exploration, development, production, transportation by pipeline, storage, or processing of mineral resources, including hydrocarbons. A US OCS facility is any artificial island, installation, pipeline, or other device permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed, erected for the purpose of exploring for, developing, producing, transporting by pipeline, storing, or processing mineral resources from the US OCS. This term does not include ships or vessels for transporting produced hydrocarbons. Lessons Learned From Macondo The Deepwater Horizon accident was a catastrophic event initiated by failure of well containment, an area that falls under the jurisdiction of the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Volume 1 of the report of the US Department of Interior and DHS joint-investigation team (JIT) revealed that, in general, the safety systems aboard the Deepwater Horizon regulated by the US Coast Guard had a beneficial effect, despite the extreme nature of the event. Of the 126 people onboard, 115 survived the explosions and subsequent fire. All survivors were able to evacuate the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) by way of the installed life-saving equipment, except for at least six who jumped from the rig into the water. Even though significantly damaged by explosions and initial effects of the fire, the Deepwater Horizon was able to stay afloat for more than 48 hours while engulfed in a major fire, fed by an uncontrolled fuel source.

Advanced three-dimensional multiphase flow simulation in porous media reconstructed from X-ray Microtomography using the He–Chen–Zhang Lattice Boltzmann Model

Multiphase flow is a subject of significant interest in the processing of mineral resources and to processing industries in general. Multiphase flow is of significance in the transport of reactants during the percolation of leaching solution in heaps, in the melting of metals, in phase transformation, metal foam processes, underground water transport, in gas and oil recovery and in gas sequestration, just to mention a few examples. The lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) of multiphase fluid flow has now become a collection of models with varying degrees of faithfulness to the properties of real fluids. These models are in a state of evolution as they are becoming better understood and are extended to new applications. In this paper we address the application of a single-component multiphase flow LBM known as the He–Chen–Zhang model coupled with X-ray microtomography (XMT) for the digitalization and simulation of flow in porous media. The model is used for the simulation of fluid penetration into porous samples and the analysis of capillary phenomena. Specifically, this model has been applied for the simulation of percolation in a packed bed of sand particles which is digitalized by XMT.

Understanding the dynamics and competitiveness of the South African minerals inputs cluster

South Africa has developed niche competencies around the extraction and processing of mineral resources. Firms involved in the manufacture and supply of inputs to mining and mineral processing represent a key source of competitive advantage upon which future growth and development in the country can be planned. Drawing on a qualitative and quantitative study of 678 supplier firms conducted in 2004, this paper presents an assessment of the state of the South African minerals inputs cluster. The various demand and supply relationships, dynamics, and growth opportunities within the cluster are highlighted and the threats affecting the cluster's future competitiveness reviewed. The interventions needed to overcome and/or enhance them are also identified.

Abiotic Resource Depletion Different perceptions of the problem with mineral deposits

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/lca2006.04.011 Aims and Scope. Access to abiotic resources is vital for modern life styles. Except for ozone depletion, no other environmental threat has a potentially larger impact on our everyday lives than shortage of abiotic resources. In 'Limits to Growth' the Club of Rome identified depletion of ores and minerals as becoming a major problem during the first or second decades of the twenty-first century, and the idea was widely spread. Since then, the attitude to the problem has shifted, and many institutions, such as the European Commission, do not consider the problem acute and does not give it priority in their present action plans. Regardless of when it happens, however, the social consequences of a shortage of abiotic resources will be a major problem and the significance and nature of the problem will depend on what the world looks like then at the time and afterwards. This article discusses existing LCIA methods in relation to their views on the depletion problem. Review of existing LCIA methods in relation to depletion problem definitions. Existing methods for characterisation and weighting of abiotic resources appear to be based on four types of problem definitions, although not always explicit: 1) assuming that mining cost will be a limiting factor, 2) assuming that collecting metals or other substances from low-grade sources is mainly an issue of energy, 3) assuming that scarcity is a major threat and 4) assuming that environmental impacts from mining and processing of mineral resources are the main problem. In addition to differences in assumptions about what will be the limiting factor, there are different views on what time scales are of interest and how to integrate the issue in LCA. The main dividing line in views on abiotic resources has to do with time perspective. If only caring for the next hundred years or so, abiotic resources is a manageable problem. In taking an historic perspective with tens of thousands of years, abiotic resources become a major problem. Today there seems to be some consensus on focusing on developing characterisation methods based on future increase of impacts from using lower grade resources with consideration of resource functionality. It is essential that the choice of temporal focus is given enough attention.

Chemical and chemical-metallurgical problems in geotechnology and ore beneficiation

V. Zh. Arens is a Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor, Vice-President and Chairman of the Mining-Metallurgical Section of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAEN), and the founder of a new school of research in geotechnology that solves problems related to the efficient use and processing of mineral resources based on the use of physico-chemical methods. A. S. Chernyak is a Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor at Irkutsk Technical University, Honorary Member of the RAEN, and the foremost Russian expert on problems concerning chemical methods of beneficiation.

Differentiation conditions for mining, ground, and financial rent

1. Mining rent, although having some specific features related to its source, is closely connected with financial rent and is similar in its economic nature to ground rent, which makes it possible to determine mining rent on the basis of macroeconomic financial parameters. 2. The infinite variety of the conditions determining the amount of mining rent makes it necessary to take into account the maximum possible number of criteria for its differentiation, thus making much more difficult the calculation and the comparison of the size of the mining rent for different mining enterprises, especially those engaged in mining different kinds of mineral resources. 3. The use of the proposed model for calculating mining rent based on comparison of the value of the optimized profit of a mining enterprise, “cleared” of the part of the profit that is not related to the mining and primary processing of mineral resources, and the prevalent level of the bank interest rate related to the “cleared” cost of the capital assets of the enterprise allows one to take into account integrally the numerous differentiation conditions for mining rent and the risk of possible nonreturn of an investment connected with the specific features of the mining industry as the object of investments.