OCTOBER 2010

VOL. 62 NO. 10

Iron ore’s
recovery

Post-mining
sustainability
Oregon’s new heavy
minerals mine
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
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 24

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF SME

www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

OCTOBER 2010
VOL. 62 NO. 10

Feature Articles 24

19 Residual impacts of a mining project

Madan M. Singh, Timothy D. Hogan and Jamie Sturgess

24 Iron ore review 2009/2010

Magnus Ericsson, Anton Löf and Olle Östensson

29 A new industrial mineral sand mine

near Coos Bay, Oregon
Joseph D. Drew, Todd M. Lessard, Daniel F. Smith
and Bill A. Hancock

40 TECHNOLOGY NEWS: Optimizing flotation cells

in the mining industry

15

Technical Papers (peer-reviewed and approved)

41 Continuous miner spray considerations for optimizing Copyright 2010 by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy
and Exploration, Inc. All rights reserved. MINING
scrubber performance in exhaust ventilation systems ENGINEERING (ISSN 0026–5187) is published monthly
by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration,
J. Organiscak and T. Beck Inc., at 8307 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO, 80127–
4102. Phone 1–800–763–3132 or 303–973–9550.
Fax: 303–973 –3845 or e-mail: sme @smenet.org.
47 Breaking the ice on the booster fan dilemma in US Website: www.smenet.org.
Periodicals postage paid at Littleton, CO and additional
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2 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

ATLAS COPCO FOUND THE MOST VALUABLE
RESOURCE ABOVE GROUND IN ONTARIO’S NORTH. Atlas Copco didn’t
have to dig very deep before discovering the most valuable resource in Ontario’s
North: the people. Over 55% of the workforce in the main urban centers has a post-
secondary education. So it’s no wonder that an innovative, research-driven company
like Atlas Copco partnered with our metallurgical engineering talent to develop the
world class Torpedo diamond drill bit. Ontario’s North is well-positioned to establish
lasting relationships with many industries. Radiating from our central location is a
transportation network with four border crossings, two major freshwater ports, and
two international airports. Our telecommunications infrastructure is state-of-the-art,
our three universities and six colleges ensure a steady supply of graduates, and
our business costs are among the most competitive in the world. Vibrant industries
from aerospace to alternative energy will find a wealth of talent in Ontario’s North.
THE WORLD WORKS HERE.

investinontario.com /success

Paid for by the Government of Ontario.

 29

Editorial Staff
Editor
Steve Kral
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF SME kral@smenet.org
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
Senior Editor
William M. Gleason
gleason@smenet.org
OCTOBER 2010 Senior Editor
VOL. 62 NO. 10 Georgene Renner
renner@smenet.org
Technical Editor
SME News OCTOBE
R 2010
VOL. 62 NO.
10 Emily Wortman-Wunder
55 SME Foundation wunder@smenet.org
56 SME Young Leaders Production Designer
Iron ore’s Nate Hurianek
56 SME student sections recovery hurianek@smenet.org
57 Henry Krumb lecturers Business Staff
59 Student design competition Media Manager/Advertising
60 SME scholarships Johanna McGinnis
mcginnis@smenet.org
62 Meetings Post-minin
sustainabil g Phone: 1–800–763–3132
ity
63 Obituaries www.miningen
gineeringmagaz
ine.com
Oregon’s ne
w he
minerals miavy
ne
Fax: 303–973–3845
E-mail: publications@smenet.org
Internet: www.smenet.org
Departments Cover Story
While most of the world saw falling
Society for Mining, Metallurgy,
6 President’s page production, crude steel production and Exploration, Inc. Officers
in China increased by 13.5 percent,
8 Politics of mining compared to the 2.3 percent growth President
the year before. China now accounts Nikhil C. Trivedi
10 Industry newswatch for almost half of the world production
President-Elect
of crude steel (47 percent). Magnus
54 Coming events Ericsson, Anton Löf and Olle John N. Murphy
Östensson give a review of the iron
64 New products ore sector, page 24. In the past, little Past President
was done by communities to plan for William H. Wilkinson
66 New media economic changes after the closure

68 Web directory
of a mine. But that is not the case Executive Director
with the proposed Rosemont project
in Arizona, where the residual impacts David L. Kanagy
69 Classifieds of the project were studied at length,
Mining Engineering Committee
page 19. And it’s not often that there is
73 Professional services mining news from the state of Oregon. Jamal Rostami (Chair), Joseph C.
But this month Joseph D. Drew, Todd Zelanko (Vice Chair), Jurgen F. Brune,
79 Index of advertisers M. Lessard, Daniel F. Smith and Bill A. Robert W. Reisinger, William H. Langer,
Hancock write about a new industrial
80 Drift of things sand mine near Coos Bay, OR, page 29.
D.R. Nagaraj and Christopher J. Bise
Cover photo courtesy of LKAB.
Peer Review Editorial Board
Christopher J. Bise, Kirk McDaniel, Kelvin
Wu, Vladislav Kecojevic, Keith Heasley,
64 Jurgen F. Brune, Nikhil Trivedi, Rajive
Ganguli, Catherine Dreesbach, Hugh
Miller, G.T. Lineberry, Henry McCarl,
Biswajit Samanta, Gerrit Goodman and
Rossen A. Halatchev

Reproduction: More than one photocopy of an item

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$25, July directory issue, $150.

4 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

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President’s Page

A family story,
SME’s parent organization takes a look at its family and future
by Nikhil C. Trivedi,
2010 SME president
board and he will be AIME president in 2013.
D uring the past several months, I
have visited many of SME’s local
sections in different parts of the country.
Some of the local sections continue
to proudly proclaim themselves as
sections of the American Institute of
Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum
Engineers (AIME) and rightly so.
AIME is SME’s parent organization
and we honor our heritage. In August,
SME Executive Director Dave Kanagy
and I attended the AIME Board of
Trustee’s annual meeting. SME is ably
served at the AIME level by Mike
Karmis and Barb Filas. At this event,
Karmis’s term ended and George
Luxbacher was inducted as the next
SME representative to the AIME
When we talk about AIME, it is logical that
we also want to know what is happening with the
Women’s Auxiliary of AIME (WAAIME). Well,
the WAAIME group, SME’s youngest Division,
is doing very well. This year, the WAAIME
Division is led by Winnell Burt, Susan Harwood
and Veronica Yovane-Brahm. This year alone,
the WAAIME group has awarded $200,000 in
scholarships to deserving students in several
countries including the U.S. Many decades ago, I
was fortunate to receive a WAAIME scholarship.
The WAAIME Division is always on top of my
mind when I feel generous and I hope you will
feel the same way.
And since so many SME members are curious
about AIME and its current mission, I asked
Barb Filas (2005 SME president) to tell the
AIME story. So, here it is……
— Nikhil Trivedi

T he parents were married in Wilkes-Barre,

PA. It was an historical event, with a
wedding party of 22 and a total of 71 people
attending. Their honeymoon was a trip to the
most beautiful fields in the Wyoming Valley of
Pennsylvania.
The marriage was built on a very specific
passion, which was cultivated and grew through
a continuing hunger to learn and share. The
parents lived quite comfortably and, over time,
they thrived and prospered. They shared many
things, traveled to many places and hosted many
gala events. They were members of the country
club, where other parents also came together to
learn and share their combined wisdom.
The parents had children. As babies, the
children were totally dependent on the parents.
As the children grew older, the parents took
them along on their travels, to their galas and
to the country club. They taught their children
to play with the other club member’s children.
They raised them to think for themselves and
to stand on their own. They taught them to be
independent, and also to recognize the value of
their friends at the club.
The children grew up and wanted to venture
out on their own. Each had matured and defined
themselves as a unique person, with specific
interests and passions that, while still bearing a
family resemblance, were not the same as the
other siblings. The parents encouraged their
autonomy and independence, but still embraced
6 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
each child with loving arms as each of their
respective families matured and grew.
The parents are older now. They live on
a modest income from the returns on their
investments. One of those investments generates
significant dividends that cannot be bequeathed
to the children if the parents die. They continue
to support their children and enjoy their
membership in the country club. The children
were never allowed to join the club — it quit
taking new members years ago.
As the parents have aged, the children
sometimes say that their parents try to do too
much. The children feel like they can do most
things better themselves. They are younger,
more nimble and have families of their own who
can get things done more easily and efficiently
than the parents. The parents need to step back
and let the children do the work and to run their
own lives.
The children respect their parents and
their traditions, but they have their own lives
to live. They want the parents to live on, but
the relationship is so different now than it was
when they were babies. They understand the
importance of the network at the country club,
and they recognize that they do not need to be
members themselves because they have full
access to the club and all of its benefits as long as
the parents keep their membership.
It really is a special family. The parents are
(Continued on page 17)
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 Process this.
MINERALS & METALLURGICAL PROCESSING focuses on process descriptions
containing information on plant operations and research. These papers present
data on new techniques, new solutions to common problems and the application
of conventional methods to new raw material sources. The journal also focuses
on specific unit operations, such as crushing and grinding, flotation, gravity
separation, magnetic separation, leaching and roasting. Presented are new
equipment concepts, equipment selection, theoretical studies and engineering
with emphasis on equipment arrangements, trends, circuit design and concepts.

AN OFFICIAL SME PUBLICATION

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COMMINUTION
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MAGNETIC SEPARATION
Metallurgy, and
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
DEWATERING
ELECTROWINNING
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Politics of Mining
First Nations sign mining tax
agreement with British Columbia
TWO FIRST NATIONS groups
have signed historic tax-sharing
agreements with the British Columbia
provincial government that will share
mining taxation revenues between the
government and the First Nations.
The McLeod Lake Indian Band
and the Stk’emlupsemc of the
Secwepemc Nation claim the mining
projects in British Columbia are part
of traditional First Nation territory.
The chief and council of the
McLeod Lake Indian Band and the
British Columbia government signed
Federal judge issues pricey
cleanup order to Patriot Coal
A RULING FROM a federal
judge in West Virginia could have
far-reaching consequences for coal
mining in the Appalachian Region if it
becomes a precedent.
Judge Robert Chambers of the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District
of West Virginia ordered Patriot Coal
Corp. to clean up selenium pollution at
two surface coal mines in West Virginia.
Chambers gave Patriot about two years
to get its selenium discharges down to
the limits specified in its mining permits.
He also ordered the company to post
a $45-million letter of credit to ensure
that it installs the equipment at the two
mines, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
Selenium is one of a number of
contaminants — including arsenic,
cadmium and lead — that are
discharged from mining operations and
also are found in coal ash and other
wastes from coal-fired power plants.
The ruling applied to only two
mines. Environmental groups that are
fighting the spread of mountaintop
removal mining said that, if it became
a precedent, it might make some mines
too expensive to operate.
Patriot said in a statement that it
would have to spend $50 million on
the cleanup system and $3 million a
year to run it.
8 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
a historic agreement with the First
Nation band to share mineral tax
revenue generated by Thompson
Creek and Terrane Metals’ Mt.
Milligan copper-gold mine project.
The British Columbia government
also signed its first historic mining
revenue-sharing agreement with the
Stk’emlupsemc of the Secwepemc
Nation, which covers future revenue
from New Gold’s New Afton gold mine.
Mt. Milligan is planned for an
annual production of 36.7 kt (81 million
lbs) of copper and 6 t (194,000 oz) of
The company said its subsidiary,
Apogee, was ordered to install a
fluidized bed reactor (FBR) system to
treat selenium discharges at its Ruffner
Mine. Another subsidiary, Hobet, was
required to submit a treatment plan for
its Hobet 22 Mine.
“While Patriot believes that
FBR has promise, it is important to
understand that this technology has
never before been used in commercial
applications for the removal of
selenium in any context, including
coal mining,” the company said in a
statement.
The judge previously had ruled
that the selenium discharges at the
mines exceeded what was authorized
by their permits under the Clean
Water Act. The order found Patriot in
contempt of court and specified what
its subsidiaries must do about the
permit violations.
“We are particularly disappointed
with the contempt ruling,” Patriot’s
president and chief executive
officer, Richard M. Whiting, said
in a statement. He said Patriot had
“dedicated significant resources
over the last several years to take an
industry-leading position in identifying
viable treatment technology to address
selenium discharges.” n
gold over a 22-year mine life. Proven
and probable reserves are 952 kt (2.1
billion lbs) of contained copper and 186
t (6 million oz) of contained gold.
Located 10 km (6.2 miles) from
the community of Kamloops in south-
central British Columbia, New Afton
is expected to commence production
at the former Teck mine in the second
half of 2012. The mine is expected to
produce an average of 2.6 t (85,000 oz)
of gold, 6.6 t (214,000 oz) of silver and
34 kt (75 million lbs) of copper over a
12-year mine life. n
Mining royalty
hike could get
boost in Chile
CHILEAN PRESIDENT
Sebastian Pinera’s approval rating
surged to a new high in August for his
efforts to rescue 33 miners trapped,
but alive weeks after a cave-in, and
it could help him push through a
mining royalty hike.
A survey by pollster Adimark
GfK showed Pinera’s approval rating
rose to 56 percent in August, up 10
percentage points from a previous
poll in July. It is his highest rating
since he took office in March.
The jump in approval could give
Pinera’s government the upper hand
in its push to pass a mining royalty
overhaul through the opposition-led
Congress.
The bill, revised and re-sent
to Congress after the royalty was
rejected by center-left opponents
in July, calls for higher levies from
global miners like BHP Billiton and
Xstrata.
Pinera, who has angered mining
companies with his proposal, expects
the new royalty scheme to raise
around $1 billion during the next
three years to help finance rebuilding
of cities ravaged by a massive Feb. 27
earthquake. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Today’s mining professionals must meet the ever increasing
challenges of larger, more efficient, and safer ore handling systems.
New developments in technology have led to a host of different
transport solutions. Design decisions are greatly influenced by these
advancements, which can dramatically impact the financial
requirements for new projects.

Hoist and Haul 2010 provides the most current, cutting-edge

insights into these important issues.

This book is a compilation of the papers delivered at the prestigious

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lessons learned since the last industry gathering in 2005.

From the handling of ore at the point of extraction to stockpiling on

the surface, dozens of case histories document the latest trends in
shaft hoisting, incline and drift hoisting, conveying, hydraulic
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Experts involved in key mining projects throughout the world share

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Proceedings of the International operations, and economic and safety issues.

Conference on Hoisting and Hauling Hoist and Haul 2010 is essential reading for anyone in the mine
hoisting and underground material transport community, including
Edited by Peter Brokenshire and Susan Andersen operators, engineering and construction firms, equipment vendors,
consultants, academicians, and government officials.
2010, 344 pages, 3 lbs
ISBN-13: 978-0-87335-337-3
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• Brakes and Brake Controls
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Industry Newswatch

Bingham Canyon extension

could extend life of mine to mid-2030s by moving south wall
AN EXPANSION OF Kennecott
Copper’s Bingham Canyon Mine
in Utah could extend the life of the
mine to 2034, while tapping into a
resource of 635 Mt (700 million st) of
copper.
The Cornerstone Project would
push back the south wall of the mine
by about 305 m (1,000 ft) and deepen
the mine by 91 m (300 ft). The
expansion faces a series of regulatory
hurdles, including the updating of
about 25 environmental permits, as
well as approval from Rio Tinto’s
board of directors, Kennecott’s
parent company. If the plan moves
ahead, it could secure more than
2,000 jobs and pump an average of $1
billion a year into the local economy
through the mid-2030s.
The extension of the mine
would require increasing the size
of the mine’s fleet of large haul
trucks, adding an in-pit crusher and
another grinding line and supporting
equipment at the Copperton
concentrator. The extension will
also require an additional 100
MW of electricity to power the
improvements. The addition of
equipment and technology will
allow Kennecott to maintain current
production levels of 272 to 308 kt/a
(300,000 to 340,000 stpy) of refined
copper for several decades, the
company said.
A study conducted by the
University of Utah’s Bureau of
Economic and Business Research
department (BEBR) found that
Rio Tinto spent approximately $900
million in 2009 on employee salaries
and benefits, taxes and fees, as well
as purchases from nearly 1,000 Utah
companies. The study estimated if
the Cornerstone investment is not
made, the economic contribution
will decrease beginning in 2021 by
an average of $630 million a year.
In contrast, the study estimated that
extending the life of the mine will
pump an average of $1 billion a year
into the local economy through the
mid-2030s. The project will also help
sustain Rio Tinto’s employment of
2,400 people and an additional 14,800
indirect jobs, for a total of 17,200
Utah jobs.
Kennecott officials already have
briefed the state Department of
Environmental Quality about their
intentions. Each permit adjustment
will require public hearings, said
Doug Bacon, a project manager
in the department’s Division of
Environmental Response and
Remediation, The Salt Lake City
Tribune reported.
Kennecott also has permits
with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas
and Mining, the state agency that
oversees reclamation of mining
properties. One permit covers the
Bingham Canyon Mine, while others
include its Copperton concentrator
and tailings impoundment north of
Magna.
“Kennecott has a great history in
Utah, and this mine expansion offers
an opportunity for us to continue
producing about a quarter of the
country’s copper for years to come,”
Kennecott chief executive officer
Kelly Sanders said. n

Newswatch Kinross Gold purchases

contents Red Back Mining for C$7.1 billion
12 CANADIAN GOLD MINER
Alberta ranks first Kinross Gold will create one of the
in Fraser Survey largest gold miners in the world with its
acquisition of Red Back Mining.
13 Kinross Gold announced that it will
Nevada slips in global buy the 91 percent of shares of Red Back
gold output Mining that it does not already own in
an all-stock deal that has been valued at
14 C$7.1 billion.
Stillwater Mining buys The deal would unite the two
Marathon Canadian companies to create one
company with 10 mines and four
15 development projects in eight countries.
First Bucyrus branded
Red Back is a major gold producer with a
MT3700 goes into
focus on African assets.
service
Under the terms of the deal, Red
Back shareholders will receive 1.778
Kinross shares and 0.11 common share
purchase warrants for each of their
shares.
“By combining Kinross’s world-
class mines, growth projects and proven
ability in mine development with the
potential of Red Back’s assets, we are
creating a gold growth powerhouse,” Tye
Burt, Kinross’s chief executive, said in a
statement.
Lukas Lundin, Red Back’s chairman,
and Richard Clark, the company’s chief
executive, are expected to join Kinross’s
board after the deal closes.
Based in Vancouver, Red Back focuses
primarily on its western Africa assets,
notably in Mauritania and Ghana. n

10 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 Industry Newswatch

Grupo Mexico to invest $30 million

in Cananea Mine, but still struggles with labor issues
GRUPO MEXICO announced that The national miners union lost Grupo Mexico will kick off a
it plans to produce molybdenum at its a court decision this year and the $3.8-million expansion plan by the
Cananea copper mine that recently company retook control of the fourth quarter of 2012 to more than
reopened following a strike that lasted installations, backed by federal police. double the 180-kt (198,000-st) copper
nearly three years. However, the Once Cananea is up and running, capacity. n
Mexican copper miner also announced
that it was declaring a force majeure
at the La Caridad smelter and refinery
complex after “Los Mineros” union
members blocked contract workers
from entering the facility.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities
{ Add Firestone, Add Reliability }
and Exchange Commission, Grupo
Mexico subsidiary Southern Copper
Corp. (SCC) said the refinery is
operating at a reduced capacity, forcing
Mexcobre, the operating company of
La Caridad, “to notify all of its clients
and supports about this commercial
force majeure situation.”
News reports from the state of
Sonora said violence has erupted in the
copper towns of Cananea and Nacozari
de Garcia between members of the
National Union of Mine and Metals
Workers, commonly referred to as Los
Mineros, and replacement workers.
State and federal police are guarding
mining facilities at both Cananea and

{ Geomembranes that work }

La Caridad.
At Cananea, Grupo Mexico, the
world’s No. 3 producer of molybdenum,
said it will invest $30 million to begin Firestone Specialty Products manufactures high-quality,
producing 2 kt/a (2,200 stpy) by the durable EPDM and reinforced polypropylene geomembranes
first half of 2013. ideal for a variety of mining application.
“We are developing the first
molybdenum circuit at Cananea ... which
would increase our actual production
by 10 percent, since we now produce
around 20 kt (22,000 st) (overall),” Jorge
Pulido, Grupo Mexico’s head of investor • Tai
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The company operates four openpit •C
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anall Line
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rlift
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Liners
ers
mines in Mexico and Peru. Cananea
is the only one that does not produce
molybdenum, which can be mined as a
byproduct of copper, Pulido said. 800-428-4442 l www.firestonesp.com/me3 l info@firestonesp.com
The company must first repair
damages at Cananea, Mexico’s largest VISIT US AT BOOTH 108 AT THE NWMA SHOW.
copper mine, idled by the three-year
labor dispute.

www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 11

Industry Newswatch
Alberta ranks first in Fraser Survey;
Tax increases drop Quebec and Australia from top spots
QUEBEC’S THREE-YEAR run as the top mining
jurisdiction in the Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining
Companies came to an end with the publication of the
survey’s 2010 midyear report. It ranks Alberta as the top spot
in the world, with Finland ranking second.
The shakeup in the standings was caused by mining tax
hikes in Canada and Australia, according to the survey’s
coordinator, Fred McMahon.
“After ranking Quebec as the best place in the world
for mining investment for three years in a row, it appears
that miners’ confidence in the province has been shaken
by increases in mining taxes that were announced without
consultation in Quebec’s spring budget,” said McMahon.
The survey results also appear to reflect concerns about
Bill 79, the review of Quebec’s mining law, and could be seen
as a blow to the province’s reputation for offering stable
government policies.
Also slipping far in the ranking was Australia. South
Australia dropped from 10th place to 15th place, the
Northern Territory from 14th to 30th, Western Australia from
19th to 28th, Queensland from 24th to 33rd and New South
12 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
Wales from 20th to 38th. This was largely because of the
Australian government’s announcement to impose a heavy
Resources Super Profits Tax on the mining industry. Although
the tax was cancelled after the Fraser Institute survey was
conducted, miners still face significant tax increases in
Australia.
After the Australian states, perennial mining favorite
Nevada’s score suffered the biggest fall in the developed
world, dropping from third to 10th out of 51 jurisdictions.
While miners still consider top U.S. gold mining state
Nevada a good place to mine, survey results show “they
were worried by an effort to put a huge tax increase to a
referendum (the referendum petition failed to get enough
signatures to be put on the ballot). The legislature did,
however, enact a new one-time mining tax,” the survey said.
Overall, the top 10 jurisdictions are Alberta, Finland,
Quebec, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Chile, Newfoundland and
Labrador, Botswana, Alaska and Nevada. Seven of the
jurisdictions ranked among the top 10 are the same in both
the updated survey and the previously released 2009/2010
report. The three exceptions are New Brunswick, which was
not included in the updated survey; Manitoba, which fell from
ninth place to 11th and South Australia, which dropped from
10th to 15th.
The bottom 10 scores went to Ecuador, Mongolia,
Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Russia, Colorado,
Indonesia and Tasmania.
The Philippines, Democratic Republic of Congo and
California, which were among the worst ranked nations in the
2009/2010 survey, managed to climb out of the bottom 10. n
Drilling to begin at
Yarrabubba Project
THE YARRABUBBA PROJECT, 50 km (31 miles)
southeast of Meekatharra in Western Australia, which is
believed to have most of the geological characteristics of the
Sudbury mining camp in Canada, will be the site of a drilling
program conducted by the joint venture team of Impact
Minerals and CITIC Nickel Australia.
The Yarrabubba Joint Venture tenements cover about
1,200 km2 (463 sq miles). Within these, there is a very large
magnetic low in regional airborne magnetic data and
outcrops of distinctive geological structures indicative of
shock metamorphism, which have been interpreted also to be
caused by a major meteorite impact. The feature in this area is
called the Yarrabubba Impact Structure, and is situated in the
northern Yilgarn Craton between the towns of Sandstone and
Meekatharra, central Western Australia, reported MineWeb. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

Nevada slips in global gold output;
State still leads nation, but now ranks sixth in world
IN THE NEVADA Mining
Association’s annual report, Economic
Overview of Nevada’s Mineral
Industry, University of Nevada, Reno,
economist John Dobra said Nevada’s
rank in world gold production slipped
to sixth. While Nevada remains the
largest gold producing region in the
U.S. accounting for 79 percent of total
U.S. production, China, South Africa,
Australia, Russia and Peru all rank
ahead of Nevada on a global scale.
Proven and probable gold reserves
in the top U.S. gold mining state of
Nevada increased from 2.2 kt (70
million oz) in 2008 to 2.3 kt (75 million
oz) in 2009. Dobra said this is enough
to maintain the state’s gold production
at current levels for another 13 years.
“Nevada’s production declined for
the eighth straight year because higher
prices allow operators to process lower
grades of ore. While lower production
levels may seem like bad news in the
short term, in the long run it extends
the life of orebodies and enhances the
sustainability of the industry,” Dobra
said.
The Nevada Department of
Minerals reported Nevada gold
operations mined 175 t (5.64 million
oz) of gold last year, down slightly
from 177 t (5.7 million oz) in 2008.
Silver production, mostly byproduct
production in Nevada mines, was 224
t (7.2 million oz) in 2009, down from
nearly 249 t (8 million oz) in 2008.
Because of lower silver production
and a decline in silver prices last year,
the calculated value of 2009 Nevada
silver production dropped from $119
million in 2008 to $105.6 million in
2009. However, Dobra advised that
the planned restart of the Coeur-
Rochester silver mine near Lovelock
this year is expected to reverse the
state’s decline in silver production.
Copper production last year was
reported to be 66 kt (145.7 million lbs)
from two Nevada mines, down from
79.6 kt (175.5 million lbs) in 2008.
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
Industry Newswatch
“Because of renewed production the NDT said.
at Quadra Mining’s Robinson Mine Geothermal producers generated
near Ely and Newmont’s Phoenix more than $110.8 million in 2009, the
Mine near Battle Mountain, copper agency reported, up from $95 million
production is once again a significant in 2008, making geothermal the fourth
contributor to minerals industry largest mineral category in Nevada.
output,” Dobra observed. “Copper is Nevada mines also produced
the second most important mineral aggregates, barite, diatomite, dolomite,
produced in the value of output, gypsum, limestone, lithium carbonate,
although only a little more than one- molybdenum, magnesium oxide,
tenth the value of gold production.” perlite, precious opals, salt, silica sand
The Nevada Department of and specialty clays in 2009, for gross
Taxation (NDT) reported gross proceeds of $156 million, which Dobra
proceeds of gold and silver at $5.1 noted “is down significantly from the
billion out of total state gross mine previous year.”
proceeds of $5.8 billion in 2009. Dobra attributed the sharp drop
Copper production gross proceeds in the total value of the other Nevada-
were $442 million in 2009, a drop mined minerals to the national
from 2008 due to lower copper prices, recession and a decrease in demand. n
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OCTOBER 2010 13
Industry Newswatch
Peabody Energy walks a dragline;
13 million lb machine moved to Bear Run Mine
PEABODY ENERGY’S
5.9-million-kg (13-million-lb) dragline
began a 30-km (18-mile) “walk” in
August from the Farmersburg Mine
in Sullivan County, IN, to its new
home at the Bear Run Mine south of
Dugger, IN.
Bear Run will be the largest coal
mine in the eastern United States,
initially operating two draglines to
move rock and reveal coal seams.
Mined areas are ultimately restored to
productive farmland and pasture.
One of the largest machines in
the world, the Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W
dragline will cross the countryside
and two Indiana state highways
during its month-long journey to Bear
Run.
Transporting a machine of the
2570’s size requires great precision
and extensive planning, said Kent
Holcomb, Bear Run’s operating
manager. “It takes a lot of hard work
from many people to move anything
of this scale,” he said.
The walk will continue 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, at a pace
Stillwater Mining buys Marathon;
Deal between platinum group metals miners worth $118 million
STILLWATER MINING, a
U.S.-based platinum group metals
(PGM) producer, has agreed to
purchase Marathon PGM for about
$118 million in cash and shares, the
companies said.
Marathon’s main asset is its
Marathon PGM project in Ontario,
Canada. The company completed
a definitive feasibility study on the
property in November 2009. The firm
has since been working on permitting
and financing the asset.
Stillwater operates two mines,
Stillwater and East Boulder, in the
Beartooth Mountains of south-central
14 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
of less than one-tenth of a mile an
hour. A crew of up to 20 staff will
support the machine’s operators,
including maintenance personnel
and electricians responsible for the
22,900-volt cabling that powers the
dragline’s progress.
At 5.9 million kg (13 million
lbs), the 2570 weighs more than 150
Boeing 737-700 jetliners. It towers
67 m (220 ft) high and swings a 102-
m (335-ft) boom with a maximum
operating radius of 91 m (300 ft), the
length of a football field. This boom
carries an 88-m3 (115-cu yd) bucket
capable of moving a 155,000-kg
(335,000-lb) payload.
The machine sits on a tub
spanning 24 m (80 ft) in diameter
and walks with two shoes measuring
22 m (72 ft) in length by 4 m (14 ft)
in width. This size is necessary to lift
and advance the dragline’s massive
frame.
The Indiana Department of
Transportation also will close
highways 48 and 54 temporarily to
accommodate the dragline’s journey.
Montana, in the U.S. The company
also runs a metals recycling business.
The acquisition of Marathon
is expected to boost Stillwater’s
platinum and palladium production
by about 40 percent within three
years.
The deal was unanimously
approved by both boards of directors,
and is expected to close by the end
of November, assuming it receives
regulatory and exchange approvals
and a positive vote by Marathon
shareholders.
“This transaction offers significant
value and upside potential to
At each highway crossing, teams
will layer plastic, straw, clay and shale
above the road to protect the asphalt
and will remove these items after
the dragline’s passage. Because the
process may take several hours, the
department has planned detours and
ongoing alerts for motorists.
At the end of its travels, the
dragline will immediately begin
operating at the Bear Run Mine.
With a 7.2-Mt/a (8-million stpy)
capacity, Bear Run will bring
significant economic benefits to the
community, Peabody Energy chief
operating officer Eric Ford said of the
company’s newest mine.
“Bear Run employs more than
350 skilled workers and annually
contributes approximately $140
million in direct economic benefits
into the regional economy. Annual
payroll at the site alone is expected to
exceed $50 million,” said Ford. “We’re
enormously proud to bring online
another new source of affordable,
made-in-America energy in the
Illinois Basin.” n
Stillwater shareholders, and as the
Marathon PGM/copper project
is one of the few near-term PGM
development opportunities on this
continent, it solidifies our position
as North America’s leading PGM
producer,” Stillwater chief executive
officer Francis McAllister said in a
statement.
The Marathon PGM project has
proven and probable reserves of
76.2 t (2.45 million oz) of palladium,
21.6 t (696,000 oz) of platinum, 227
t (251,000 oz) of gold, 225.4 kt (497
million lbs) of copper and 131.5 t
(4.23 million oz) of silver. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

Hycroft Mine to get larger mill;
Allied Nevada adjusts plans following scoping study
AN UPDATED SCOPING
study focused on the development
of the underlying sulfide resource at
Allied Nevada’s Hycroft Mine has
prompted the company to look at
building a larger milling facility than
indicated in an April 2010 study.
Production at the mine is forecast
at 18.9 t/a (610,000 oz/year) of gold
and 840 kt/a (27 million oz/year)
of silver, from a combined 100 kt/d
(110,000 stpd) milling operation
and 74 kt/d (81,500 stpd) heap leach
operation, Allied Nevada said.
The average cost of sales is
forecast at around 32 cents/g ($350/
oz), after silver byproduct credits.
“This mine is expected to
support an operation with a much
greater production profile than was
originally presented in the April
scoping study,” said chief executive
First Bucyrus branded MT3700 goes into service
at the New Gold Mesquite Mine in California
IN MAY 2010, Bucyrus
commissioned the first of two
additional MT3700 ac haul trucks
at the New Gold Mesquite Mine in
southern California. These haul trucks,
capable of hauling payloads of 186 t
(205 st), are the first Bucyrus trucks
delivered in the United States since
the company’s acquisition of Terex
Mining in early 2010. They are the
first trucks to be painted in Bucyrus
branding. This delivery will bring the
Mesquite Mine’s fleet to a total of 16
Bucyrus MT3700 ac haul trucks.
The Bucyrus MT3700 ac haul trucks
are powered by MTU 16V 4000 1,860 kW
(2,500 hp) engines, and are electrically
driven by a General Electric ac drive. The
uphill loaded speeds are substantially
improved over mechanical and dc
electrical powered trucks, providing a
productivity benefit to its owners.
New Gold is an expanding gold
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
officer Scott Caldwell.
Ongoing drilling is expected to
continue to expand the resource,
which could further improve the
economics of the project.
The updated sulfide study
envisages a large-scale bulk tonnage
openpit operation, with lower grade
oxide mineralization processed as run-
of-mine heap leach material and both
higher-grade oxide mineralization,
along with sulfide mineralization,
processed at a 100-kt/d (110,000-stpd)
milling facility.
The April study envisaged a
30-kt/d (33,000-stpd) mill, milling
sulfide ore. The updated project is
expected to cost about $1.1 billion,
including the milling and flotation
process facility, additional leach pads,
mining equipment and other ancillary
infrastructure, Allied Nevada said.
mining company headquartered in
Vancouver, Canada with operations
in six countries around the world. The
Mesquite Mine was previously owned
by Newmont, but was closed in late 1999
when gold prices dropped to a level at
which mine operation was no longer
profitable. When gold prices started
to rebound, the mine was purchased
by Western Gold Fields,
headquartered in
Toronto, in 2006. As
the new owners of
this operation, one
of the first tasks was
to acquire the needed
mining equipment.
The MT3700 ac
haul trucks and
RH340
excavators were
the chosen
haulage and
Industry Newswatch
The company plans to complete a
feasibility study on the sulfide project
by mid-2011.
Permitting for the project will
likely take three years, with another
two years for construction and
commissioning.
Allied Nevada is already working
on an expansion of the capacity to
mine and process oxide mineralization
at Hycroft, which it announced
in April of this year. The mine is
currently producing at a rate of
around 3.1 t/a (100,000 oz/year) of
gold and 9.3 t/a (300,000 oz/year) of
silver.
The oxide project involves
additions to the mine fleet, leach pad
expansions, the addition of a crushing
circuit and modifications to existing
infrastructure like the process plant
and refinery. n
loading tools. The original purchase was
for 14 MT3700 ac trucks and two RH340
excavators, many of which have been in
operation since 2007.
The Mesquite Mine is currently
producing more than 3.1 t/a (100,000
oz/year) gold, and its fleet of Bucyrus
equipment is an integral factor in
the achievement of their production
targets. n
OCTOBER 2010 15
Industry Newswatch
Coal talks heat up in US, Australia;
BHP head calls for carbon tax, coal families rally in D.C.
MARIUS KLOPPERS, the chief
executive of BHP Billiton, warned
that the Australian economy would
suffer significantly if the country did
not implement a carbon tax before the
international community imposed one.
The UK Telegraph reported that he said
that “failure to do so will place us at a
competitive disadvantage in a future
where carbon is priced globally.”
In the United States, coal allies,
including miners and their families,
rallied at the Capitol in Washington,
D.C., against actions on climate change
and mountaintop removal mining that
that have been proposed by the Obama
administration.
In both countries, the use of coal has
become a hot political topic.
Kloppers said Australia needed
to “look beyond coal” for alternative
sources of energy before the
introduction of a global price on carbon.
Chinese look to the sea floor for minerals;
Government applies to mine in Indian Ocean
IN ITS QUEST to feed its
demand for commodities, the Chinese
government will look to the sea floor
1,700 m (5,000 ft) beneath the surface
of the Indian Ocean. The Chinese
government recently lodged the first
application to mine for minerals
under the seabed in international
waters with the hope of recovering
metals such as copper, nickel and
cobalt as well as gold and silver, The
Independent reported.
The area that the Chinese intend
to mine is populated with inactive
hydrothermal vents, underwater
geysers driven by volcanic activity.
Some of the vents, known as
“black smokers,” are black chimney-
like structures containing high levels
of sulfur-bearing minerals, or sulfides.
Having explored the area using
16 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
However, neither major political
party in Australia has committed to
reducing coal use, fearing a voter
backlash from those employed
by the industry. Kevin Rudd, the
former prime minister, was dumped
by his party earlier this year after
he announced he would scrap an
ambitious carbon pollution reduction
scheme because the opposition had
refused to support it. His successor,
Julia Gillard, has pledged to hold a
series of citizens’ assemblies to find
out what the electorate wants the
government to do – a move that has
sparked widespread derision and
contributed to her party’s failure to
secure a majority government at the
general election last month.
Gillard, whose government has a
majority of just one after entering into
a deal with independents and Green
party members, said the government
remotely operated underwater
vehicles, the Chinese want to mine
the sulfide deposits in a region of
seabed in the southwest Indian
Ocean for the rich mineral ores they
contain. They have applied to do so
to the International Seabed Authority
(ISA), the Jamaica-based body set
up under the 1982 U.N. Convention
on The Law of the Sea to deal with
the liabilities relating to seabed
exploitation and the environmental
damage it may cause.
The application, which will be
heard at a meeting next April, is
the first to be made for permission
to mine in international waters
and could spark a sort of offshore
gold rush. Toronto-based Nautilus
Minerals is working on a seabed
sulfide-mining project in the waters of
was committed to working toward a
price on carbon.
The coal rally in Washington, D.C.,
organized by the National Mining
Association and other groups, was
met by a counter demonstration from
environmentalists.
Among the speakers at the pro-
coal rally was West Virginia Gov. Joe
Manchin, the Democratic nominee for
the U.S. Senate seat long held by the
late Robert Byrd.
Manchin bemoaned the Obama
administration’s support for so-called
cap-and-trade legislation to combat
climate change and accused the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) of jeopardizing jobs by holding
up the issuance of permits that coal
companies need to carry out their
operations. The EPA has said its
actions are aimed at ending pollution,
not coal mining. n
Papua New Guinea.
The environmental worries
thrown up by the prospect of deep-
sea mining are considerable and have
been dominating headlines because of
the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Although it is not known exactly
what damage a deep-sea mine would
do to the marine ecosystem, experts
agree that removing a considerable
part of the sea floor would cause a
major disturbance.
During the past 10 years,
the demand for metals from the
economies of the main developing
countries, led by China, has led to
a resurgence of interest in seabed
minerals. The focus for this has
now switched from nodules to
hydrothermal vents, which have been
found all around the world. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

President’s page;
AIME’s new mission is to support its member societies
(Continued from page 6)
healthy, financially strong and
supportive of their children. The
children each have healthy families
of their own and are doing quite well.
They all enjoy a strong respect for the
history, traditions and values that the
parents have built.
Well, if you have read this far, my
strategy worked. I knew no one would
read the article with a title like “Trustees
rethink the strategic plan at the AIME
Annual Meeting.” So now, go back and
re-read the story and replace “parents”
with AIME; “children” with SME,
The Minerals, Metals, and Materials
Society (TMS), the Society of Petroleum
Engineers (SPE) and the Association
for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST),
the four member societies of AIME.
And replace “country club” with the
United Engineering Foundation Inc.
(UEF), of which AIME is one of five
founding member societies. One of the
“investments” that goes away if the
parents die is the Offshore Technology
Conference (OTC). The modified
story, in its own twisted way, gives some
organizational history and describes the
outcome of the recent AIME strategic
planning process.
I cannot take credit for coming
up with the analogy. Incoming AIME
President DeAnn Craig (SPE) used
it to characterize where AIME has
come from and where it should go in
the future at its annual meeting at the
Garden of the Gods Club in Colorado
Springs, CO on Aug. 6-7, 2010. I took
some pretty ridiculous privilege in
presenting her parity in my own words,
but I think it serves to illustrate some
of the changes that AIME needs to
make (as the parents get older) to
remain relevant, even as its member
societies (the children) have grown
independent and autonomous. It was
clearly time to reassess the role that
AIME plays and refocus on adding
value to the four member societies.
At the annual meeting, the
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
Given that AIME will continue to exist, the real task is to determine what AIME
should do and how it should be staffed going forward. We asked ourselves what it
would take to make AIME a valuable and relevant partner to its member societies.
AIME trustees and member society
executive directors debated the merits
of the different roles that AIME
could play. They even went as far as
discussing whether AIME should be
eliminated altogether. In the end, they
unanimously agreed that AIME should
remain intact, based on two compelling
reasons. First, to maintain the founding
member seat at the UEF table (the
country club membership that is no
longer open to new members). Second,
to preserve the investment that cannot
be bequeathed to the children. In
addition to these, the AIME portfolio
currently sits at a little more than $9
million, so if AIME were dissolved,
dividing up the proceeds would
likely be divisive among the member
societies (the children would fight over
the parents’ retirement nest egg).
Given that AIME will continue
to exist, the real task is to determine
what AIME should do and how it
should be staffed going forward. We
asked ourselves what it would take to
make AIME a valuable and relevant
partner to its member societies. We
agreed that the role and vision of
AIME needed to be refocused based
on the following priorities:
• Distributing more funds to the
member societies to support
mutually beneficial initiatives.
• Functioning as a conduit to
channel initiatives to member
societies where the staff and
volunteers reside.
• Honoring the AIME legacy
and fostering goodwill,
communication and trust
among member societies.
This all boiled down to a new
AIME mission — support its member
societies.
Industry Newswatch
We will fulfill this mission by:
• Exercising fiscal responsibility.
• Distributing funds.
• Facilitating interaction with
the larger scientific and
engineering community.
• Enhancing collaboration
among the member societies.
• Honoring the legacy and
traditions of AIME.
The idea is to have AIME function
more like a foundation going forward,
limiting the activities and initiatives
that it undertakes as a society to the
maximum practical extent and pushing
down the day-to-day work to the
member societies as much as possible.
So, with that directive, President
Craig appointed a new committee to
work on reallocating programs and
responsibilities to the member societies,
reassessing AIME staff and overhead
requirements, and some serious budget
trimming. The ultimate goal is to
generate revenue that can be distributed
to the member societies while, at the
same time, preserving the financial
security of AIME. There is a lot of
work to do, changes to be made and
belt tightening to be done. Hopefully,
we will see the fruits of these labors in
the years to come. The efforts are well
aligned with the new mission and will get
AIME closer to its new vision: To honor
our legacy by becoming a relevant and
valued partner to our member societies.
So the children are all grown up
and successful now. They respect their
parents and value their heritage. The
parents continue to lend their support,
share their country club membership
and help their children to live their
own lives. Their legacy will live on.
— Barb Filas
OCTOBER 2010 17
WE Can
nE vE r
Dig DEE p
Enough
D IG D E E PE R.

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 Sustainable development

Residual impacts
of a mining project
by Madan M. Singh, Timothy D. Hogan and Jamie Sturgess

A new mining project can raise questions about

what effect it will have on the community
after it closes. Historically, little was done by
Figure 1
Former molybdenum plant flowsheet.
communities to plan for and accommodate the
changes in the economic infrastructure when a
mine project is finished either after the ore runs
out or if market conditions deteriorate and make
it unprofitable.
Projects that were underfunded were generally
unable to withstand periodic market downturns.
However, data in a recent study conducted by
the Seidman Research Institute leads to the
conclusion that, even when a mining project is
terminated, there can be (and, in the specific case
studied, is) a residual beneficial economic effect
in the community, which lasts for a long period of
time.
Most mining operations functioning today
are well-funded and committed to the principles The use of plow
of sustainability. Government regulations also systems fell
require that proper reclamation procedures be out of favor in
followed, and adequate financial guarantees put the U.S. in the
in place to make the project successful. Before 1970s, but recent
a lengthy public review process can take place, advancements
the company must complete comprehensive have made the
documents and permit applications on the technology safer
project. If federal lands are involved, a mine plan and more efficent.
of operations, that details how the operations will ©iStockphoto.
comply with all federal, state and local laws from com/pamspix
opening through closure, is required. Regulations
guiding the plan’s development include federal
laws, such as the Clean Water Act (CWA); Clean
Air Act (CAA); Endangered Species Act (ESA);
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA),
to ensure that operations meet or exceed current
cultural and environmental requirements.
Through the NEPA process, the public has
ample opportunity to comment on the planned
operations of a proposed mine. fee land that covers most of the Rosemont Mining
District and the adjacent Helvetia Mining District.
Rosemont operations plan The property is located within
Rosemont Copper Co. has proposed the Pima County in southeastern
Rosemont project, a copper mining project with an
Madan M. Singh, member
Arizona, approximately 50 km
estimated 559 Mt (616 million st) of ore, confirmed
SME, is director, Department of
(30 miles) southeast of Tucson,
or identified. Rosemont Copper has submitted a
Mines and Mineral Resources,
west of State Route 83 (Fig. 1).
mine plan of operations that is currently in the
State of Arizona, Timothy D.
Most of the unpatented claims
NEPA process and being evaluated through the
Hogan is professor emeritus,
were staked on federal land
production of an environmental impact statement
Seidman Research Institute
administered by the U.S. Forest
(EIS).
and Jamie Sturgess is vice
Service (Coronado National
The Rosemont property consists of a group
president Augusta Resources
Forest) with a few claims on U.S.
of federal patented mining claims, federal
Inc. e-mail madan.singh@
Bureau of Land Management
unpatented mining claims and privately owned
mines.az.gov.
(BLM) lands. The total area of
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 19
Sustainable development

Table 1 Table 2
Construction costs for Rosemont (data from Rosemont Copper project Productions costs for Rosemont (data from
updated feasibility study, 2009). Rosemont Copper project updated feasibility
study, 2009).
Cost category 2008 $millions
Site development $8.5 For year two
Mine $214.6 Cost category 2008 $millions
Oxide plant $53.6 Mine operations $70.1
Sulfide plant $327.3 Processing - mill $91.5
Power/water systems $82.0 Processing - SX/EW $18.4
Ancillary facilities $26.9 Other operating costs $9
Total direct cost $712.7 Shipping, refining and smelting $62.4
Indirect costs (field mobilization, EPCM*, taxes, Taxes/royalty $30.8
commissioning, spare parts, contingency funds, etc.) $184.4 Preproduction mining costs $2.9
Total costs $897.2 Reclamation costs $0.8
Other costs/salvage value $-2.1
Column may not add to totals due to rounding. Depreciation $173.4
EPCM is engineering, procurement, construction and management. Total production costs $457.1

Column may not add to totals due to rounding.

EPCM is engineering, procurement,
the property is approximately 6,022 hm2 (14,880 construction and management.
acres). The footprint of the operation, including
the utility corridor, is estimated to be 1,787 hm2
(4,415 acres) with approximately 403 hm2 (995 project are expected to be $897.2 million (2008
acres) on private land, 1,354 hm2 (3,345 acres on dollars, Table 1), and the operating costs will be
federal lands managed by the Coronado National nearly $189 million (2008 dollars for year two of
Forest and the BLM, and 30 hm2 (75 acres) on operation, Table 2). Approximately 400 people
state trust lands. will be directly employed full time, drawn from
Rosemont is projected to produce more than a largely local pool of workers. Another 1,700
104 kt/a (230 million lbs/year) of copper (roughly persons will be affected indirectly. This schedule
9.6 percent of the U.S. production in 2009) for 20 estimates a mill throughput of approximately 68
years. Average annual production of molybdenum kt/d (75,000 stpd), which computes to an annual
and silver will be 2.3 kt (5 million lbs) 109 t (3.5 mill throughput of nearly 24.5 Mt (27 million st).
million oz), respectively. The capital costs for the Mining of the ore will be through conventional
openpit mining techniques. Waste rock
Table 3 will be blasted and transported by
haul truck to the waste rock storage
Economic activity in Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz counties as a result of the areas. Ore will be blasted and either
Rosemont Mine operation (data from Seidman Research Institute). transported by haul truck to the leach
pad, or crushed and loaded onto a
Construction Production/post conveyor for transport to the mill,
(four-year period) (20+ years ) depending on the type of ore.
2008 $millions 2008 $millions Sulfide ore will be processed by
Economic activity $96 $701/year conventional milling operations and the
Wages + nonlabor income $38 Average $143/year copper concentrates from the milling
Local revenues $5 $19/year operations will be shipped offsite to a
Total impacts $385 $15,000 smelter. Leach ore (oxide material)
will be placed on the leach pad and
Gross regional product $245 $8,000
irrigated with a raffinate (a recycled
Personal income $152 $3,000 process solution). Leach solutions
Government revenues $18 $404 from the pad that now contain copper
Employment 3,600 person-years 2,100 will be collected in a lined process pond
Workers at mine 406-444 and then processed through the solvent
extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW)
Other jobs 1,700
plant. Copper cathodes generated from
Wages includes salaries. the SX/EW plant will be transported
Nonlabor income includes dividends, interest, rent, owner’s income, net profit. offsite for further processing or direct
use.
20 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Sustainable development

Table 4
Economic activity in Arizona as a result of the Rosemont Mine operation
The ancillary facilities necessary (data from Seidman Research Institute).
to support the Rosemont operations
include an administration building, Economic activity $122 $907/year
change house, warehouse with lay Wages + nonlabor income $45/year $218
down yards, analytical laboratory, Local revenues $6/year $32
light vehicle and process maintenance Total impacts $489 $19,000
building, mine truck shop, mine truck Gross regional product $317 $11,000
wash and service facility, secured Personal income $182 $5,000
powder magazines and ammonium Government revenues $23 $681
nitrate storage, and a main guard
building with truck scale. Also included Employment
are fuel and supplies storage as well Workers at mine 3,900 person-years 2,900/year
as dispensing facilities for mine and
process equipment. Wages includes salaries.
Nonlabor income includes dividends, interest, rent, owner’s income, net profit.
Rosemont has been designed to
embrace state-of-the-art reclamation
practices, including greenhouse and
field studies to determine optimum
plant species for revegetation, and the
construction of perimeter buttresses
with one to three vertical to horizontal,
slopes to stabilize soils and enhance
revegetation. In addition to employing Table 5
reclamation practices from the beginning
Economic activity in the United States as a result of the Rosemont Mine
of operations, construction of the tailings
and waste rock storage facilities will be operation (data from Seidman Research Institute).
designed and built to facilitate closure.
Construction Production/post
Significant planning has gone into the
staging of facility construction as well (four-year period) (20+ years )
as the facility design itself in order to 2008 $millions 2008 $millions
minimize the footprint of the mine. In Economic activity $568 $1,300
addition to limiting facility placement Wages + non-labor income $167 $387
to a single drainage, visual impacts of Local revenues $53 $128/year
the site, both during operations and Total impacts $2,300 $27,000
at closure, were also considered in Gross regional product $1,200 $15,000
the mine’s overall design. As much as Personal income $668 $8,000
practical, perimeter buttresses are staged Government revenues $210 $3,000
around the facility footprint to minimize
the visual impact of both construction Employment 11,600 person-years 3,000
and operation from SR-83.
Recently, an economic study was Wages includes salaries.
conducted by the Seidman Research Nonlabor income includes dividends, interest, rent, owner’s income, net profit.
Institute of the W.P. Carey School
of Business of the Arizona State
University for the Department of Mines and during its 26-year “active” period. Permanent
Mineral Resources of the state of Arizona on changes to the business community, to the labor
the Rosemont copper project. This revealed that market, to local governments and to many other
there was a lasting, positive economic effect on aspects of the local economy would occur as a
adjoining towns in Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz result of the mine development and operations of
counties, even after mine closure. Rosemont. These changes will result in residual
economic impacts in the Cochise/Pima/Santa
Residual economic impacts Cruz counties area. The forecast results indicate
Results from the Regional Economic Models that the level of economic activity would be $52
Inc., Policy Insight, v. 9.5 (REMI PI+) forecasts of million per year higher, area residents’ income
economic activity for the years after the closure of $68 million per year higher, employment more
the mine show that the Rosemont project would than 300 higher and local government revenues
have lasting effects on the economy of the three- $2 million per year higher than if the Rosemont
county study area over and above the impacts mine had never existed. Annual figures for each
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 21
Sustainable development

Table 6
Residual impacts by year for Cochise/Pima/Santa Cruz counties as a result of Rosemont operations
(data from Seidman Research Institute).

($millions 2008)
Gross Local
regional Personal government
Output product income Employment revenues
Total* 518.4 382.3 675.6 22.9
Annual average 51.8 38.2 67.6 347 2.3
Year post closure
24 45.1 36.0 65.9 338 2.2
25 44.5 34.9 63.6 326 2.1
26 45.4 34.9 62.8 325 2.1
27 47.3 35.7 63.1 331 2.1
28 50 36.9 64.5 340 2.2
29 52.7 38.4 66.6 350 2.3
30 55.1 39.6 68.6 357 2.4
31 57.4 40.9 70.9 363 2.4
32 59.5 42.0 73.4 368 2.5
33 61.4 43.1 76.2 371 2.6

Output is the dollar value of all goods and services produced in the region, including intermediate goods as
well as value added.
Gross regional product is the dollar value of all goods and services produced for the final demands. It excludes
intermediate goods and services.
Personal income is the total income received by residents from all sources.
*Total figures refer to the sum of years 24-33. Residual impacts would continue after year 33.
Columns may not add due to rounding.

of these measures for the 10 years after closure
are listed in Table 6.
The REMI PI+ state-level forecast for years
after the closure of the Rosemont Mine show
that the Rosemont project would also have
similar lasting effects on the Arizona economy.
As for the three-county area, enduring changes
to the business community, labor market, state
government and other aspects of the Arizona
economy would occur as a result of economic
activity induced by the mine development and
operation of Rosemont, and these changes
would result in residual economic impacts within
Arizona. The state-level forecast results indicate
that the level of economic activity would be
$111 million per year higher, the state residents’
income $96 million per year greater, employment
500 higher, and state government revenues $4
million per year higher than if the Rosemont
operation had never existed. Annual figures for
each of these measures for the 10 years after the
end of operations are provided in Table 7.
Results from the REMI PI+ national forecast
do not show similar lasting effects for the overall
U.S. economy.
Conclusion
The data in this study concludes that, even
when a mining project in this area is terminated,
there is a residual beneficial economic effect in
the community, which lasts for a long period of
time. It is not simply a case of all activities coming
to a halt.
In addition, all mines have to present a plan

22 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 Sustainable development

Table 6

Residual impacts for the state of Arizona as a result of Rosemont operations (data from Seidman Research
Institute).

($millions)
Gross Local
regional Personal government
Output product income Employment revenues
Total* 1,111.6 655.6 956.4 43.7
Annual average 111.2 65.6 95.6 498 4.4
Year post closure
24 94.8 58.8 92.5 474 3.9
25 94.1 57.8 89.2 458 3.9
26 97.2 59.0 88.3 462 3.9
27 102.0 61.2 89.2 475 4.1
28 107.7 63.9 91.3 490 4.3
29 113.1 66.4 94.0 504 4.4
30 118.8 69.0 97.4 518 4.6
31 123.5 71.2 100.8 526 4.7
32 128.2 73.4 104.9 534 4.9
33 132.3 75.1 109.0 539 5.0

Output is the dollar value of all goods and services produced in the region, including intermediate goods as
well as value added (compensation and profit).
Gross regional product in the dollar value of all goods and services produced for the final demands. It excludes
intermediate goods and services.
Personal income is the total income received by residents from all sources.
*Total figures refer to the sum of years 24-33. Residual impacts would continue after year 33.
Columns may not add due to rounding.

of operations when requesting permission to permission to publish this paper.

develop a mine, which includes reclamation.
Although some of the reclamation work may be
completed concurrent to the mining, the rest is
completed after mining ceases. This provides work
and helps to taper the employment at the mine.
Most mining companies subscribe to sustainable
development principles and help to start other
industries in the area prior to full closure.
The enduring economic strength of mining has
not received the attention it deserves and should
be borne in mind in public discussions of future
mine development plans. n
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Rosemont
Copper Co. for the funding for this project and for
References
L. William Seidman Research Institute, 2009, “An assessment of
the economic impacts of the Rosemont copper project on the
economies of the Cochise/Pima/Santa Cruz counties study
area, the State of Arizona, and the United States,” Novem-
ber, 57 pp.
M3 Engineering and Technology Corporation, 2009, “Rosemont
Copper Project – updated feasibility study, NI 43-101 Techni-
cal Report,” Vol. 1, (January, Amended March.), for Augusta
Resource Corp., 177 pp.
Singh, M. M., 2009, “Economic impacts of the Rosemont Copper
Project ” State of Arizona, Department of Mines and Mineral
Resources, Special Report No. 26,” November, 58 pp.
WestLand Resources Inc., 2007, Mine Plan of Operations, Rose-
mont copper project, for Augusta Resource Corp., July, 98 pp.

www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 23

 Iron ore review
The Kiruna
underground mine T
he unexpectedly quick recovery in world
crude steel production in the second half
of 2009 was due almost entirely to increased
north of the Arctic
Circle in Sweden isproduction in China that began in late 2008.
operated by state- Previous peaks in monthly production in China
owned LKAB. were matched by April 2009. The rest of the
world had still not reached pre-crisis production
rates by May 2010.
Chinese production drives growth, but there
has been some growth in most other larger crude
steel producing countries as well, compared
to production in 2009. If the production rate of
the first four months of 2010 continues, the total
output of crude steel in 2010 will be somewhere
around 1,410 Mt (1.5 billion st), the same as in the
record year of 2007.
World crude steel production decreased
from 1,326.6 Mt (1.46 billion st) in 2008 to 1,219
Mt (1.34 billion st) in 2009, a
dramatic fall of 8.1 percent. But
Magnus Ericsson is professor while most of the world saw
of mineral economics at Lulea falling production, crude steel
University of Technology, production in China increased
Sweden and cofounder Raw by 13.5 percent, compared to
Materials Group, Anton Löf is the 2.3 percent growth the year
analyst and Olle Östensson before. China now accounts
is senior advisor with Raw for almost half of the world
Materials Group, Stockholm production of crude steel (47
2010, www.rmg.se, e-mail percent). In Europe, production
Magnus.Ericsson@rmg.se. fell by 24 percent and Africa
experienced a decrease of 11
24 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
2009/2010
by Magnus Ericsson,
Anton Löf
and Olle Östensson
percent. In the Americas, production declined
by 30 percent and in Oceania, production was
reduced by 29 percent.
Revised Chinese iron ore production figures
World production of iron ore fell by 6.2 percent
in 2009 and did not quite reach 1.4 Gt (1.6 billion
st). This was the first fall in production after seven
years of consecutive growth. Output decreased
in most countries, with a few notable exceptions
such as Australia and South Africa. Developing
countries accounted for a little less than 59
percent of world iron ore production in 2009
(down from 60 percent in 2008), the CIS republics
for 12 percent and the industrialized economies
for 29 percent. The increase for the industrialized
economies was due almost exclusively to the
growth in Australia. China produced 234 Mt (258
mill st) on a comparable grade basis. China, which
used to be the largest producer, has now been
pushed down to third place after Australia at
394 Mt (434 million st) and Brazil at 300 Mt (330
million st).
Chinese production is crucial to understanding
the dynamics of world iron ore markets. However,
the analysis is complicated by the fact that there
are serious question marks about the reliability
of Chinese data on iron ore production. Raw
Materials Group (RMG) has recently decided
to revise its method for estimating Chinese iron
ore production. Whereas RMG had earlier used
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Iron ore

Chinese production statistics as a basis, RMG has

found that this method no longer yields reasonable
results, probably because of shortcomings in the
way that the statistics are collected and compiled.
Instead, RMG now estimates iron ore production
in China by calculating the iron ore content in the
pig iron produced and deducting the iron content
in imported ore to arrive at a figure for the need
for domestic ore in terms of iron content. This
method appears to be relatively safe from errors
since both the production of pig iron and iron ore
imports can be checked against other numbers.
Most importantly, the pig iron production is
included in statistics published by the World Steel
Association and is checked through its procedures.
The change in methodology has significant
consequences for RMG’s picture of how Chinese
and world iron ore production has developed. In
summary, RMG has concluded that Chinese iron
ore production was underreported up to 2007
and overreported in 2008 and 2009. According
to revised estimates, Chinese iron ore production
increased from 133 Mt (147 million st) in 2000
to 363 Mt (400 million st) in 2007 (production
converted to an iron content of 63 percent).
In 2008 and 2009, it declined, probably in part
because of lower profitability, and in part because
of exhaustion of reserves. The revised figures for
2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chinese production are
285, 356, 400 and 321 Mt (314, 392, 440 and 354 of total iron ore exports in 2009. Developed A ship is loaded in
million st). market economy countries accounted for 43 the Narvik ice free
It is difficult to identify the reasons for the percent and the CIS countries for the remaining harbor in Norway,
over- and undercounting without a detailed 7 percent. Australia is the largest iron ore where most of the
insight into the procedures used to produce the exporting country at more than 360 Mt (397 LKAB production is
statistics. While one can speculate about reasons million st) and an increase of 17 percent when shipped.
for double counting (two sources reporting the compared with 2008. By contrast, Brazil’s
same production, for instance) or motives (taxes, exports decreased by 3 percent to 266 Mt (293
access to government subsidies) for reporters to million st) in 2009. Indian exports grew for the
adjust numbers, little is known with any certainty. 10th consecutive year and the country is now at
The number of iron ore mines in China is vast, and 116 Mt (128 million st), the third most important
nobody, not even the Chinese themselves, is likely exporter. Seaborne iron ore trade is estimated to
to have a good overview of the situation at any have increased by 11 percent in 2009 to 895 Mt
given time. What is certain, however, is that the (986 million st). The increase was accounted for
gross figures provided are not consistent either entirely by Chinese imports, which rose by much
over time or with other statistical parameters such more than the increase in total trade. Other
as pig iron production. RMG intends to further importers registered large declines. China is by
refine its analysis of Chinese iron ore production far the largest importer and its imports grew by
in 2010. 41 percent in 2009 to reach 628 Mt (692 million
st), which is 67 percent of total world imports.
Iron ore trade Japan is the second largest importer at 105 Mt
Despite the recession, iron ore trade reached (116 million st). This is a decrease of 25 percent
a record level in 2009 as exports increased for to 105 Mt (116 million st). European imports
the eighth year in a row and reached 955 Mt (excluding the CIS countries), fell by 45 percent
(1.05 billion st), up 7.4 percent. The increase was in 2009 to 100 Mt (110 million st), corresponding
the result of higher demand in China combined to 9.9 percent of world imports.
with a fall in domestic production. Total iron ore
exports have increased by 88 percent since 2000. Benchmark prices are dead
Developing countries accounted for 49 percent The annual benchmark negotiation process
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 25
Iron ore

Table 1
Iron ore: world production.
The new model has brought
Country 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 uncertainty and reduced transparency
to the iron ore market. Prices are no
Sweden 23.3 23.3 24.7 23.8 17.7 longer announced like they used to be
and the published series of spot prices
Subtotal Europe excl. CIS 29.7 30.2 29.5 28.3 21.4
are not still not 100 percent reliable.
The spot price into China is used as
CIS 180.1 194.2 202.1 190.4 176.4 a basis for pricing in all parts of the
Subtotal Europe 209.8 224.4 231.7 218.7 231.7 world and, although there are three
main series available including Metal
Canada 30.1 35.0 34.1 32.1 33.0 Bulletin, SBB and Platts, it is still not
USA 54.3 52.9 52.4 53.6 26.5 clear how representative these series
Brazil 292.4 318.6 336.5 346.0 299.8 really are and how secure against
Venezuela 21.2 22.1 20.7 21.5 14.9 manipulations they are. At least one
Subtotal Americas 425.2 454.6 471.0 481.6 400.7 company, Swedish exporter LKAB,
has negotiated annual contracts, but
its model of pricing has not been
Mauritania 10.7 11.1 11.9 11.2 10.2
published. There is still a long way to
South Africa 39.5 41.3 41.6 49.0 55.4 go before the iron ore prices are set as
Subtotal Africa 54.3 56.1 57.7 64.1 68.1 those of copper, nickel or other base
metals are on a completely transparent
India 142.7 180.9 206.9 223.0 257.4 exchange under full control against
Subtotal Asia excl. China 164.7 205.4 237.2 254.5 291.4 any type of manipulations. But,
hopefully, this is the direction in which
China 1 284.5 356.1 399.7 321.1 233.7 iron ore is moving. When looking back,
Subtotal Asia 449.2 562.1 637.8 576.6 525.1 it took between 5-15 years before
aluminum and nickel moved away
Australia 257.5 275.1 299.0 349.8 393.9 from so-called producer prices and
became fully integrated and traded on
Subtotal Oceania 259.8 277.3 300.9 351.9 395.9
the London Metal Exchange. There is
really nothing stopping either an iron
Total world 1311.5 1494.4 1664.0 1724.6
1724.6 1587.7
ore contract or using a steel contract as
the basis for iron ore trade. The latter
1
Iron ore production is converted so that its iron content is about is the way that copper concentrates
equal to that on average in the rest of the world. are traded.
China ore production
(unconverted): 420.5 588.2 682.5 824.0 880.2 The new model has resulted in
Source: UNCTAD 2010.
price hikes in the second quarter of
2010 of around 100 percent compared
to the 2009 benchmark. Australian
haematite fines to Japan increased
by 99.7 percent and there were
expectations of a further increase for the third
died in early 2010. In spite of vocal opposition, quarter. Vale reached an agreement with its
mainly from Chinese steel companies, with Japanese customers at an 86 percent increase for
strong support from Japanese and European Itabira fines and 92 percent for Carajas fines.
steel industry organisations, there was nothing
that could make it survive. When Chinese steel Corporate concentration increases
demand recovered surprisingly fast at the end The three largest iron ore companies, Vale,
of 2009 and early 2010 and iron ore spot prices Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, increased their
soared, there was simply no real support for the control over global iron ore production to 35.4
old system. Baosteel and CISA, representing percent in 2009 (Table 2). The market share of
the Chinese steel industry, tried to hold out the “big three” increased for the first time since
and even called for a boycott of the “big three.” 2004. Brazilian Vale still holds the position as
But this proposal was more indicative of the the largest iron ore producer in the world and,
powerlessness of the Chinese steel industry and although it controlled some 255 Mt (281 million
its inability to change the course of events, than st), its position as the undisputed industry leader
a real threat. A quarterly seminegotiated price is is seriously challenged. Not only has the volumes
now the norm. controlled by Vale decreased from a peak of
26 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Iron ore

308 Mt (340 million st) in 2007 while its closest

rival, Rio Tinto, has increased its controlled
production from 150 to 172 Mt (165 to 190
million st), but Vale’s market leadership has also
been successfully challenged, primarily by BHP
Billiton, the third largest producer. BHP Billiton
has been in the forefront against the benchmark
negotiating process while Vale has been its most
fierce defender. Rio Tinto has been ambivalent.
Many small Chinese producers reduced their
output in 2009, and that, together with the quick
ramping up of production in Australia after the
slump in early 2009, resulted in an increased
market share for the “big three.”
The trend over the last four years of
decreasing concentration seems to have been and infrastructure in Western Australia. This National Mineral
broken. Against the background of the cut agreement has also raised concern in some Development
in production by Vale of some 50 Mt (55 quarters about the growing bargaining power Corp. (NMDC), an
million st), it seems most likely that corporate of the large producers. The trend on the part Indian iron ore
concentration will increase again in 2010 when of steel producers toward creating a network company, produces
Vale tries to recapture market shares. It is also of captive mines, both iron ore and coal, which 26 Mt/a (28.6
likely that a continued fall in Chinese domestic started in the CIS, has strengthened. The largest million stpy) of
production with widespread mine closures — steel producer, Arcelor Mittal, has built a strong iron ore from five
the Great Chinese Shakeout — will continue holding in the iron ore sector and other steel openpit operations,
during the next few years. As stated in last year’s works have followed suit. including this
review, these two factors will help catapult the one pictured,
total share of production controlled by the “big Capacity boom in India. The
three” back to or even beyond the top levels of New iron ore mining capacity taken into company is looking
2003-2005. It only happened much faster than operation in 2009, as identified at the individual for expansion
anticipated. project level, reached almost 75 Mt (83 million opportunities
To measure corporate control at the st) globally. This is slightly lower than the 2008 overseas.
production stage underestimates the figure of some 90 Mt (99 million st). The total
concentration of the iron ore sector
since large parts of total production
do not enter the market due to Table 2
vertical integration. An alternative is
to look at the share of the seaborne Corporate control in iron ore mining in 2009.
trade. Measured this way, the
shares of the major companies are Controlling entity Country Controlled Share of total
considerably higher. While it is true production world production
that Vale’s control decreased in 2009 (Mt) (%)
from 33 to 26 percent, Rio Tinto and 1 Vale (Cia Vale do Rio Doce) Brazil 255 16.0
BHP Billiton increased their control 2 Rio Tinto plc UK 172 10.8
and the three largest companies 3 BHP Billiton Ltd. Australia 137 8.6
together still control 61 percent of the 4 State of India1 India 55.3 3.5
total seaborne trade of iron ore. This 5 Anglo American South Africa 43.8 2.8
number is quoted by those who argue 6 Arcelor Mittal UK 37.7 2.4
that the concentration risks leading 7 Metalloinvest Russia 35.5 2.2
to control by major producers over
8 Fortescue Metal Group Australia 34.9 2.2
prices, particularly under the present
benchmark negotiating system. While 9 System Capital Management Ukraine 27.0 1.7
the proposed merger between BHP 10 Cliffs Natural Resources USA 23.9 1.5
Billiton and Rio Tinto failed, it was Total, 10 largest 822 51.8
announced in early June 2009 Rio Total, world 1588 100.0
Tinto and BHP Billiton had entered
into a nonbinding joint venture
1
State of India includes SAIL and NMDC.
agreement covering the entirety of Source: Raw Materials Data, Stockholm 2010.
both companies iron ore operations
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 27
Iron ore
project pipeline in May 2010 contains more
than 685 Mt (755 million st) of new production
capacity to come onstream between 2010 and
2012. Of this total, around 270 Mt (298 million
st) falls into the category “certain,” 145 Mt (160
million st) “probable” and 270 Mt (298 million
st) “possible.” Of the project labeled “certain,”
61 percent are in Oceania; Latin America has 19
percent and Africa 16 percent. RMG has been
doing these types of estimates for a number
of years and over this period an average of 75
percent of the total including certain, probable
and possible categories have been recorded as
Drill core from completed. In spite of the uncertainties of each
Sahavaara, individual project, it may with some degree
Northland’s of confidence be assumed that 400 to 500 Mt
Swedish core (440 to 550 million st) of new capacity will
facility. come onstream in the period to and including
2012. In the three-year period after 2012, more
than 400 Mt (440 million st) of additional iron
ore capacity is listed with a completion date.
Given the present circumstances with extreme
optimism in the market, most of the projects
in the pipeline will be taken forward and many
new ones will be announced. Were it not for the
capacity of the “big three” to regulate the pace at
which their projects will be taken into operation,
the danger of an overcapacity developing would
seem considerable particularly if there are any
hiccups in the growth of steel production in the
next three years.
28 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
Outlook
The World Steel Association’s short-term
forecast for world steel use, presented in April
2010, anticipates a rise in steel use by 10.7 percent
in 2010. In June 2010, the iron ore market was tight
and spot prices were approaching levels of around
1,200-1,300 RMB/t as Chinese steel production
continued growing. Nevertheless, the events
during the past year allowed two conclusions to
be confirmed, both of them important for the
future of the world market for iron ore:
• The Chinese economy is capable of
changing direction toward endogenous
growth and is in the process of doing
so, which means that it will be less
dependent on growing world demand for
its manufactured exports.
• Domestic Chinese iron ore production
is sensitive to prices and will probably
not be able to increase output beyond
present levels.
Meanwhile, the new pricing system gives the
major iron ore producers more leverage. While
the international steel industry is fragmented
and does not act in a coherent manner, the three
large iron ore producers do not have to collude
in order to exercise considerable control over
the market and ensure that they are pursuing
mutually consistent strategies. Their objectives
are obvious – maximizing profits — and their
method of achieving the objective equally so:
keep the price high enough to pay for new
investment and low enough so that new entrants
do not become realistic alternative sources of
product. The control exercised by the “big three”
will, thus to some extent, counteract the tendency
to greater price instability that will result from the
new pricing methods.
The world iron ore market will be
characterized by tight conditions and the next
few years will be characterized by a gradual
adaptation of supply, by way of addition of new
capacity, to a continuously growing demand.
Accordingly, the Raw Materials Group believes
that supply will gradually catch up and that prices
will decline from the present extreme levels,
but will stay at a higher level than in the period
before 2008.
The background material for this article is
extracted from “The Iron Ore Market 2009-2011,”
published by UNCTAD in June 2010. This study
is researched and compiled by Raw Materials
Group (www.rmg.se) for UNCTAD, and can be
ordered from: ironore@unctad.org or by fax from
Amelie Zethelius Mermet at +41-22 9170509. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 New mine development

A new industrial mineral sand mine

near Coos Bay, Oregon
by Joseph D. Drew, Todd M. Lessard, Daniel F. Smith and Bill A. Hancock

O regon Resources Corp. (ORC) has devel-

oped and permitted a new mining opera-
tion that incorporates a process design that will
Figure 1
Location map of southern Oregon with major sediment source rivers
allow the unique paleo-beach placer deposits of (Peterson et al., 1987).
southwestern Oregon to be extracted efficiently
and economically, creating the only domestically
mined source of a unique foundry grade chromite
and specialty de-veining sand for precision cast-
ing. The operation will also provide an additional
domestic source of garnet and zircon.
Engineering design has been guided by the
variable geology and mineralogy of the paleo-
beach placer deposits as well as the need for a
dry tailing scheme that resolves a lack of water
resources at the placer locations and at the same
time eliminates the need for slurry settling ponds,
typical of paleo-beach placer operations in North
America.
Metallurgical study of the placer material was
grouped into four distinct samples based on ma-
rine terrace deposition, geological facies and min-
eralogy. Because the metallurgical samples rep-
resented the extremes likely to be encountered in
all future Oregon paleo-beach placers, the process
design is highly dynamic and will successfully ad-
just to meet the production needs.
Water availability at the mining area is sea-
sonal and will not support a traditional placer
operation’s water requirement needs for heavy
mineral concentration. For this reason, ORC has
developed a plan to construct the ore processing
facilities near Coos Bay, where a municipal source
of water is available. Raw ore will be transported
from the mining sites approximately 32 km (20
miles) one way to the processing facility with re-
turn loads hauling tailings back to the active pit.
The requirement to haul and reclaim dry tailings
and limit the amount of water being purchased will be trucked north to the processing site near
from the municipality has driven the design of a Coos Bay on existing county and state roads, in-
unique water reclamation system. cluding U.S. 101.
The available facilities at
Joseph D. Drew, member SME,
Background the processing site include
Todd M. Lessard and Daniel
Location and access. Economic concentra- highway, rail, municipal wa-
F. Smith, member SME, are
tions of “black sand” or heavy mineral (minerals ter and electricity, natural
director of geology, director
with specific gravity greater than 2.85) have been gas and a deep-water port.
of production and process
recognized and studied in marine placers from At the time of this writing,
engineering and chief operating
Coos Bay to the mouth of the Rogue River, a dis- the rail line had been aban-
officer with Oregon Resources
tance of approximately 121 km (75 miles) along doned, but was being pur-
Corp. Bill A. Hancock, member
the southern Oregon coast (Hornor, 1918; Griggs, sued by the International
SME, is principal with Argo
1945) (Fig. 1). Port of Coos Bay. It is an-
Consulting LLC & and president
ORC will begin mining existing reserves ap- ticipated that this will be ser-
Zeroday Enterprises LLC, e-mail
proximately 32 km (20 miles) south of Coos Bay viceable at some time in the
billhancock@zerodayllc.com.
in a region known locally as Seven Devils. Ore future.

www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 29

New mine development
Figure 2
Detailed map of the study area with deposits. Cross section A-A’ de-
picted (Peterson et al., 1987, with supporting data from Griggs, 1945).
History. The southern Oregon marine placers
have garnered the interests of miners since 1852,
when present day beaches were exploited for
gold. The beach deposits were small and irregu-
lar in nature and were easily washed away by the
major storms the coast endures during the winter
months (Hornor, 1918).
In the 1920s, deposits at the beach were fol-
lowed upstream to their paleo-beach terrace ori-
gins (Pardee, 1934). These terrace placers were
mined, but with little success, as the cost of min-
ing and processing was greater than at the present
day beach deposits.
The greatest effort to understand and delin-
eate the paleo-beach terrace placers came during
World War II. As the need for a domestic source
of steel hardening chromite was evident, the
heavy mineral bearing placers of southwestern
Oregon were investigated by the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS), under guidance from the Oregon
Department of Geology and Mineral Industries,
which began exploration drilling of the paleo-
beach terraces in 1940 (Griggs, 1945). This work
was part of the broader investigation of strategic
mineral deposits and would ultimately supply
much needed chromite for the war efforts.
The first mining efforts began in 1943 by
Humphreys Gold Corp. and Krome Corp. (Griggs,
1945). Black sand concentrates averaging rough-
30 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
ly 25 percent Cr2O3 were produced at the mining
sites by wet gravity processes and trucked to the
Defense Plant Corp.’s separation plant near Co-
quille, OR, where the black sand was further con-
centrated to approximately 40 percent Cr2O3.
Humphreys Gold Corp. developed and used
the revolutionary helical spiral separator for the
purpose of concentrating the heavy mineral of the
Oregon paleo-beach placers (Allen, 1943). This
methodology is still used in hundreds of mining
applications from placer mining to coal process-
ing.
Geology
Regional geology. As with any marine placer
deposit, one must understand the source of the
economic minerals, the transport mechanisms,
segregation and depositional systems, and preser-
vation of the deposits.
The heavy mineral deposits of the south-
western Oregon placers are sourced from the
metamorphic and ultramafic rocks of the Klam-
ath Mountains (Twenhofel, 1943). The Klamath
Mountains are located in southwestern Oregon
and northwestern California. Within the meta-
morphic and ultramafic terrain exist alpine-type
podiform chromite deposits. Several small op-
erations have attempted to exploit these deposits
with little success, given the podiform variability
(Libbey, 1963).
Several major rivers including the Chetco,
Rogue, Elk, Sixes and the Coquille drain from the
Klamath Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (Kulm
et al., 1968). Mineral grains in currently identified
paleo-beach placer deposits have been chemically
analyzed with ion microbe analysis to demon-
strate that their sources are indeed the existing
rivers whose watersheds begin in the Klamath
Mountains and in the regions of the alpine-type
podiform chromite deposits (Peterson et al.,
1986).
Once the sediments reach the Pacific Ocean,
predominant longshore currents transport the
sediments northward. Headlands along the pa-
leo-coastline reduced the energy of the currents
and allowed for the preferential removal of dense
particles according to Stokes Law (Peterson et al.,
1986). Currently, deposits of heavy minerals are
forming off the coast of southern Oregon, fol-
lowing the same mode of deposition adjacent to
prominent headlands (Cape Blanco) (Kulm et al.,
1968). Another characteristic of the Oregon coast
is the fierce storms and high-energy wave action
that occurs along the beaches. This high-energy
environment is sufficient to segregate the dense
from light minerals and is amplified during storm
events.
Finally, once the economic heavy minerals
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 New mine development

Figure 3
Generalized cross section of the southwestern Oregon paleo-beach terraces (Peterson et al., 1987).

are in place and concentrated, the deposit must
be preserved. Such industrial mineral placers
around the world typically show preservation by
high sea level stands and subsequent regression,
leaving behind the coastal remnant. The Trail
Ridge deposit, which stretches from Florida to the
Carolinas, represents such a depositional model.
Economic heavy minerals have been mined from
this ridge since the late 1940s to the present. It is
suggested by Peterson et al., 1986, that the south-
ern Oregon paleo-beach terraces were formed
by a transgressive sequence that encroached ap-
proximately 5 km (3.1 miles) inland from the
present-day beach followed by regression, high
sea level stand and a subsequent progradational
beach forming sequence, thus forming the over-
all geomorphology of the region into a stair-step
sequence leading down to the present day beach
(Peterson et al., 1987).
most areas). To the west, the terrace is eroded by
the subsequent formation of the younger Pioneer
terrace (Fig. 3).
Peterson, et al., 1987, interpreted stratigraphic
sections studied within the Seven Devils terrace
to represent a transgressive sequence. Deposi-
tion on the Seven Devils terrace represents the
nearshore to inner shelf deposition of the trans-
gressive sequence. Exploration drilling by Krome
Corp. and ORC indicate the presence of addi-
tional tensional faulting in the nearshore environ-
ment that increased the thickness of the sediment
package. As a result, typical nearshore orebodies
(North and South Seven Devils) have mineral-
Figure 4
Grain structure comparison (Hoyt, 2009).

Terrace geology. Although several terraces

exist, ORC’s operation currently is developing
reserves within the Seven Devils and Pioneer ter-
races (Fig. 2).
The Seven Devils terrace has been suggested
to be 124,000 years old (Pleistocene) (Adams,
1984). The terrace has been uplifted to an eleva-
tion of 75 to 85 m (246 to 279 ft) above present
sea level and is inland 5 km (3.1 miles), roughly
parallel with the current beach. The Seven Devils
terrace can be traced from approximately 11.3 km
(7 miles) south of Cape Arago to Cape Blanco to
the south, a distance of approximately 50 km (31
miles). Griggs (1945) suggests that the terrace is
truncated to the east by normal faulting, leaving
a sharp contact between the terrace sands and
an older Tertiary mudstone (weathered to clay in
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 31
New mine development

Table 1
Bulk sample location and mineral information.
9 m (30 ft) and averaging 6
Bulk sample ID m (20 ft). As is the case with
SH WB S7D N7D the previously described
Drillhole samples 83 358 470 172 North and South Seven
Total bulk weight (lbs) 1,634 2,351 8,248 5,190 Devils deposits, the western
Terrace represented Pioneer 7 Devils 7 Devils 7 Devils deposits along the Seven
Devils terrace demonstrate
Deposits represented Westbrook South 7 North 7
a transgressive sequence,
Shepard West Bohemia Devils Devils as suggested by Peterson et
Sec 10, 33 al. Similarities include the
% Heavy mineral (sg > 2.85) 62.3 21.9 43.434.8 sequencing from basal Ter-
% Chromite 14.5 10.3 18.911.9 tiary mudstones/clay and
% Garnet 10.1 1.0 6.0 1.7 conglomerate unconformity
% Zircon 1.2 0.6 1.8 1.2 followed by coarse sand
% Epidote/clinozoisite 30.5 12.3 18.620.9 deposition with higher con-
% Staurolite 1.5 0.4 0.3 0.7 centrations of heavy mineral
% Ilmenite 1.0 1.1 4.3 0.5 continuing upsection to low-
% Leucoxene 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.8 er energy sands. The primary
difference between the two
% Rutile 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4
sets of deposits being the
% Magnetite 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.1 total depth of the deposited
% Misc. Light “heavies” 3.6 0.4 1.0 0.9 package of sand. The North
and South Seven Devils de-
SH = Shepard, WB = Westbrook, S7D = South Seven Devils, N7D = North Seven Devils posits are narrowly bounded
by north-south trending
faulting, whereas the west-
ized sand depths from surface to maximum of 30 ward reserves on the Seven Devils terrace are
m (98 ft), while averaging 15 m (49 ft). Typical broad, laterally continuous representations of full
of the nearshore deposition, the delineated re- scale beach deposition and transgression.
serves are characterized by a basal conglomer- The Pioneer terrace is the younger of the two
ate of well-rounded rocks and agates overlaying terraces in which ORC has been delineating re-
the weathered Tertiary mudstone (Baldwin et al., serves. The age of the terrace is approximately
1983 and ORC drilling). Coarse sands overlay the 103,000 years old and represents a progradational
conglomerate and include some of the highest beach sequence formed at high sea level stand
concentrations of heavy minerals, in some cases (Adams, 1984). The stratigraphic sequence of the
up to 95 percent. These higher-grade units typi- Shepard deposit, the only reserve currently delin-
cally reflect lags created under high-energy storm eated by ORC on the Pioneer terrace, is similar
sequencing. Upsection, a general fining upwards to that of the Seven Devils terrace deposits and
exists, representing the transgressive nature of generally represents deposition at what would
the ocean. Heavy mineral concentrations are re- be the final stages of the transgressive sequence
corded throughout the entire sequence, but there (Peterson et al., 1987). A basal conglomerate
is no doubt that as the transgressive sequence of well rounded rocks and agates exists above
progressed and energy shifted from high breaker/ an unconformable layer with the same Tertiary
swash zone to seaward energies, segregation and mudstone encountered on the Seven Devils ter-
concentration waned. In stark contrast to the low- race deposits, followed by a nearshore/swash zone
er zones of deposition, the upper zones typically depositional sequence of coarse sand and higher
contain 2 to 10 percent heavy mineral. Authigenic concentrations of heavy mineral. Once again,
clays derived from feldspars and other weathered this higher energy zone served to concentrate the
minerals exist within the deposits and represent heavy mineral during periodic storm and wave
10 to 15 percent of the ores within the nearshore events. Upsection is found in the same fining up-
environment. Bioturbation does exist in the form ward sequence along with lowered concentration
of branching tubes typical of nearshore environ- of heavy mineral resulting from lower energy en-
ments (Hunter, 1980). vironments associated with the transgressive se-
West of these deposits on the Seven Devils ter- quence. The Pioneer terrace deposit differs from
race, ORC has further delineated the Westbrook the previous terrace deposits in that it is capped
(Sec. 4E), West Bohemia (Sec. 4E), and Section by aeolian dune sequences that represent the end
33 deposits. These deposits are shallow in nature, of transgression and the early stages of beach pro-
located at or near surface to maximum depths of gradation (Peterson et al., 1987). While this aeo-
32 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 New mine development

Table 2
Bulk sizing, desliming and oversize data.
lian sand does contain heavy
mineral, it is not in econom- Bulk sample ID
ic concentrations within the SH WB S7D N7D
Shepard deposit study area. % pit oversize (4 mesh, +4.75 mm) 1.3 4.0 3.1 2.6
% plant oversize (-4, +18 mesh, -4.75, +1.0 mm) 2.1 6.1 4.8 4.0
Mineralogy and prod-
% slimes (-230 mesh, -63 µm) 6.7 14.8 14.0 14.8
ucts. Economic minerals
from the southern Oregon % passing deslime to gravity circuit 89.9 75.1 78.1 78.6
paleo-beach placers cur- Screen analysis of deslimed gravity circuit feed 100 100 100 100
rently being marketed by +20 mesh (850 µm) 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1
ORC include chromite and -20, +30 mesh (600 µm) 0.2 2.7 0.8 0.4
zircon products for foundry -30, +40 mesh (425 µm) 0.7 8.4 1.9 1.1
applications and garnet for -40, +50 mesh (300 µm) 5.6 28.3 6.9 8.1
waterjet cutting medium. -50, +70 mesh (212 µm) 26.6 29.4 29.1 41.2
Other recoverable minerals -70, +100 mesh (150 µm) 43.4 17.8 33.7 30.7
include ilmenite, magnetite, -100, +140 mesh (106 µm) 18.9 8.1 20.5 13.0
staurolite, kyanite, silliman- -140, +200 mesh (75 µm) 3.7 3.3 5.5 3.7
ite, rutile, leucoxene, gold
-200, +230 mesh (63 µm) 1.0 1.0 1.7 1.9
and platinum (Hornor, 1918
and Griggs, 1945). Ilmenite, SH = Shepard, WB = Westbrook, S7D = South Seven Devils, N7D = North Seven Devils
leucoxene, rutile, magnetite
and small amounts of chro-
mite are combined into a
fourth product called High-Iron, a foundry de- cal nature of the heavy mineral. The chromite,
veining solution. Not only do the total concentra- garnet, zircon and High-Iron sand grains from the
tion of these economic minerals vary with depo- southern Oregon paleo-beach placers are highly
sitional facies, there is also a degree of variability rounded and moderate to highly spherical (de-
found in overall assemblage between the Seven pending on original crystal form) (Hoyt, 2006,
Devils and Pioneer terraces. Constant among all 2009). The grains have also experienced a nar-
of the terraces, however, is the degree of spheric- rowing of particle size distribution by the wave
ity and rounding as well as the natural sizing and action of the Pacific Ocean.
sorting (Hoyt, 2006). In direct comparison tests to market foundry
The deposits located on the Seven Devils ter- grade chromite from the Republic of South Af-
race (North and South Seven Devils, Westbrook, rica (typically angular crusher fines from ferro-
West Bohemia, West Section 10 and Section 33) chrome operations) the ORC chromite performs
contain higher concentrations of chromite and favorably:
zircon in the heavy mineral fraction than does
the Shepard deposit located on the Pioneer ter- • The rounded grain structure and natu-
race. Full ore reserve (not metallurgical bulk rally smooth polish of the ORC chromite
sampling) analysis performed by ORC indicates grains reduces the total surface area that
that concentrations of chromite within the Seven requires binders in the foundry mold.
Devils terrace ranges from approximately 33 to This lowers costs while maintaining the
43 percent, in contrast to only 23 percent on the strength of the mold.
Pioneer terrace (Drew, 2008). The same can be • The reduction in mold binder lowers the
said of zircon, which averages between 1.5 and 2.9 decomposition gasses and emissions dur-
percent within the Seven Devils terrace and only ing the casting process.
1.4 percent on the Pioneer terrace. Alternatively,
• The rounded grain shape and narrow par-
the Pioneer terrace shows greater percentage of
ticle size distribution of ORC chromite
garnet, at 12.6 percent versus 4.6 to 9.8 percent
allows for a tighter packing of grains in
on the older Seven Devils terrace (Drew, 2008).
the mold. Increased grain-to-grain con-
These differences in mineral assemblage reflects
tact during binding yields superior ten-
the differing sources supplying the system at the
sile strengths and enhances the ability to
time of deposition. Peterson et al. (1986) has
transfer heat from the casting.
shown several unique river sources supplied the
deposition at varying stages of terrace develop- • Clay coatings eliminated during process-
ment, yielding the shifts in mineralogy. ing.
Constant throughout both the Seven Devils
and Pioneer terrace deposits is the general physi- Oregon Resources Corp. chromite product
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 33
New mine development

Table 3
Heavy mineral concentrate sizing from bulks.
than the Westbrook, West Bohemia and West Sec-
Bulk sample ID tion 10 and 33 deposits. Secondly, the North and
Screen SH WB S7D N7D South Seven devils deposits were bulked separate-
+20 mesh (850 µm) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ly based on the relative amount of lower grade, un-
-20, +30 mesh (600 µm) 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 economic sand deposited in the final stages of the
-30, +40 mesh (425 µm) 0.0 1.1 0.4 0.2 marine transgression at maximum ocean depths.
While both deposits would have contained such
-40, +50 mesh (300 µm) 3.1 8.6 0.8 2.1
deposition, the South Seven Devils deposit was
-50, +70 mesh (212 µm) 29.0 28.9 12.4 20.7 partially mined during WWII, thus removing the
-70, +100 mesh (150 µm) 39.5 34.3 39.4 39.3 upper sections of deposition that is still preserved
-100, +140 mesh (106 µm) 16.2 11.8 29.8 26.4 at the North Seven Devils deposit.
-140, +200 mesh (75 µm) 12.2 13.9 16.2 10.9 The Westbrook, West Bohemia, West Sec-
-200 mesh (-75 µm) 0.0 1.1 0.8 0.5 tion 10, and Section 33 deposits are all part of the
Seven Devils terrace transgressive sedimentary
package that has been dissected by erosion and
met or exceeded the results of zircon in all found- mass wasting. These deposits are represented by
ry tests as well, making it a viable, lower cost al- one bulk sample resulting from the drilling at the
ternative. Currently, ORC has memorandums of Westbrook deposit.
understanding for product sales with HA-Inter- Bulk samples were collected by splitting 1.5 m
national, IGC Technologies and Possehl Erzkon- (5 ft) drillhole interval samples previously collect-
tor GmbH. ed and warehoused by ORC. A small sample was
retained, while the remainder was placed in 208 L
Process design (55 gal) drums. Samples for bulking were selected
Bulk sample selection and preparation. A to- on the criteria that greater than, or equal to, 4 per-
tal of four bulk samples for metallurgical test work cent chromite be present in situ. This cutoff is typi-
and plant design were collected by the ORC team cally considered by ORC to be of economic value.
(Table 1) and delivered to Outotec (USA) Inc. for Interbedded lenses of less than 4 percent chromite
characterization. Criteria for selection included were included in the sampling, thus representing
marine terrace deposition, geological facies and the realistically mined deposit (Tables 2, 3).
mineralogy.
Upon selection, the bulks were collected using Mining and ore grade control. The sample
existing drillhole samples. characterization summarized in Tables 1, 2 and 3
To accomplish the goal of creating a set of bulk were homogenous samples produced from a drill
samples that best represented the known minable program undertaken in 1991 by ORC. The goal of
resources, the ORC team divided the Seven Devils the 1991 drill program was to verify the findings
from the Pioneer terrace deposits. Based on pre- of previous drilling studies and not necessarily to
vious work by Griggs (1945) and Peterson et al. define the vertical and horizontal economic pit
(1987), the mode of depositional (facies) changes boundaries. Subsequent exploration programs in
between both terraces and the mineral sourcing 2007 defined vertical and horizontal economic pit
variability present at the time of deposition was boundaries. The most recent drill studies indicate
enough to warrant concurrent metallurgical inves- that grade varies, not only by deposit, but also ver-
tigation of the two terraces. tically within the same deposit. For example, the
At the time of bulk preparation, only the heavy mineral content of S7D can from vary from
Shepard deposit within the Pioneer terrace had 10 percent at the surface to > 70 percent at the
been delineated and drilled out, thus the require- bottom of the deposit.
ment for only one bulk sample. The Shepard de- The heavy mineral variations dictate the first
posit on the Pioneer terrace also represents the design consideration, ore feed, grade control.
largest shift in mineralogical assemblage, specifi- Grade control will be accomplished by mining
cally the Seven Devils terrace deposits, however, it method. Mining will begin by establishing a low
included multiple deposits delineated and drilled point at the edge of the deposit. Bulldozers will
out by ORC. A total of three bulks were selected push diagonally through the vertical plane, taking
within the Seven Devils terrace on the basis of, slices of material from the entire vertical plane
first, location relative to the eastern boundary of (top to bottom) with each push.
deposition, a north-south trending normal fault Grade control is especially important in the
scarp described by Griggs (1945) to be the equiv- wet process. The wet process incorporates spirals
alent of a sea cliff. The North and South Seven where slurry is pumped to the top of the spiral
Devils deposits are located at the base of this scarp and flows down the spiral in a corkscrew fashion.
and are notably thicker in total sand deposition While descending the spiral, the minerals sort
34 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

into distinct bands of materials of similar densi-
ties. Similar minerals are concentrated by split-
ters, which physically direct like bands of material
onto the next processing step.
Feed grade should be made as consistent as
possible in order to keep the width of the bands
as uniform as possible. The position of the split-
ters is adjustable and the spiral circuit does have
several reprocessing loops but the system would
not be able to stabilize heavy mineral concentrate
(HMC) recovery and grade with variations rang-
ing from 10 to 80 percent (S7D). Figure 4 illus-
trates a typical spiral cross section. Dense ma-
terials, depicted by darker particles on the inside
(right side), produce a distinct band. Stabilizing
the feed grade produces a consistent band width
of concentrate. The splitter would be positioned
at the boundary between dense and non-dense
material. Stabilizing feed grade stabilizes band
width and makes maximizing recovery and stabi-
lizing HMC grade possible.
Ore and tailings transportation. Typically, wet
concentrators are located close to the deposit to
minimize the transportation cost of getting ore
to the wet concentrator and moving tailings back
to the reclamation pits. Tailings are usually trans-
ported to reclamation areas by pumps moving
slurry at 30 to 40 wt percent solids.
The -230 mesh material (slimes), portion of
tailings are usually difficult to dewater and, for
this reason tailings, are frequently pumped to a
series of settling ponds where heavy equipment
is used to work the coarse and fine material back
together. Handling tailings this way is often dif-
ficult, as a series of collection ponds is usually re-
quired to allow the suspended solids enough time
to settle, so the water fraction can be reused as
process water.
Due to high ore grade, topography, zoning
issues and lack of existing utilities and available
process water at the mine site, both the wet and
dry processing facilities are to be located separate
from the mine site. The processing facilities will
be located approximately 32 km (20 miles) from
the mine site.
Typical thickened tailings slurry (thickened
slurry at 40 wt percent solids) could not be suc-
cessfully trucked back to the reclamation site.
Project success rests on ORC’s ability to dewater
tailings so that it can be handled with standard,
over the road, belly dump trucks.
Tailings dewatering and process water treat-
ment. ORC, working together with FLSmidth
Dorr-Oliver Eimco, has developed a unique solu-
tion to the challenge of tailings dewatering. The
goal of the test work was to produce tailings that
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
New mine development
Figure 5
Typical spiral cross section.
contained no free water, could be successfully
transported, off loaded and contoured immedi-
ately.
Sample characterization and flowsheet devel-
opment testwork by Outotec (USA) produced
both fine and coarse tailings samples from each
deposit. Dewatering testing at FLSmidth com-
menced with sample characterization and a stan-
dard flocculant screening matrix. The fine mate-
rial was not difficult to flocculate using any floccu-
lant with high molecular weight and low anionic
charge density. Flowsheet development by Outo-
tec, indicated the feed to the thickener would
contain 7-10 wt percent solids. Static 2,000 mL
(676 oz) cylinder tests were conducted using feed
samples with 7-10 wt percent solids, as expected,
results were poor. Feed conditions with solids of
7-10 wt percent, produced high flocculant dosage
requirements, slow settling rates, poor superna-
tant clarity and low underflow densities (45-50 wt
percent). Subsequent tests were conducted where
the feed solids were reduced to <5 wt percent. Re-
ducing the feed solids also dramatically reduced
flocculant consumption (on a lb flocc/ton dry sol-
ids basis) and improved supernatant clarity. How-
ever, settling rates and underflow densities were
not dramatically improved. Next, coarse tailings
were mixed with the fine tailings in ratios of 1:1
to 4:1 (coarse:fine), adjusted back to 5 wt percent,
and static 2,000 mL (676 oz) cylinder tests repeat-
ed. The result of mixing coarse and fine material,
diluting the feed and using proper flocculant dos-
ages was dramatic. The resulting flocculated par-
ticles were formed at nearly their ultimate density
and settled very fast. Additionally, underflow den-
sities of 65 wt percent were achieved. The under-
flow was essentially a paste. So to be sure it could
OCTOBER 2010 35
New mine development
be pumped, rheology work was conducted. Yield
stresses vs. solids concentrations were measured.
Bingham yield stress values of ~100 Pa at 65 wt
percent solids were considered to be acceptable.
Supernatant quality was also excellent, averaging
Dewatered 70-90 ppm TSS but never exceeding 130 ppm TSS
tailings will make (very clean for process water at a mineral sands
operations at the operation). Recovery at minerals sands opera-
mine site much tions often suffers with dirty process water. Fine
simpler. Because valuable mineral and dirty process water often re-
ORC will not sult in a smearing of the concentrate on the spiral
place tailings by and result in lower recoveries and HMC grades.
pumping slurry, At 65 wt percent solids, the thickener under-
there is no need flow is not acceptable for over the road transport
for a complex in belly dump trucks, as it has the consistency of
system of tailings tooth paste and would fluidize in a moving truck
booster pumps and possibly leak. As a result, further dewatering
or to build and is required.
manage a series Pressure filtration tests were conducted unsuc-
of settling ponds. cessfully on underflow samples containing less than
1:1 coarse:fines ratios (very slow filtration, low cake
solids). Acceptable results were achieved when
the coarse:fine particle size ratios approached 4:1.
Vacuum filtration tests were also successful at the
higher ratio. Vacuum filtration has the advantage
of being a continuous operation, does not require
intermediate holding tanks, multiple units or a
pug mill for breaking up cake. It was determined
that adding coarse dry mill tailings and additional
flocculant to the thickener underflow, vacuum fil-
tration would produce a dewatered tailing mate-
rial suitable for transport and reclamation. Adding
coarse material to the fines is not only crucial for
thickener performance but also makes vacuum fil-
tration possible by producing a more porous cake.
The coarse material provides pathways for the wa-
ter to migrate, much the same as body aid would.
By adding coarse tailings, vacuum filtration pro-
duced cake with a minimum of 82 wt percent solids
and no free water. The dewatered cake at 82 wt
percent resembles wet sand and passes paint filter
tests, can be successfully transported and immedi-
ately contoured at the reclamation site.
Figure 6 illustrates the approach to managing
water and tailings. Fines from the desliming cy-
clones are combined with coarse tailings from the
wet mill and filtrate from the tailings filter, condi-
tioned with flocculant, diluted using supernatant
(internal, not shown) and fed to the thickener. The
thickener overflow is recycled to the process water
tank. The thickener underflow is conditioned with
additional flocculant and mixed with more coarse
material from the dry mill, and dewatered on the
horizontal vacuum belt filter. The oversize sepa-
rated at the wet screen is added to the cake and
stacked as dewatered tailings ready for transporta-
tion and reclamation.
Dewatered tailings will make operations at the
36 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
mine site much simpler. Because ORC will not
place tailings by pumping slurry, there is no need
for a complex system of tailings booster pumps or
to build and manage a series of settling ponds. The
operating mine footprint will be very small (one
pit). ORC will be able mine and perform reclama-
tion concurrently in the same pit due to the ab-
sence of water. The water make up requirement at
the process facility is very small. The only paths to
lose water at the process facility is the difference in
moisture contents of the feed and the tailings, and
water vapor lost at the fluid bed dryers preceding
the dry mill. The process water make up require-
ment is < 3.15L/s (< 50 gpm).
A third piece of equipment, known as a hori-
zontal vacuum belt filter, will be provided by
FLSmidth and positioned between the spirals and
HMC storage (Fig. 6). The HMC dewatering filter
will increase the solids content of the HMC from
approximately 80 wt percent solids, up to 95-98
wt percent solids. Usually, HMC is stockpiled on a
concrete pad and allowed to drain. Solids contents
of 90-95 wt percent are common with this method,
depending on particle size distribution, process
water viscosity and drainage time. Filtered HMC
containing half the water content of typical HMC
is expected to require approximately half the fuel
(less efficiency losses). Fuel cost savings at 2008
natural gas prices are expected to pay for the cost
of the filter in approximately 1.5 years. Addition-
ally, if stockpiled HMC is low due to operational
upsets, the dewatered HMC can be directly fed to
the dryers without throughput or additional fuel
requirement penalties.
Solid waste exemption. Tailings, even though
being returned to their origin, required a solid
waste exemption from the Oregon Division of
Environmental Quality (ORDEQ). This exemp-
tion details the composition of the tailings and
designates the material as clean fill, thus permit-
ting the reclamation of the tailings as previously
described.
The only process chemical use planned was
polyacrylamide flocculant for slurry thickening
and final tails filtering. The Oregon DEQ ex-
pressed reservations about the small amount of
unreacted residual acrylamide (chemical formula:
C3H5NO) in the flocculant remaining from the
manufacturing process. Flocculants typically have
residual acrylamide concentrations ranging from
nil to a maximum 1,000 ppm. The ORDEQ’s con-
cerns related to possible residual acrylamide con-
centrations in drinking water that at some future
date could flow through the tailings sand.
ORC retained Argo Consulting LLC (Wilson-
ville, OR), a mining consultant, to support the de-
velopment of an effective chemical oxidation route
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 New mine development

Figure 6
Process flow diagram.
that could be implemented in operation
to reduce the residual acrylamide to
non-detect levels.
Calculations at ORC’s estimated
flocculant use rates and highest expect-
ed residual acrylamide dosages showed
that a maximum 72 kg/a (160 lb/year) of
residual acrylamide potentially would
report to the re-deposited tails, which
will average 653 kt/a (720,000 stpy).
This is a maximum of 46 µg/kg tails. For
perspective, researchers have found
that acrylamide naturally forms in fried
foods at concentrations as high as 7,800
µg/kg (gingerbread). From a practical
standpoint, acrylamide is carcinogenic
as an acrylamide monomer product as
used in industrial and manufacturing
situations.
Health and food studies are under
way in an attempt to establish whether
the residual dietary acrylamide food
levels are even a human hazard, as re-
search to date has not found any car-
cinogenic link to dietary acrylamide. Consider- on the system design installation with Solvay
ing that polyacrylamide flocculants are already Chemicals support, which is providing the bulk
approved for use in drinking water clarification, storage tank. With the award of the process floc-
dewatering food plant waste that becomes ani- culant business, Zeroday is also providing their Z
mal feed, agricultural field erosion control and ChemGear dry flocculant mixing-feeding system
a myriad number of other applications that can and assisting with flocculant system plant design
lead directly and indirectly to human acrylamide and installation.
ingestion, the ORDEQ regulator’s concern at this
point appears to be misplaced. Characterization and circuit development. Con-
Acrylamide is a fairly reactive molecule and siderable effort was made by ORC and Outotec to
decomposes naturally in the environment by bac- develop a robust process design. The goal of the de-
terial action, ultraviolet light, iron, natural min- sign work was to produce a process capable of pro-
eral free radicals, organic acids (tannins, lignins), ducing 63 kt/a (70,000 stpy) of high quality chromite
oxidizers, acids, bases and heat. There is a possibil- foundry sand as well as secondary products (high-
ity that the residual acrylamide molecules would iron, garnet and zircon).
not even survive to tailings deposition but ORC Producing and characterizing representative
would be in a very difficult position to prove this samples for each deposit was critical for understand-
point without extensive and lengthy studies. ing the range of processing requirements necessary
Various chemical oxidizers were considered to reach design goals. Simply taking all the drillhole
as well as bacteria/enzymic treatment. In the lab samples and combining them into one large sample
process simulation studies, it was found that hy- for testing would have resulted in a design not suit-
drogen peroxide dosed in the thickener and filter ed to any of the individual deposits
following flocculant solution addition at 0.025 Table 1 demonstrates the wide variability of the
percent w/w (slurry basis) dosage would reduce presence heavy mineral, as well as finished products,
acrylamide to non-detect levels. by terrace as well as deposit. Table 1 illustrates that
With these findings, the ORDEQ approved the S7D contains almost twice as much HMC and chro-
permit with use of hydrogen peroxide to degrade mite as WB. An inflexible design based on one de-
acrylamide to nondetect levels. Hydrogen peroxide posit would have been inappropriate when mining
is readily available although it poses safety con- in the opposite deposit. For this reason, the solids
cerns that must be engineered into the system. An- handling systems and wet plant capacity have an
nual use rates will be approximately 204,000 kg/a operating range of 63 to 127 t/h (70 to 140 stph).
(450,000 lb/year) of 35 percent peroxide liquid. Table 1 also illustrates that SH contains approxi-
Zeroday Enterprises will be supplying the hy- mately three times as much HMC as WB. A dry
drogen peroxide and has been working with ORC plant design based on an average HMC value would
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 37
New mine development

Table 4
Permits required for mining and processing.

Processing plant
Permit Permitted Regulatory agency Type Application Permit received
activity submitted

NPDES 1200 C Construction OR DEQ Permit September 2007 October 2007

permit stormwater
Conditional land Site development Cross country Permit April 2007 August 2007
use permit and use
NPDES individual Stormwater discharge OR DEQ Permit December 2008 December
permit 2008
Mine operating Ore processing DOGAMI Permit April 2009 November
permit 2009
Air contaminant Air discharges OR DEQ, DOGAMI Permit February 2010 September
discharge permit 2010 (est.)

Mine sites
Permit Permitted Regulatory agency Type Application Permit received
activity submitted
Radioactive waste Disposal of tailings OR DOE Exemption May 2007 June 2007
exemption
Conditional land use Site development Coos County Permit May 2007 February 2008
permit and use
Water pollution Stormwater management OR DEQ, DOGAMI Permit June 2008 September
control facilities 2009
permit
Solid waste Disposal of tailings OR DEQ Exemption September 2009 October 2009
exemption
Mine operating Mining DOGAMI Permit June 2008 February 2010
permit
401 certification Mining OR DEQ Certification February 2009 February 2010
Biological Mining NMFS Certification October 2009 February 2010
assessment
404 permit Impacts to wetlands ACOE Permit May 2008 March 2010
Removal-fill permit Impacts to wetlands OR DSL Permit May 2008 March 2010
OR DOE - Oregon Department of Energy DOGAMI - Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Ind.
OR DSL - Oregon Department of State Lands ACOE - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
OR DEQ - Oregon Division of Environmental Quality NMFS - National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA)

not have the capacity required when processing ore
from a deposit with a lot of trash heavy mineral. For
this reason, the dry plant is capable of operating 18
to 36 t/h (20 to 40 stph). The design process included
a plant-wide bottleneck analysis. The need for a bot-
tleneck analysis can be seen in the garnet content
shown in Table 1. If the solids handling capacity for
garnet circuit were sized for WB, the entire process
could be either choked when not in WB or would
result in garnet being wasted, as the excess would
simply be thrown to tails because the capacity was
not present to process it.
The 1991 drill program used an reverse-circula-
tion drilling rig. For this reason, it is believed the pit
and plant oversize will be greater than the values
38 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
shown in Table 2. The design includes extra screen
capacity for this concern.
Characterization results given in Table 2 dem-
onstrate the need for a desliming circuit, as slimes
contents that high would affect spiral recoveries
as a result of the smearing effect previously men-
tioned.
A pilot scale test was conducted in August 2007.
During the pilot test, 31 t (34 st) of finished chro-
mite foundry sand was produced. The wet process
was completed at ORC’s facility. The dry processing
was completed at Hazen Research in Denver, CO.
Until the processing at Hazen was undertaken, the
importance of the last two steps of the wet process-
ing were not fully appreciated. Foundries require
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

that quality chromite contain less than 1.0 wt
percent clay coatings. Clay content is critical be-
cause it affects the binder requirement and mold
strength. If foundries start with dirty chromite,
the binder requirement is higher and the mold’s
tensile strength is lower. The last two steps deter-
mined by bench scale testing at Outotec were at-
tritioning of the HMC and final rinsing and grade
control using a Floatex hydrosizer. The attrition-
er liberates the clay coating on the HMC grains
and the hydrosizer flushes it away while provid-
ing final grade control. When the pilot work was
undertaken at Hazen, the exact pilot equipment
to simulate the final steps in the wet process was
not available and the final steps were simulated
using alternative equipment. The chromite pro-
duced had excessive clay content, which was un-
acceptable for marketing purposes as the material
had to be representative of full-scale production
quality. Processing was halted until the appropri-
ate equipment was available. The final material
produced is low in clay (< 0.5 wt percent), has
a low binder requirement and produces strong,
high-quality casting molds that provide ORC a
marketing edge over competitors.
Permitting and construction
Oregon Resources Corp.’s management team,
along with consultants URS Corp. and attorney
Stoel Rives (Portland, OR), successfully navigat-
ed the complex and challenging task of successful-
ly permitting a new mine and processing facility in
three years (Table 4).
The permitting process officially kicked off in
2006 with delineations of wetlands and surveys
for threatened and endangered species. Concur-
rent with surveying activities, ORC applied for
conditional land use permits in Coos County
for the mining and processing sites. The mining
sites are located in zoning for forestry, which in
the Coos County Zoning and Land Development
Ordinance, allows for outright exploration, but
requires a public hearing in front of a planning
commission to site a mining project. The planning
commission can add conditions to the operation
to aid in making sure it fits the intended land use.
The processing facility is located on industrial
zoned land, making the process fairly straightfor-
ward, as the intended use fits the zoning. Oregon
land use law allows for challenges of decisions,
so an appeal of a proposed mining site was not
expected (the processing facility land use permit
was not appealed). This process involves several
stages of appeal. The first is to the Coos County
commissioners, an elected three-member board.
At this stage, the land use permit had additional
conditions added to it and accepted by ORC. The
next stage of appeal is to a three-member land-
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
New mine development
lawyer team at the state level referred to as the
Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). The LUBA
affirmed the decision of the Coos County plan-
ning commission and the elected commission-
ers, thus ending the appeal process and granting
ORC the necessary permit to continue. Overall, The permitting
this process for the mining land use permit took process officially
11 months. In contrast, the land use permit for the kicked off in 2006
processing facility was not appealed and took five with delineations
months to receive. of wetlands
The Oregon Department of Geology and and surveys for
Mineral Industries issues the Mine Operating threatened and
Permit (MOP), which covers all aspects of mining. endangered
The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral species.
Industries also works closely with OR DEQ, OR Concurrent
DSL, etc. to aid in the general permitting process with surveying
within those agencies. An additional MOP was re- activities, ORC
quired by DOGAMI to cover the processing facil- applied for
ity site, as it is interrelated and codependent with conditional land
the mining sites. use permits in
Several exemptions and concurrences were Coos County for
crucial in obtaining all permits, an example be- the mining and
ing the previously mentioned solid waste exemp- processing sites.
tion. Without the exemption, ORC would have to
classify its reclamation (filling and recontouring
the pits with tailings) as a landfill operation. The
radioactive waste exemption from the OR DOE
was required as part of the tailings characteriza-
tion and was crucial for the solid waste exemp-
tion. The biological assessment was required by
NMFS, as the proximity to streams and potential
Coho salmon habitat required further study.
The remaining permits are standard in the
industry, including the Water Pollution Control
Facility permit (OR DEQ), 401 Clean Water Act
Certification (OR DEQ), 404 permit (ACOE),
wetland and waters of the state removal/fill per-
mit (OR DSL), and WPCF and NPDES (OR
DEQ). The Air Contaminant Discharge Permit
from ORDEQ remains outstanding, as issuance
is being timed to coincide with the completion of
the processing plant construction.
With permits in hand, construction began on
the site in the first quarter of 2010. Heery Interna-
tional was engaged as project manager for ORC
while construction will be completed by West
Coast Contractors (site prep and grading, piling,
concrete work), Mid-City Steel (structure fabrica-
tion), and CCC Group (structure erection).
Conclusion
Oregon Resources Corp. has successfully
navigated engineering challenges and permitting
requirements and is on schedule to break ground
at the mining sites in November 2010 and com-
mission the processing facility currently under
construction in January 2011. (References are
available from the authors.) n
OCTOBER 2010 39
Technology News
Optimizing flotation cells
in the mining industry
O ne of the most important process operations
in a mining concentrator is the flotation cell
area. Profitability of the concentrator is largely
attributable to this area of the process.
Older flotation cells use a displacement
float below the froth layer to measure the pulp
height. Pulp height is an extremely important
process measurement, used to ensure that liquid
pulp is not allowed to overflow to the launders.
If pulp overflows, the flotation cell ceases to
function effectively — this is costly to the process.
The displacement float technique is limited in
performance in a variety of ways: the float may at
times stick, slurry builds up on the float mechanism
changing the effective specific gravity tracked, they
are affected by high agitation, etc.
Measure pulp height
Hawk has developed a low frequency “acoustic
wave transmitter” that is nonintrusive and will
penetrate through the froth to measure the pulp
height. The Hawk sensor is mounted above the
froth and pulp height, so it has no maintenance
or mechanical problems. Typically, the transmitter
can be mounted at walkway height for easy
serviceability. The low frequency level transmitter
can be supplied ready for connection to the
typical two-wire loop power supply used for the
40 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
displacement float transmitter that it is replacing.
Remote mounted transmitters are also an option.
Measure froth height
Hawk also provides as an option a non-
intrusive transmitter to measure the froth height.
Continuous measurement of the froth height,
provided as feedback to the control loop for the
inlet “dart valve,” allows a flotation cell to maintain
constant overflowing of froth to the launder, even
when the orebody type may produce variations
to frothing consistency. Small changes in the pulp
height to keep the froth overflowing at all times
will increase the efficiency of the flotation cell
and, consequently, increase profitability. Hawk
transmitters will reliably measure froth height,
even when froth density changes.
Measure froth density
Hawk also provides a third type of transmitter
to measure relative froth density. Higher density
froth will have greater entrainment of mineral going
over the launder. Currently, density measurement
is not widely used due to the degree of difficulty
in making an effective online density measurement
in each flotation cell. Bubbler type pressure
transmitters have been commonly used, though
they have high maintenance costs due to their
intrusive installation. A nonintrusive transmitter
that penetrates partly through the froth gives an
output proportional to density. Data from the froth
height transmitter is used with the froth penetration
(density) information. Monitoring of the deviation
between froth height and froth penetration allows
the control system to track relative froth density
— all nonintrusively. Relative density data can be
used to control density through a feedback loop,
regulating forced airflow into the flotation cell. Air
input is currently largely controlled manually by
onsite operators.
Self-cleaning transmitter
Hawk’s low frequency transmitters require no
maintenance due to their self-cleaning nature. The
high-powered acoustic wave being transmitted
will automatically clean the sensor face with
every measurement pulse. Self-cleaning minimizes
buildup on the sensor facing, which would
otherwise prevent the sensor from measuring
accurately. Buildup is a significant problem in the
mining industry due to the dirty nature of materials
being handled, and also the presence of moisture
and dust in the environment. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Technical Papers

Continuous miner spray

considerations for optimizing scrubber
performance in exhaust ventilation systems
by J. Organiscak and T. Beck

Abstract n A majority of continuous mining machines employ a water spray system and a
machine-mounted flooded-bed scrubber to suppress and capture dust during coal mining.
These machine-mounted dust control systems must be designed to function within the
localized face ventilation system at the mining section to control both dust and methane. Spray
systems can impede or improve the scrubber effectiveness in controlling dust or methane at the
mining face. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of spray type, spray
pressure, machine body blocking sprays and scrubber airflow on dust and gas levels, while
using a 12.2-m (40-ft) exhaust ventilation curtain setback from the face. These experiments
were conducted with the mining machine positioned at the end of a simulated 6.1-m (20-ft)
sump and slab cut. Results indicate that the hollow cone nozzles with blocking sprays best
complement the flooded-bed scrubber performance in an exhaust ventilation system. This
external spray system notably reduced dust and gas levels on the off-curtain side of the mining
machine for both the sump and slab cut compared to the flat spray nozzles. Higher scrubber
airflows reduced dust and gas levels on the curtain side and in the return of the continuous
mining machine. The remote operator position, located on the off-curtain side and parallel to
the inlet end of the exhaust curtain, sustained the most stable and lowest dust levels around
the mining machine.

Introduction especially within several geographic standard, based on the percentage of

Coal miner overexposure to re-
spirable coal and crystalline silica (or
quartz) dust can cause pneumoconiosis
and silicosis, respectively, which are de-
bilitating and potentially fatal respira-
tory lung diseases. Although significant
progress has been made in the United
States (U.S.) with the reduction of coal
workers’ pneumoconiosis, severe cases
continue to occur among coal miners,
J. Organiscak and T. Beck, members
SME, are mining engineers at the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, Office of Mine
Safety and Health Research,
Pittsburgh, PA. Paper number
TP-10-004. Original manuscript
submitted January 2010. Manuscript
accepted for publication May 2010.
Discussion of this peer-reviewed and
approved paper is invited and must
be submitted to SME Publications by
Jan. 31, 2011.
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
clusters of the Appalachian coal region
(Antao et al., 2005). Mining also has
some of the highest incidences of work-
er-related silicosis, with mining machine
operators being the occupation that is
most commonly associated with the dis-
ease (NIOSH, 2008).
The U. S. Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) enacts and
enforces mine worker safety and health
standards to mitigate mine worker inju-
ries and occupational diseases. MSHA’s
permissible coal mine dust exposure
limit is 2.0 mg/m3 during an eight-hr
shift for coal mine workers, as defined
by the Mining Research Establish-
ment (MRE) Criteria (30 CFR 70-72,
74 2009). If more than 5% quartz mass
is determined to be in the coal mine
worker dust sample using MSHA’s P7
infrared method (Parobeck and Tomb,
2000), the applicable respirable dust
standard is reduced to the quotient of
10 divided by the percentage of quartz
in the dust sample. This reduced dust
quartz content, is intended to limit
worker respirable crystalline silica
(quartz) exposure to 0.1 mg/m3 or less
for the shift.
Coal mine worker overexposure to
coal and quartz dust continues to be
a problem at underground coal min-
ing operations in the U.S. Over 90%
of mechanized mining units operating
in U.S. underground coal mines are
continuous mining machines (MSHA,
2009). The percentage of valid MSHA
inspector dust samples for continuous
mining machine operators from 2004
to 2008 that exceeded the respirable
coal dust standard or the reduced dust
standard was 7.2% and 19.5%, re-
spectively (U.S. Department of Labor,
2009). Therefore, many continuous min-
ing machine operators continue to be
overexposed to coal and quartz dust.
The primary dust controls used on
most continuous mining machines are
water sprays and flooded-bed scrub-
bers. Initially, flooded-bed scrubbers
OCTOBER 2010 41
 Figure 1
Plan view of continuous miner gallery test setup.
were used with blowing face ventilation systems in gassy coal
seams to help remove dust being blown over workers at the
mine face, while providing satisfactory face methane removal
for curtain setback distances up to 15.2 m (50 ft) (Volkwein
et al., 1985; Jayaraman et al., 1990). With the development of
remote control technology for continuous mining machines,
flooded-bed scrubbers were also adopted on exhaust face
ventilation systems for use in extended-cut mining applica-
tions (beyond 6.1 m or 20 ft of entry advance). Research has
shown that positioning the operator away from the mining
machine during extended-cut mining was a significant factor
in lowering operator dust exposures on both blowing and
exhaust ventilation systems (Fields et al., 1990). The best
continuous miner operator position for blowing ventilation is
in front of the discharge end of the intake curtain (Jayaraman
et al., 1987; Goodman and Listak, 1999). The best operator
position for exhaust ventilation is parallel to or outby the in-
let end of the return curtain on the opposite side of the entry
(Colinet and Jankowski, 1996; Goodman and Listak, 1999).
Since continuous miner operators cannot or do not al-
ways stay at these optimum positions during mining, their
dust exposure can notably increase at other positions around
the rear of the mining machine (Goodman and Listak, 1999).
Previous research on machine-mounted scrubbers in blowing
face ventilation systems have shown that the lowest dust lev-
els at the rear corners and return of the mining machine are
achieved when the face ventilation-to-scrubber airflow ratio
is at or slightly above 1 (Jayaraman et al., 1992). Another
scrubber study with blowing ventilation showed that dust
rollback at the rear of the mining machine was reduced when
the face ventilation curtain setback distance was increased
from 6.1 m (20 ft) to 12.2 m (40 ft) and/or when blocking
sprays are used on both sides of the mining machine outby
the scrubber inlets (Goodman, 2000). Machine-mounted
scrubber research with exhausting face ventilation systems
showed dust levels increased at the remote operator posi-
tion outby the mining machine when using a larger curtain
setback distance, 12.2 m (40 ft) versus 9.1 m (30 ft), external
directional sprays and/or under boom sprays (Goodman et
al., 2006). Although the external directional sprays redi-
rected dust past the scrubber inlets and increased operator
dust levels, these sprays noticeably reduced gas levels on the
off-curtain side of the face. On the other hand, the under
boom sprays showed increases to both operator dust levels
and gas levels at the face.
In order to improve dust and gas control around a con-
tinuous mining machine using a scrubber and external sprays
with exhaust ventilation, the National Institute for Occupa-
42 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
tional Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted additional
experiments in its full-scale continuous miner gallery at the
Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL). The objective of
these experiments was to examine external water spray con-
figurations that are complementary to scrubber performance
for exhaust ventilation systems. The experimental factors
studied were spray nozzle type (hollow cone vs. flat), water
spray pressure (550 kPa vs. 1,100 kPa or 80 psig vs. 160 psig),
blocking sprays (off vs. on) and scrubber airflow (reduced vs.
maximum). This paper describes the experiments conducted
and the dust and gas level results measured around the min-
ing machine.
Experimental design
Laboratory experiments were conducted within a full-
scale continuous miner gallery as shown in Fig. 1. The gal-
lery entry dimensions were 5.5 m (18 ft) wide by 2.0 m (6.5
ft) high, with a full-scale plywood mockup of a Joy CM14
continuous mining machine positioned at a simulated min-
ing face. This mining machine was equipped with a flooded-
bed scrubber, several banks of external spray nozzles and a
0.91-m (36-in) diameter cutting drum that rotates at 50 rpm.
The flooded-bed scrubber utilized a 30-layer pleated stain-
less steel filter wetted by three spraying system full-cone
QPH-6.5 nozzles (Spraying Systems, Wheaton, IL) and was
powered by a variable frequency ac drive speed-controlled
fan. Scrubber inlets were located under each side and center
of the cutter boom near the hinge point. External sprays con-
sisted of 15 top-mounted boom sprays directed at the top of
the rotating drum, three under boom throat sprays directed
at the loading pan and three sprays on each side of the cutter
boom directed at the drum’s end rings. Two blocking sprays
were vertically mounted 7.6 cm (3 in.) apart on each side of
the mining machine body, located two feet outby the scrub-
ber inlets and two feet above ground level. These blocking
sprays were oriented at a 15° angle away from the machine
body toward the rib and were operated at the same pressure
as the other external sprays.
Coal dust and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas were intro-
duced in front of and along the length of the rotating cutting
drum. Pulverized coal dust (Keystone mineral black 325BA,
Keystone Filler & Manufacturing Co., Muncy, PA) was fed
into the gallery at 25 g/min (0.9 oz/min) with a screw feeder
(Vibra Screw, Inc., Totowa, NJ) and two LH-1/2 brass educ-
tors (Penberthy, Prophetstown, IL) operated with 30 kPa
(4 psig) of compressed air. One eductor discharged dust
through a hose along the left front side of the drum and the
other eductor discharged dust through a hose along the right
front side of the drum. SF6 gas was also released from tub-
ing at each end of the dust discharge hoses to mix in the gas
with the dust. A model 1303 multipoint gas doser (California
Analytical Instruments, Orange, CA) released the SF6 gas at
a flow rate of 6 mL/sec (177 fl oz/ sec). The rotating drum
ensured their mixing and simulated dust and gas emissions
from the face during mining.
Respirable dust and SF6 gas concentrations were mea-
sured at several locations around the mining machine, as
shown in Fig. 1. Respirable dust concentrations were mea-
sured with coal mine dust personal sampling units (CMDP-
SU), comprised of an ESCORT-Elf constant flow air sampling
pump pulling dust-laden air through a 10-mm nylon cyclone
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Table 1
Experimental parameters.
Experimental Sump cut, 9.1 m (20 ft) deep
Test factors Low level (-1) High level (+1)
Nozzle type Hollow cone
Spray pressure 550 kPa 1,100 kPa 550 kPa 1,100 kPa
Blocking sprays Off
Scrubber airflow Reduced ~ 20% Maximum
(respirable dust classifier) and depositing the respirable frac-
tion onto a preweighed 37-mm filter cassette (MSA, Pitts-
burgh, PA). A pair of samplers (CMDPSU) were placed
and operated at the remote operator (Oper) position, the
right rear corner (RRC) of the mining machine, the left rear
corner (LRC) of the mining machine and the return (Return)
air course. Each pair of dust concentration measurements
was averaged to determine the dust concentration at each
sampling location. SF6 gas measurements were made using a
California Analytical Instruments model 1312 photoacoustic
gas monitor, which sequentially drew gas samples through
tubing from the off-curtain side (OCS) of the cutting boom,
the curtain side (CS) of the cutting boom and the Return air
course. This data was collected with a computer-based data
acquisition system and the gas concentrations at each loca-
tion were averaged for the test.
Other operating parameters measured and recorded
were water spray pressure, machine water flow, face return
airflow and scrubber airflow. Water pressure and flow were
measured with electronic instruments and recorded with a
computer data acquisition system. Face return airflow was
measured at the inlet end of the ventilation curtain with a
handheld vane anemometer (moving traversely), with the
scrubber off at the beginning and end of each test. Scrubber
airflow was also measured with a handheld vane anemometer
at the discharge end of the scrubber (moving traversely)
at the beginning and end of each test. A moving traverse
airflow measurement at the scrubber exhaust was found to
be very comparable to a fixed-point traverse measurement
within the scrubber duct.
For these scrubber/spray experiments, the continuous
miner gallery was configured for exhaust curtain ventilation
with a 12.2-m (40-ft) setback from the face as shown in Fig.
1. A 2-level, 4-factor experimental design was conducted and
is shown in Table 1. Return airflow for these experiments
was set to approximately 1.25 times the maximum scrub-
ber airflow rate. The maximum scrubber airflow averaged
2.27 m3/s (4,810 ft3/min) and the return airflow averaged 2.90
m3/s (6,150 ft3/min) for these experiments. The water sprays
tested were Spraying Systems 3/8-BD-3 hollow cone nozzles
(77° spray angle @ 550 kPa or 80 psig) and Spraying Systems
3/8-TT-5006 flat nozzles (56° spray angle @ 550 kPa or 80
psig). These nozzles were chosen because their specifications
showed comparable water flow rates at the same water pres-
sures. All the external sprays, including the blocking sprays,
used the same nozzle type during experimental comparisons.
The flat spray pattern orientation was parallel to the roof
for the top boom sprays and parallel to the ribs for the side
boom and blocking sprays. The low and high operational
water spray pressures averaged 560 kPa (81 psig) and 1,110
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
Slab cut, 9.1 m (20 ft) deep
Low level (-1) High level (+1)
Flat Hollow cone Flat
On Off On
Reduced ~ 20% Maximum
kPa (161 psig), respectively. An approximately 20% reduc-
tion in scrubber airflow was also used to simulate a realistic
decrease from material buildup on the filter screen during
the shift. The reduced scrubber airflow was controlled by
decreasing the fan speed with the variable frequency drive,
yielding a 1.78 m3/s (3,780 ft3/min) average for these experi-
ments. These experimental factors were examined for both
a simulated 9.1-m (20-ft) sump and slab cut. All testing is
limited to examining airborne dust captured around a con-
tinuous mining machine and do not represent dust suppres-
sion from coal wetting.
Each experimental factor combination in Table 1 was
replicated for at least three tests. Experimental tests were
blocked or separately conducted for the sump and slab cuts
for experimental practicality. Experimental tests were also
blocked by nozzle type. A test of random combinations of
spray pressure, blocking sprays and scrubber airflow com-
binations was conducted for each nozzle type before it was
changed. The nozzle types were alternated to complete the
three test replicates. All experimentally controlled test fac-
tors were precisely maintained and had relative standard
deviations (RSD = (standard deviation /average) x 100%)
less than 3% of their measured average.
Experimental results
Test replicate averages and standard errors were deter-
mined for respirable dust and SF6 gas concentrations at the
multiple locations around the mining machine during these
experiments. The averages and standard errors for the sump
cut are illustrated in Figs. 2-4 and for the slab cut in Figs. 5-7.
The tests without blocking sprays are presented on the left
side of these figures and the blocking spray tests are present-
ed on the right side of these figures. Their x-axes are labeled
by water pressure in descending order and scrubber airflow
in ascending order.
Stepwise regression analysis was also conducted on the
experimental data to examine the significant test factor rela-
tionships (at a 95% confidence level) with dust and gas con-
centrations. The low and high experimental test factor levels
were represented as -1 and +1, respectively, in the regression
model. Regression analyses were separately conducted at
each dust and gas sampling location during the sump and
slab cut. Since the dust concentrations measured at the RRC
and LRC locations exhibited an extensive data range, non-
normality and unequal variances, natural logarithms of these
concentrations were used to stabilize their regression model
variance (Myers and Montgomery, 1995). The most signifi-
cant experimental test factors are shown in Table 2, with a
“+” symbol illustrating a direct relationship and a “–” symbol
illustrating a negative relationship in the regression models.
OCTOBER 2010 43
 Table 2
Significant dust and gas concentration relationships.
Sump cut Slab cut
Sample
location Nozzle Spray Blocking Scrubber Nozzle Spray Blocking Scrubber
type pressure sprays airflow type pressure sprays airflow
Dust-RRC + + + − −
Dust-LRC − + −
Dust- − − −
Return
Gas-OCS + − + −
Gas-CS − + + −
Gas-Return + − + −
Key: + and – symbols refer to direct and indirect relationships, respectively, at the 95% confidence level.

Since the operator position had minimal concentra-

tion changes in these experiments and there were
Figure 2 very few regression factor interactions at the other
sampling locations, these regression results were
Sump cut dust concentrations on the off-curtain side of the entry. not shown in Table 2 for simplicity.

Sump cut
Figures 2 and 3 show the dust concentrations
measured for the sump cut on the off-curtain side
and curtain side of the entry, respectively. The SF6
gas concentrations measured for the sump cut are
shown in Fig. 4. Table 2 shows the significant dust
and gas relationships in these figures.
The most significant factors affecting dust con-
centrations in the sump cut were the nozzle type
and scrubber airflow. The hollow-cone nozzle ap-
peared to exhibit very little dust rollback to the
RRC of the machine, whereas the flat nozzle cre-
ated significant dust rollback to the RRC. Block-
ing sprays didn’t seem to have a significant effect
on controlling dust in the sump cut with either of
the spray nozzle types. The dust concentrations on
the curtain side of the entry were most affected by
scrubber airflow. Dust levels at the LRC and in
Figure 3 the Return were significantly reduced with higher
scrubber airflows. The remote operator position
Sump cut dust concentrations on the curtain side of the entry. had the lowest and most stable dust concentrations
observed for these sump cut tests.
The most significant factors affecting SF6 gas
concentrations in the sump cut were nozzle type
and blocking sprays. Figure 4 shows that the
highest gas concentrations are at the OCS of the
continuous miner boom with no blocking sprays
operating. Hollow cone sprays achieved lower gas
concentrations on both sides of the miner boom
with no blocking sprays, compared to the flat
sprays. The blocking sprays significantly reduced
the OCS gas concentrations, especially for the hol-
low cone spray nozzles. The decrease in OCS gas
levels were somewhat offset by an increase in gas
levels on the CS of the continuous miner boom.
The increased gas concentrations at the CS location
44 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Figure 4
Sump cut gas concentrations.

with the blocking sprays were still lower than the

concentrations at the OCS location without the
blocking sprays.

Slab cut
Figures 5 and 6 show the dust concentrations
measured for the slab cut on the off-curtain side
and curtain side of the entry, respectively. The SF6
gas concentrations measured for the sump cut are
shown in Fig. 7. Table 2 shows the significant dust
and gas relationships in these figures.
All the experimental factors significantly af-
fected dust concentrations at the RRC of the min-
ing machine in the slab cut. Both spray nozzle
types showed prominent dust rollback to the RRC
of the machine with no blocking sprays operat- Figure 5
ing. The flat spray nozzles exhibited significantly
higher dust concentrations than the hollow cone Slab cut dust concentrations on the off-curtain side of the entry.
sprays at this RRC location. Lower water pres-
sures and higher scrubber airflows significantly
reduced this rollback effect. Application of the
blocking sprays appeared to eliminate all dust
rollback to the RRC location, reducing these dust
concentrations to nearly Oper position levels.
The dust concentrations on the curtain side
of the entry were most affected by water pres-
sure and scrubber airflow. Dust levels at the LRC
were significantly increased by higher spray pres-
sures, while higher scrubber airflows reduced dust
concentrations at the LRC and Return sampling
locations. Similar to the sump cut, the remote
operator position again had the lowest and most
stable dust concentrations for these slab cut tests.
The most significant factors affecting SF6 gas
concentrations in the slab cut were, again, nozzle
type and blocking sprays. Figure 7 shows that the Figure 6
highest gas concentrations are at the OCS of the Slab cut dust concentrations on the curtain side of the entry.
continuous miner boom with no blocking sprays
operating. The flat sprays exhibited significantly
higher gas concentrations on the OCS side of the
miner boom with no blocking sprays, compared to
the hollow-cone sprays. Blocking spray applica-
tion again significantly reduced the OCS gas con-
centrations, especially for the hollow-cone spray
nozzles. The decrease in OCS gas levels was some-
what offset by an increase in gas levels on the CS
of the continuous miner boom. The increased gas
concentrations at the CS location with the block-
ing sprays were still lower than the concentrations
on the OCS location without the blocking sprays.

Conclusions
Laboratory experiments were conducted to
examine the effect of spray type, spray pressure, machine
body blocking sprays and scrubber airflow on dust and gas
levels while using a 12.2-m (40-ft) exhaust ventilation curtain
setback from the face. From these experiments the key ob-
servations made include:
• The remote operator position had the lowest and
most stable dust concentrations compared to the rear
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
corners and return of the continuous mining machine.
• Hollow-cone nozzles exhibited less dust rollback
than flat sprays on the off-curtain side of the mining
machine for both the sump and slab cuts.
• Blocking sprays notably reduced dust concentra-
tions on the off-curtain side of the mining machine
for the slab cut, with negligible dust changes for the
sump cut.
OCTOBER 2010 45
 Figure 7
Slab cut gas concentrations.
Colinet, J.F., and Jankowski, R.A., 1996,
“Dust control considerations for deep-cut
faces when using exhaust ventilation and
a flooded-bed scubber,” SME Transactions,
Vol. 302, Littleton, CO: Society for Mining,
Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., pp. 104-
111.
Fields, K.G., Atchison, D.J., and Haney,
R.A., 1990, “Evaluation of a combined face
ventilation system used with a remotely op-
erated mining machine,” in: Proceedings of
the 1990 International Symposium on Re-
spirable Dust in the Mineral Industries, pp.
349-353.
Goodman, G.V.R., 2000, “Using water
sprays to improve performance of a flood-
ed-bed dust scrubber,” Appl. Occup. Envir.
• Higher water spray pressure was more detrimental, Hyg., Vol. 15, No. 7, pp. 550-560.
increasing dust concentrations at the back corners Goodman, G.V.R., and Listak, J.M., 1999, “Variation in dust levels with
of the mining machine for the slab cut, compared to continuous miner position,” Mining Engineering, Vol. 51, No. 2,
the sump cut. pp. 53-59.
• Hollow-cone nozzles and blocking sprays both no- Goodman, G.V.R., Beck, T.W., and Pollock, D.E., 2006, “The effects of
ticeably reduced gas concentrations at the off-curtain water spray placement for controlling respirable dust and face
side of the continuous miner boom. methane concentrations,” Journal of the Mine Ventilation Society
• Higher scrubber airflows reduced dust levels on the of South Africa, April/June, pp. 56-63.
curtain side of the continuous mining machine, and Jayaraman,, N.I., Stritzel, D.L., and Jankowski, R.A., 1987, “Improv-
reduced both dust and gas levels in the return. ing health, safety and productivity through the use of machine-
mounted scrubbers,” in: Proceedings of the 95th Annual Meeting of
Given these experimental observations, it appears that the Illinois Mining Institute, Mount Vernon, IL, pp. 62-75.
the hollow-cone nozzles with blocking sprays best comple- Jayaraman, N.I., Volkwein, J.C., and Kissell, F.N., 1990, “Update on
ment the flooded-bed scrubber performance in an exhaust continuous miner dust scrubber application,” Mining Engineering,
ventilation system. This external spray system notably re- Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 281-284.
duced dust and gas levels on the off-curtain side of the min- Jayaraman, N.I., Jankowski, R.A., and Whitehead, K.L., 1992, “Opti-
ing machine for both the sump and slab cut compared to mizing continuous miner scrubbers for dust control in high coal
the flat spray nozzles. Using lower water spray pressures seams,” Proceedings of the 121st Annual SME Meeting, Phoenix,
noticeably reduced dust rollback to the rear corners of the AZ, Feb. 24-27, pp.193-205.
mining machine (RRC and LRC), primarily during the slab MSHA, 2009, Information provided by George Niewiadomski, Health
cut. Higher scrubber airflows reduced dust and gas levels Division, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Headquarters,
on the curtain side and in the return of the continuous min- Arlington, VA.
ing machine. Finally, the remote operator position, located Myers, R.H., and Montgomery, D.C., 1995, Response Surface Method-
on the off-curtain side and parallel to the inlet end of the ology: Process and Product Optimization using Designed Experi-
exhaust curtain, sustained the most stable and lowest dust ments, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
levels around the mining machine.n NIOSH, 2008, Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance Report 2007,
Volume 1, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers
Disclosure for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupa-
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of tional Safety and Health, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies,
the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the DHHS (NIOSH), Publication No. 2008-143a.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Parobeck, P.S., and Tomb, T.F., 2000, “MSHA’s Programs to Quantity the
Crystalline Silica Content of Respriable Mine Dust Samples,” SME
References preprint 00-159, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration,
Antao, V.C. dos S., Petsonk, E.L., Sokolow, L.Z., Wolfe, A.L., Pinheiro, Inc., Littleton, CO.
G.A., Hale, and Attfield, M.D., 2005, “Rapidly progressive coal US Department of Labor, 2009, Mine Safety and Health Administra-
workers’ pneumoconiosis in the United States: geographic and tion, Program Evaluation and Information Resources, MSHA
other factors,” Occupational Environmental Medicine 2005; Vol. Standardized Information Systems, Arlington,VA.
62, pp. 670-674. Volkwein, J.C., Halfinger, G. Jr., and Thimons, E.D., 1985, “Machine-
CFR, 2009, “Code of Federal Regulations,” Washington, DC: US Gov- mounted scrubber helps ventilate face,” World Mining Equipment,
ernment Printing Office, Office of the Federal Register. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 15-16.

46 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 Technical Papers

Breaking the ice on the booster fan

dilemma in US underground coal mines
by A.L. Martikainen and C.D. Taylor

Abstract n Booster fans increase air pressure to overcome resistance, the objective being
to force adequate amounts of air through distant workings. They are used in areas that are
difficult or uneconomic to ventilate with main fans alone. Booster fans are currently permitted
in underground coal mines in some countries; the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and
Canada have been defined as major users. Booster fans are not allowed in the US bituminous
and lignite coal mining operations at the present time due to safety concerns. This paper
presents the history of booster fan use in coal mines of the United States during the last 90
years. Changes in regulations, as well as advantages and disadvantages of booster fan use,
are discussed. Research and petitions for booster fan use are highlighted in order to bring the
debate into focus.

Introduction
In the United States, booster fans
are permitted in metal and nonmetal
(M/NM) mining, as well as in anthracite
coal mines. Legislation promulgated
in 1992 specifically prohibits their use
in underground bituminous and lignite
coal mines (Federal Register, 1992).
Currently, the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) is beginning a new research
program that will include an investiga-
tion of booster fan use as an alterna-
tive to using the belt entry to supply
ventilation airflow to production faces.
The aim of this paper is to present a his-
torical review of past experience with
booster fans and discuss the safety con-
A.L. Martikainen, member SME, is
a research engineer and C.D. Taylor
is an industrial hygienist at the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, Pittsburgh
Research Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA.
Paper number TP-09-030. Original
manuscript submitted June 2009.
Revised manuscript accepted for
publication May 2010. Discussion
of this peer-reviewed and approved
paper is invited and must be
submitted to SME Publications by
Jan. 31, 2011.
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
cerns and issues that may affect their
use in the future.
First, it is important to understand
what a booster fan is and what it is used
for. The most often-mentioned attri-
butes that define a booster fan are:
• Installed underground.
• Installed in the main airstream
or a split of the main airstream.
• Operates in combination with
the main fan(s), even if physi-
cally separated.
• Used to balance pressure
drops, decrease leakage and/or
increase pressure to overcome
resistance.
• Handles airflow of either one
or several districts of the mine.
• Not used as a face fan to venti-
late blind headings.
Some definitions include installa-
tion in a permanent stopping or a bulk-
head.
Booster fans are used in other
countries, as well as in M/NM mines
of the U.S., to ventilate distant work-
ings. Installing booster fans is the only
alternative to building more surface
connections when the usual ways to in-
crease ventilation, such as adding intake
and return entries, larger main fans or
widening shafts, are considered imprac-
tical or uneconomical. A booster fan is
typically installed to overcome mine
environmental conditions in which the
surface fan is physically incapable of
meeting the airflow requirements or
when these requirements can only be
fulfilled at extremely high pressures,
which can cause excessive air leakage
(Calizaya et al., 1988).
Regulation for the last 90 years
Early 1900s. Discussions concern-
ing the safety of booster fans in under-
ground coal mines resulted in initial
regulations in the 1920s and were influ-
enced by several accidents, fires and ex-
plosions related to their use. Research
was performed to study booster and
auxiliary fans for the purpose of for-
mulating recommendations (Horsley,
1926; Smith, 1927). In December 1928,
the Mine Safety Board recommended
that auxiliary fans or blowers should
not be used in coal mines as a substitute
for methods of regular and continuous
coursing of the air to every face (Mine
Safety Board, 1928).
In 1937, booster fans were ad-
dressed directly for the first time (Mine
Safety Board, 1937). Their use was sug-
gested only where it is not practical to
put down a new shaft and when the air
pressure required would be so high as
to prevent proper operation of under-
OCTOBER 2010 47
 Figure 1
Ventilation system of the North Goonyella Mine prior to booster fan installation (Marlborough, 2003).
ground ventilating doors. The reason for this recommenda-
tion was that recirculation of mine air was found in most
investigated installations.
The use of booster fans was regulated a year later (Fed-
eral Register, 1938).
These regulations stated, in part, that “Booster and aux-
iliary fans may be used underground only with the written
permission of the district mining supervisor under specified
conditions. With a booster fan, these conditions include pro-
tection against fire, and automatic starting and timing device
to prevent a fan from starting after it has been stopped long
enough to permit an accumulation of gas, and a recording
device to show continuity of fan operation. Also, a booster
fan shall not be operated where more than 10% of the air is
recirculated by the fan.”
These guidelines were added to several state laws. In
some coal mining states, utilization of booster fans was fur-
ther restricted by additional safety requirements.
Late 1900s and early 2000s. The Federal Coal Mine
Health and Safety Act of 1969 (Coal Act) did not specifically
prohibit the use of booster fans in underground coal mines.
The requirement of main fans on the surface, however, acted
effectively against the use of booster fans underground (Ra-
mani, 1993).
In 1989, when the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Admin-
istration (MSHA) published a new proposal for coal mine
ventilation rules, it provided an opportunity for revising and
updating the ventilation regulations issued almost two de-
cades prior, although the final rule in 1992 still does not per-
mit the use of booster fans in underground bituminous and
lignite coal mines. Reasons cited by MSHA include existing
approval criteria, established industry practice and several
safety concerns associated with such issues as recirculation,
fires, fan control, noise and dust. About coal mine fans, sec-
48 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
tion 30 CFR § 75.302 states: “Each coal mine shall be venti-
lated by one or more main mine fans. Booster fans shall not
be installed underground to assist main mine fans except in
anthracite mines.”
Several members of academia presented their opinions in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hartman (1987) said: “Why
are gassy mines restricted from using booster fans? The ra-
tionale is that main fans cannot be safely operated and ad-
equately controlled when located underground in flammable
atmospheres. While such a claim might have been valid 40
years ago, it has no bearing today, and within 15 years, will
be totally discounted. I predict that booster fans in U.S. coal
mines will be legalized in the near future. Arguments in their
favor are compelling. Further, no new technology is needed
— computerized, remote, automated control systems of high
reliability are now available and in operation in other coun-
tries. The exclusion of main fans underground compels venti-
lation engineers to overregulate mines in an effort to balance
disparate ventilation circuits — resulting in excessive energy
waste, air leakage, insufficient air delivery to some working
faces and generally less efficient and effective air distribution
throughout our mines.”
McPherson (1991) continued: “At the present time, at-
tempts to install booster fans in U.S. coal mines are effective-
ly blocked by MSHA and proposals have been promulgated
to render booster fans illegal. If this prohibition becomes
law, then our underground coal mining industry would be de-
nied a powerful and efficient means of improving the health
and safety of mine workers — a means that has long been
employed successfully in other coal mining countries. Where
incidents have occurred historically, they have arisen from
misuse or mismanagement of equipment.”
Ramani (1993) concluded: “The restriction on booster
fan use reduces flexibility in mine system design and op-
eration. As depths to coal seams increase, as panels become
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Figure 2
Ventilation system of the North Goonyella Mine after booster fan installation (Marlborough, 2003).
larger and wider and as rates of productivity inch higher, the
difficulty of designing coal mine ventilation systems with fans
located only on the surface must surely increase. Without
approval of booster fans in underground mines on an experi-
mental basis, data and experience in U.S. coal mines will not
be developed.”
Legislation in countries permitting the use of booster fans
in underground coal mines. In the United Kingdom, where
booster fans are commonly used in underground coal mines,
the law requires booster fan installations to be examined
every 30 minutes and to have basic monitoring information
recorded every two hours. The Office of Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) can issue exemptions from the require-
ments and, in return, it may impose conditions (Leeming,
2008).
In South Africa, the regulation concerning main fans ap-
plies also to booster fans. Monitoring and early warning of
defective operation are required. Every booster fan has to
be examined for effective operation at intervals not exceed-
ing three months. Power supply has to be provided from two
different sources. Booster fans have to be installed, oper-
ated and maintained in accordance with a written procedure
prepared and implemented for that purpose (van Zyl, 2008).
In Australia, the states have independent mine safety reg-
ulations. The large underground coal operations with possible
interest in booster fans are located mainly in Queensland and
New South Wales. In Queensland (Queensland Consolidated
Regulations, 2001), at least one methane monitor must be lo-
cated near the fan to warn workers if concentrations exceed
1.25% and to shut the fan down if concentrations exceed
2.0%. Standard procedures for each fan include procedures
to be followed when the fan activates an alarm. In addition
to monitoring the fan’s static pressure, mine operators must
be sure to continuously monitor other fan operating condi-
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
tions. Only specifically designated persons are permitted to
start, stop or alter the fan. As an example, the ventilation
system of the North Goonyella coal mine is presented in Figs.
1 and 2 (before and after booster fan installation).
The legislation of New South Wales (New South Wales
government, 2006) states that the operator of an underground
mine must ensure that any auxiliary ventilation fan used in
the underground parts of a mine is located and operated in
such a manner as to prevent recirculation of air through the
fan. Also, installation of a booster fan is considered a high-
risk activity and requires a three-month waiting period prior
to use. Information that is required to be submitted includes
the fan location and a ventilation plan that summarizes the
risks and controls to be put into place to operate the fan.
Federal regulations in Canada are no longer in effect.
Instead, individual Canadian provinces have regulations con-
cerning booster fans. Current and potential underground coal
mining operations are located in British Columbia, Alberta
and Nova Scotia (Bonnell, 2008).
In British Columbia, a pressure quantity survey is re-
quired to determine the necessity for a booster fan, the ex-
pected performance range, an adequate location and the
fan’s effect on the rest of the ventilation survey. Also, an
employer must ensure that a booster fan is located in such
a manner that, if it stops, the free passage of ventilating air
to or from a main fan will be restricted as little as reason-
ably practicable. These requirements are stated also in Nova
Scotia’s regulations (Nova Scotia Regulations, 2009). In ad-
dition to these regulations, booster fan controls have to be
protected and sufficiently remote from the fan locations.
Main fan, booster fan and associated equipment have to be
inspected at least once a week. Main and booster fans with
a capacity of 37 kW (50 hp) or more have to be inspected
for overheating of bearings or fan failure at least every 30
minutes if the fans are not continuously monitored for these
OCTOBER 2010 49
issues and at least every eight hours if they are continuously
monitored. The competent person who inspects the fans and
equipment must prepare a report of the inspection.
It is required by Alberta regulations that the free passage
of air delivered by a main fan is not restricted if the booster
fan stops. If the main fan stops, the booster fan must also stop.
The International Labour Office (ILO, 2009) presents
several recommendations concerning the safe use of booster
fans in underground coal mines:
• Fans must be installed and operated without detri-
ment to the safety and health of employees.
• A ventilation survey by a qualified person is required
prior to installation.
• The fan must conform to standards for inspection,
monitoring, maintenance and use.
• The fan should be equipped with safety and opera-
tional efficiency monitoring devices with alerts for
reduced ventilation, air reversal, dangerous gases,
fires or electrical disruptions.
• Fans must be approved by a competent authority.
In addition to these guidelines, it is suggested that the
manager of the mine formulate booster fan rules, add them
to the ventilation plan and post them at a conspicuous place
at the mine. This step is recommended where national laws,
regulations and standards do not provide, or provide ineffec-
tive or outdated, guidance on ventilation.
Advantages and disadvantages of booster fans
Advantages of booster fans. There are several ways of
gaining advantage from the use of a booster fan. Even if
booster fans are not suitable for every situation, they are
capable of providing improvements in various underground
environments when properly sized and located (Calizaya et
al., 1988; Calizaya et al., 1990; McPherson, 2009). Booster
fans can be used to:
• Improve the airflow distribution in the mine, espe-
cially in difficult-to-ventilate areas.
• Increase flow rates in high-resistance circuits.
• Provide air to areas with difficult surface conditions
(such as mining sections under water).
• Reduce air pressure differentials between intake and
return airways.
• Reduce leakage between intake and return airways.
• Reduce overall power costs.
• Reduce development costs.
• Decrease main fan pressure requirements.
• During mine fires, prevent smoke from entering in-
take airways.
As an underground coal mine becomes older or larger, a
significant portion of the fresh air is short-circuited through
leakage paths. In large mines, high pressure differentials
required to move air to faces can result in considerable air
flow losses through stoppings. However, air leakage in a mine
can be controlled by the addition of pressure sources in the
form of underground booster fans (Moll and Lowndes, 1994).
There are several ways to enhance the safety of booster
fans. They can be equipped with electrical interlocks wired
50 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
directly to the surface fan power circuit to avoid inadver-
tent recirculation caused by the stoppage of main surface
fans while the underground fans are still operating. Modern
monitoring systems can be used to collect data and to exer-
cise booster fan control. The parameters monitored at or
near a booster fan may include methane, carbon monoxide,
air velocity and pressure, fan speed, vibration, motor and im-
peller bearing temperatures and electric power (Calizaya et
al., 1990). It is also possible to separate the fan and the motor
from each other to reduce fire and explosion risks.
The usual guidelines followed in the mines to avert inci-
dents associated with booster fans are based on Kumar and
Sastry (1997):
• An effective mine communication system.
• Well-planned emergency/ evacuation plans.
• Continuous monitoring of mine environment.
• Use of fireproof materials with the booster fans.
• Simulation studies to assess the effects of stoppage
of fans in the mine and/or closure of airways due to
roof falls.
• Proper selection and location of booster fans.
Disadvantages of booster fans. Section 75.302 of the 1992
regulations requires all main mine fans to be installed on the
surface. According to an MSHA proposed decision and or-
der (PDO) regarding a petition to allow the use of a booster
fan in an underground bituminous coal mine, this regulation
serves to protect main mine fans from fires and damage, so
that in the event of an underground explosion ventilation can
be maintained (Langton, 2003). Several other safety concerns
are also listed in the mine-specific PDO regarding the pro-
posed use of a booster fan:
• Booster fans reduce the ability to control recircula-
tion of air underground.
• If an underground main mine fan is damaged, boost-
er fans limit opportunities to restore ventilation to
specific areas.
• If it is necessary to remove electricity from an area,
ventilation can be interrupted.
• A fire or explosion can make it impossible to control
the booster fan in order to adjust ventilation in spe-
cific areas of the mine.
• Booster fans can also increase noise, respirable dust
and float coal mine dust levels.
Other possible disadvantages, described by Calizaya et al.
(1990) and Brake and Nixon (2006) include:
• Problems in case of main fan/booster fan stoppage.
• Complexity of the ventilation system and its man-
agement.
• Inappropriate use of a booster fan that may result in
increased operating costs and/or increased leakage.
Unplanned, uncontrolled recirculation is the most promi-
nent potential drawback of booster fan utilization. When
booster fans are not designed, installed, located or operated
correctly, the possibility of uncontrolled recirculation exists.
If the supply of fresh air is not maintained at a minimum
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

level, then uncontrolled recirculation may cause an increase
of contaminant concentrations to unacceptable levels.
Another issue often mentioned is the question: What
happens if the booster fan/main fan stops? The effect of these
stoppages should be studied and taken into account in plan-
ning. Minimum required airflows have to be maintained at
all times. The consequences of either the main fan or the
booster fan going into stall should also be studied during the
initial design of a booster fan setup. Regulation concerning
booster fans in M/NM mines in the U.S. requires interlocking,
so stalling does not present a problem. A similar requirement
for booster fans could be implemented in coal mines.
The overall capital costs of a combined surface-booster
fan system may be greater than that of a larger surface fan
alternative, due to the need for additional underground ex-
cavation and a monitoring system. Also, a badly positioned
booster fan can exacerbate leakage problems.
Research in the US
Research programs. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University studied the optimization of multiple fan
systems that included booster fans. A critical path-crashing
technique to optimize multiple fan ventilation systems with
booster fans was introduced first (Bhamidipati and Topuz,
1983). Further research by Wu and Topuz (1987, 1989) de-
scribes other techniques, like linear programming, the out-
of-kilter method and the network simplex method. Based
on these studies, the optimal methodology is developed and
examples presented by Wu et al. (1991). The authors reported
that computer software based on the methodology would be
developed, but no further studies were forthcoming. This may
be due to the change in regulations that occurred in 1992.
The largest single effort to study booster fans in the U.S.
was performed as a contract under a grant from the U.S. Bu-
reau of Mines in 1985. The research started with an extensive
survey on the use of booster fans. The study showed that 318
booster fan installations were located in underground coal
mines worldwide, with the United Kingdom being the major
user, followed by South Africa and Canada (McPherson et
al., 1985). Also, a study concerning the attitudes toward the
use of booster fans in the coal mining industry of the U.S.
was conducted. It was found that out of the represented coal
mines, 42% were interested in installing booster fans. Out of
the uninterested operations, 52% considered the risk of re-
circulation to be the primary reason for not taking an interest
in using booster fans and only 6% pointed out other primary
reasons (McPherson et al., 1985).
The study was expanded in the late 1980s to include
booster fans and regulators at fixed locations and to minimize
the overall power consumption. The problem was studied
by Calizaya et al. (1987) using the commercially available
ventilation simulator VNETPC. A computer program called
MFSELECT was developed to determine the fans and regu-
lators that would fulfill the airflow requirements of a mine
and minimize the total power consumption. The application
of the program was illustrated by a detailed solution of a
sample problem based on the Jim Walter Resources’ No.
7 Mine. This solution described the basic requirements for
the design and operation of booster fans and showed their
potential benefits (Calizaya et al., 1987; Calizaya et al., 1988;
Calizaya and Mousset-Jones, 1989; Calizaya et al., 1990).
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
Figure 3
Longwall mine production in the U.S. in years 1983, 1993
and 2003 (1000 short tons).
Effect of longwall mining on booster fan research. What
suddenly initiated this research in the 1980s after so many
quiet decades? It can be speculated that the resurgence re-
sulted from increasing longwall productivity in the U.S. in
the 1980s and the increasing airflow requirements needed
to control the resultant dusts and gases. The limited number
of airways in longwall mining requires high ventilation pres-
sures to overcome the resistance.
Nationally, longwall mines produced 126 Mt (139 million
st) of coal in 1993, or 75% more than in 1983. In contrast,
total underground coal production increased by only 17%
throughout the same period. By 1993, longwall mines ac-
counted for 40% of underground coal production (Fig. 3),
up from 27% in 1983 (Energy Information Administration,
1995). In 2003, already more than half of the total under-
ground coal production occurred in longwall mines (National
Mining Association, 2008).
Petitions from industry
Petition process. Under section 101 of the Federal Mine
Safety and Health Act of 1977, a mine operator may petition
and the Secretary of Labor may modify the application of a
mandatory safety standard, such as § 75.302, to a mine if the
secretary determines that:
1. An alternative method exists that will guarantee no
less protection for the miners affected than that pro-
vided by the standard; or
2. that the application of the standard will result in a
diminution of safety to the affected miners.
MSHA bases the final decision on the petitioner’s state-
ments, any comments and information submitted by inter-
ested persons and a field investigation of the conditions at
the mine. In some instances, MSHA may approve a petition
for modification on the condition that the mine operator
complies with other requirements noted in the decision.
To date, there have been two petitions filed by mine op-
erators to use booster fans in underground bituminous mines.
In both cases, MSHA determined the proposals did not pro-
vide at least the same level of protection as the standard.
No. 7 Mine, AL. In 1985, Jim Walter Resources Inc.
(JWR) noticed that additional ventilation capacity was re-
quired to mine a remote block of its No. 7 Mine in Alabama.
Its personnel studied the situation and the review process
indicated that either a 7-m (23-ft) intake airshaft or a 746-
OCTOBER 2010 51
kW (1,000-hp) underground booster fan installed in the east
main intake would satisfy the predicted airflow requirement.
A petition for modification to operate an underground
booster fan was submitted to MSHA on June 11, 1986. It
included safety features, such as electrical interlocking, in-
dependent power supply and remote atmospheric monitor-
ing and was based on references obtained from the UK and
Australia. The potential for recirculation of air through the
fan was given as a primary reason for denial of the plan after
evaluation by MSHA.
JWR developed an improved plan. Various booster fan
locations were simulated in search of a more suitable fan
site. This defined a new location, in which a fan equipped
with a 298-kW (400-hp) motor would fulfill the ventilation
requirements. The simulations indicated that under normal
operating conditions the pressure differentials would be from
intake to return at all locations, so recirculation conditions
would not exist. Events of booster fan failure and shutdown
were also simulated with favorable results. The new plan was
proposed to MSHA on June 2, 1987. Safety considerations,
like fireproof housing of the motor, transformer and starter,
and a fire-sensing system with dry powder extinguishers, were
included in the plan. Also, the booster fan would have been
attached to a separate power circuit from the surface through
a borehole. It was also noted that the booster fan would be
located in a main return, away from the working face and,
thus, dust and noise were not considered to be a problem
(Sartain and Stevenson, 1988).
The new plan was inspected by MSHA. Ventilation engi-
neers from the MSHA Technical Support Center performed
a detailed ventilation survey of the mine in November 1988.
However, the plan failed to convince MSHA and the booster
fan petition was later denied again (McNider, 2008).
Loveridge No. 22 Mine, WV. On Sept. 15, 2003, Consoli-
dation Coal Co. filed a petition for modification of 30 CFR
75.302 at the Loveridge No. 22 Mine in West Virginia. The
petition described an alternate method that would allow use
of an auxiliary fan to prevent the freezing of the slope dur-
ing the winter months. Safety considerations in the petition
included fireproof housing, an automatic fire suppression
system, CO, temperature and vibration monitors and daily
inspection.
MSHA pointed out after the investigation that the auxil-
iary slope fan would be used to improve or augment ventila-
tion in a segment of the mine. Consequently, the auxiliary
slope fan was in reality a booster fan. Simulations demon-
strated that major ventilation changes occurred when the
auxiliary slope fan stopped. Slope ventilation reversed and
the intake at one of the shafts decreased by 53,000 cfm.
In addition, MSHA determined several safety issues that
were not addressed by the plan, such as vulnerability to dam-
age from a major mine fire, lack of an independent power cir-
cuit and no means to start or stop the fan remotely from the
surface. Also, MSHA pointed out a mine fire accident that
had happened in early 2003, in which a similar fan installation
had hampered firefighting efforts. For the reasons described
above, MSHA concluded that the alternative method would
52 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
not at all times guarantee no less than the same measure of
protection afforded the miners under 30 CFR 75.302, so the
petition was denied (Langton, 2003).
Conclusions
It can be seen that the interest in booster fan use in un-
derground coal mines of the U.S. has fluctuated during the
last 90 years. Booster fan research essentially stopped in
1992, following the final coal mine ventilation rule that out-
lawed booster fans. The booster fan issue was reopened in
the search for alternatives to belt air during the Technical
Study Panel meetings in 2007 (Anon, 2007). Use of booster
fans was presented as one of the three recommended re-
search topics in the Final Report of the Technical Study Panel
on Utilization of Belt Air and the Composition and Fire Re-
tardant Properties of Belt Materials in Underground Coal
Mining (Mutmansky et al., 2007). The MSHA response to
the report (Federal Register, 2008), released in June 2008, did
not address the research recommendations. However, in the
text MSHA noted the need to maintain the pressure differ-
ential from the primary escapeway to the belt air course to
prevent the leakage of contaminants to the escapeway in the
event of a fire. This pressure differential could theoretically
be achieved by using a booster fan.
Since the passage of the regulation in 1992, several safety
improvements have become available. Use of separate pow-
er circuits, AMS improvements and wireless communication
technology can make a difference in the safety of booster
fan use. Also, the research, experiences and regulations of
other countries can present important comparisons for the
potential application of booster fan use in the U.S.
However, under current regulations, booster fan research
in the U.S. will be challenging, due to nonexistent options for
field studies in coal mines. Computer simulations, labora-
tory studies and comparisons to M/NM mine practices are
expected to be the main research tools to evaluate booster
fans’ possible safety advantages. These studies will include
ventilation network simulations of underground operations
to evaluate their ability to assist in defining the safest and
most feasible locations for booster fans. Safety concerns will
be addressed by comparing and evaluating current practices
and fan monitoring systems. Finally, the impacts of existing
domestic and international booster fan safety regulations will
be reviewed for relevance to U.S. mining conditions. n
Acknowledgments
All companies and individuals who have provided infor-
mation are greatly appreciated. The authors especially wish
to thank Mr. Tom McNider for valuable comments and Dr.
Gerrit Goodman, Dr. Jürgen Brune and Mr. Chris Pritchard
for providing feedback.
Disclosure
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of
the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of
the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Mention of any company or product does not constitute en-
dorsement by NIOSH.
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
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OCTOBER 2010 53
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23-26 • Mine Closure 2010
November 2010 Sheraton Miramar Hotel and Convention Center, Vina del Mar, Chile
Phone: 56-2 652 1519
1-4 • 2010 Arizona Hydrological Society Symposium E-mail: mc@mineclosure2010.com
Westin LaPaloma, Tucson, AZ, USA www.mineclosure2010.com
Phone: 480-270-4937
E-mail: azhydrosco.web@gmail.com December 2010
www.azhydrosoc.org/index.html
1-3 • Mine Planning and Equipment Selection MPES 2010
Esplanade Hotel, Freemantle, WAS, Australia
4-6 • Emerging Leaders Alliance US Capstone 2010 Phone: 61 396586105 • Fax: 61 9662 3662
Renaissance Stapleton, Denver, CO, USA E-mail sfinlay@ausimm.com.au
E-mail: ELA@tms.org www.ausimm.com.au/MPES2010
www.emergingleadersalliance.org
4 • American Mining Hall of Fame and Museum Banquet
8-9 • Bio-Hydromet ‘10 Tucson Marriott University Park Hotel, Tucson, AZ, USA
Vineyard Hotel, Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa Phone: 520-577-7519 • Fax: 520-577-7073
Phone: 44 7768 234121 • Fax: 44 1326 318352 E-mail admin@miningfoundationsw.org
E-mail: bwills@min-eng.com www.miningfoundationsw.org
www.min-eng.com/biohydromet10
8-10 • Procemin 2010
8-11 • Mineral Project Evaluation Techniques and Applications Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, Santiago, Chile
McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada Phone: 56-2 6521555 • Fax: 56-2 6521570
Phone: 514-398-4755 • Fax: 514-398-7099 E-mail: procemin@procemin.cl
E-mail: admcrc.mining@mcgill.ca www.procemin.cl
www.cim.org/mcgill/#Nov_8-11_2010
February 2011
10-12 • Automining 2010 7-9 • Arctic Technology Conference
Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, Santiago, Chile George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 56-2 6521555 • Fax: 56-2 6521570 Phone: 888-945-2274 ext. 617
E-mail: automining@automining2010.com E-mail: convene@aapg.org
www.automining2010.com www.arctictechnologyconference.org n

54 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 SME News SME Foundation

McIntosh Engineering scholarship;

SME Foundation presents six scholarships
By Tessa Baxter, SME Division and Section Coordinator

I n May of this year, the SME Foundation (SMEF) in-

troduced the McIntosh Engineering Scholarship, a new
undergraduate scholarship made possible by a generous do-
nation from Scott McIntosh and the McIntosh Engineering
Group. The McIntosh Scholarship is awarded annually to
up to six promising undergraduate students entering their
junior year of an accredited undergraduate degree pro-
gram in mining engineering with a focus on underground
mining. The McIntosh Engineering Scholarship is a renew-
able scholarship with total potential funding of $12,000
per student — $5,000 for the junior year and, subject to
renewal approval, an additional $7,000 for the senior year.
At the University of Kentucky, Rick Honaker (l), Mining
The selection of scholarship recipients and the approval of
Department chair and professor, and Andrzej Wala (r), professor,
scholarship renewals are at the discretion of the McIntosh
present a McIntosh scholarship to Andrew Goderwis (c).
Engineering Scholarship Committee.

Scholarship recipients ing the past two summers and school breaks, he worked
Richard Boakye-Yiadom is a junior in the University of with Consol Energy, primarily at the Enlow Fork Mine and
Utah’s mining engineering program. He is from Ghana. His on the Bailey Mine expansion. Upon completion of his un-
country’s long history in mining and the recent renewed dergraduate education at Penn State, he plans to further his
activity there influenced his decision to become a mining education with an M.B.A.
engineer. He has interned with the Horizon coal mine near Brandon Burton is a junior in the Southern Illinois
Price, UT, where he was the assistant surveyor and complet- University-Carbondale mining engineering program. Prior
ed timing studies on current and future working sections. to beginning his studies, he served on active duty in the U.S.
He plans to specialize in mine administration and pursue Navy from 2001 to 2006. He completed a summer intern-
graduate studies. ship at Freeport-McMoRan’s mine in Morenci, AZ, where
Robert Burns is a junior mining engineering student at he worked with the slope stability department.
The Pennsylvania State University. He has been active in Andrew Goderwis is junior in the Mining Engineering
the Penn State Mining Society SME student chapter. Dur- Department at the University of Kentucky (UK). He is an
officer in the Norwood student chapter of SME and the
president of the UK Engineering Student Council. He has
completed internships with Nally and Gibson, a crushed
limestone operation in cen-
tral Kentucky; at Consol
Energy’s Bailey longwall SME News
operation in western Penn-
sylvania and with Peabody contents
Energy, where he worked
throughout the Midwestern 56
United States. Young Leaders’ Mentor
Paul Phillips is a junior Program
majoring in mining and min- 57
erals engineering at Virginia Krumb Lecturers
Tech. He spent a summer at
Resolution Copper in Supe- 59
rior, AZ where he performed NSSGA Competition
technical engineering proj-
Robert Burns (r) receives a McIntosh scholarship check from ects, such as redesigning the 63
R. Larry Grayson (l), professor at Penn State and SME student
chapter sponsor. (Continued on page 63) Obituaries

www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 55

SME Young Leaders
SME News
Student Mentoring Program;
Be a part of the future
By Abram Woodward, Student Relations chair, SME Young Leaders Committee
W ith SME’s 2011 Annual Meeting right around the
corner, it is time for students and professionals to
sign up for this year’s mentor program. I was challenged
by my peers within the Young Leaders Committee last
year to be a part of the mentor program. I found it to be a
rewarding experience and one that I look forward to being
a part of this year, as well. I would like to fill you in on my
experience.
I first participated in the mentor program when I was
a sophomore in college majoring in mining engineering. I
found that being matched with the right mentor was the
key to having a valuable and educational experience. To
find that match, you need to submit your student applica-
tion early and take the time to think through in what sector
of the mining world you would like your mentor to work.
As a student at the meeting, I was there to experience all
that the industry had to offer. I did not have any vendors
to talk to about upcoming projects or any meetings to at-
tend to further SME’s mission. I found that touring the
conference hall, attending section meetings and just joining
my mentor for dinner was a way to show me the value of
attending the conference and being a member of SME be-
yond college. It was also a great way to make contacts as a
student and get information on potential employers.
As a professional submitting an application to be a
mentor, I found that it was also important to submit the
application as early as possible to allow time to match me
New student section at University of Pittsburgh
By Susan B. Bealko, chair, SME Pittsburgh Section
T he SME Pittsburgh Local Section is pleased to an-
nounce that a new student chapter has been founded
within the geographical boundaries of the section. The new
University of Pittsburgh SME student chapter held its kick-
off meeting on March 16, 2010 at the Pitt Student Union
on the Oakland Campus in Pittsburgh, PA. This exciting
event included a social hour with snacks, refreshments, a
silent auction and a technical presentation on the Shoe-
maker Mine renovation project given by four prominent
engineers from Consol Energy. The speakers and topics
were: Joseph C. Wilcox, P.E., introduction to the Shoemaker
Project; Adrienne Carney, P.E., underground rehabilitation/
(Continued on page 62)
56 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
with the right mentoree. I had to take a little extra time
to fill out one more page during registration, and it was
worth it. I was able to take my mentoree around the hall
and meet the vendors I deal with in the field. It also al-
lowed time to discuss any questions that they had about
what I do and about the transition to being a professional.
The Young Leaders arranged a group dinner with
our mentorees that was a lot of fun. The group dinner al-
lowed time for us to interact with other mentorees in the
program and to share more about what our jobs were and
what our companies had to offer. The mentor program is
also a great way to look for a student who may be inter-
ested in a summer internship with your company or even
full-time employment in your sector of the industry. It
was an experience that only requires as much time as you
allow. And it can continue beyond the SME meeting and
into the future.
The mentor program is a way for professionals to be
involved with the students at the meeting and share the
experiences we have with those who are new to SME and
to our corner of the world. If you would like more infor-
mation on the mentor program, please visit the mentor
program page on the SME website, www.smenet.org/men-
tor or contact Mona Vandervoort, Education Coordinator,
at 303-948-4227, e-mail vandervoort@smenet.org. I am
also available to answer questions at Abram.Woodward@
gcinc.com. n
Consol Energy engineers share their knowledge and experiences
at the University of Pittsburgh kickoff meeting for the new SME
student chapter.
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 SME News SME Krumb Lecturers

SME announces the 2010-2011

Henry Krumb lecturers
T he Henry Krumb Lecture series was established in 1966 so that local SME sections could hear prominent minerals
professionals speak on subjects in which they had recognized expertise. Henry Krumb, a 1897 graduate of the Co-
lumbia School of Mines, had an interest in engineering education and improving the status of the mining profession. He
anonymously established an endowment fund “for any purpose that is for the benefit of the Institute (AIME).”
The 2010-2011 Henry Krumb lecturers are profiled below. To request a lecturer to speak at one of your local section
meetings, visit www.smenet.org, click sections, click Krumb Lecture Series and fill out the lecture request form.
If you have any questions, please call Tessa Baxter at 303-948-4208.

DAVID ARMSTRONG
Different Techniques for Classifying Mineral Resources
David Armstrong is an associate professor and chair of
the Department of Mining Engineering at Montana Tech
in Butte, MT. Prior to coming to Montana Tech, he worked
for 36 years in the mining industry in a variety of engineer-
ing and management positions. He began work as a systems
engineer in the exploration group at Amax and moved up
to chief mine engineer. Since leaving Amax, he worked in
Tucson, AZ for Mintec, Magma Copper and BHP, and in
Phoenix, AZ for Phelps Dodge. His primary experience is
in mine planning and reserve estimation. He received B.S.
and M.S. degrees in mathematics from the Colorado School
of Mines and an M.B.A. from the University of Denver. He
is a registered member of SME and a fellow of AusIMM.
He has been on the SME Resources and Reserves Com-
mittee since 1997. He is a licensed professional engineer in
Montana.
Different Techniques for Classifying
Mineral Resources
One of the necessary steps in min-
eral resource modeling and reporting
is to classify the mineral resource into
the classes of measured, indicated and
inferred. This classification can be based
on manual, mechanical or mathemati-
cal methods. Practitioners have favorite
methods of making this breakout so ARMSTRONG
they can move on to feasibility reports
and mine planning and, later, into reporting to regulatory
authorities. The different methods give different results and
these results can be substantial. This lecture presents the
standard ways industry does this classification and discusses
the advantages and problems of the many methods.

MICHAEL KARMIS
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Research: The Road to Deployment
Michael Karmis is the Stonie Barker professor in the
Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering and the di-
rector of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research
at Virginia Tech. His expertise is in the areas of rock mechan-
ics, health and safety, carbon sequestration and the sustain-
able development of energy and mineral resources. He has
written more than 150 scientific papers, reports, proceedings
volumes and textbooks. He has directed 45 major research
projects. He has also been recognized as an outstanding
teacher and has received numerous Certificates of Teaching
Excellence and other teaching commendations.
Karmis has been active in consulting with the minerals
industry, consulting companies, government organizations
and legal firms. He served as the 2002 president of SME and
as the 2009 president of AIME. He was elected as the 2002
president of the Society of Mining Professors and has served
as its secretary general since 2005. He is a Distinguished
Member of the SME, an Honorary Member of AIME, a
fellow of the Institute of Quarrying and a Fellow of the In-
stitute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has received
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
numerous awards from scientific, profes-
sional and industrial organizations.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Re-
search: The Road to Deployment
Any reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions to meet proposed or planned
climate change will require the develop-
ment and deployment of CO2 capture KARMIS
and storage technologies. Such technolo-
gies are needed, in combination with other mitigation mea-
sures, to achieve the necessary stabilization in anthropogenic
emissions. National and global efforts in CCS research are
intensive, multi-stakeholder and comprehensive, ranging
from basic research to deployment scale demonstrations. In
addition to technological developments, a number of other
barriers to CCS are also addressed: legal, regulatory and
financial barriers; availability of financial incentives; and
public acceptance concerns. This lecture presents a status of
CCS on the road to deployment.
OCTOBER 2010 57
SME Krumb Lecturers
SME News
RIMAS C. PAKALNIS
Ground Support Methodology Employing Shotcrete for Underground Mines
Rimas Pakalnis, P.Eng., is an as-
sociate professor in the Department of
Mining Engineering at the University of
British Columbia (UBC). He received
his Ph.D. from UBC in 1982, special-
izing in the field of rock mechanics. His
research involved the development
of empirical design tools for optimum
stope wall design. The courses under his
PAKALNIS instruction include rock mechanics, rock
fragmentation, mine design and mining
methods and equipment selection.
During the past 20 years, Pakalnis has supervised two
Ph.D. candidates and 26 masters candidates. He has orga-
nized and presented professional development courses for
the mining industry in the design of mine openings and pil-
lars, cable-bolt support, blasting, numerical modeling, geo-
technical mapping, rock mass classification and bulkhead
design. He has also served as an expert witness and as a
consultant to Placer Dome, Hudson Bay Mining and Smelt-
JOHN E. SHIVELY
The Pebble Project, Southwest Alaska
John Shively first went to Alaska in
1965 as a VISTA volunteer. What start-
ed as a one-year assignment, turned into
a career involved in the issues that have
shaped Alaska in the private and pub-
lic sector. He worked with the NANA
Regional Corporations on the develop-
ment of the Red Dog Mine and served
most recently as a Holland America
SHIVELY Lines executive in Alaska. He has
served two governors and is a former
commissioner with the Department of Natural Resources.
Shively has been a trustee for the Alaska Permanent
Fund, a regent at the University of Alaska and served on
numerous boards, including the Resource Development
Council where he served as president for five years. In 2009,
he received the Bill Egan Award from the Alaska State
MARK A. SMITH
Molycorp Minerals, Mountain Pass Rare Earth Operations
Mark A. Smith is chief executive officer, a member
of the board of directors and a shareholder of Molycorp
Minerals headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO. The
company owns and operates a rare-earth mine and pro-
cessing facilities in Mountain Pass, CA, where it produces
various forms of rare earth products for sale. Molycorp
58 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
ing, the County of Los Angeles, Inco, BHP Utah, Lynn
Gold, Sherritt Gordon, Westmin, Dickenson and Echo Bay
Mines. He is the co-author of more than 50 papers on mine
rock mechanics design.
Ground Support Methodology Employing Shotcrete for
Underground Mines
This lecture describes the research work conducted
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health’s Spokane Research Laboratory in the investigation
of shotcrete within underground mines to applied design
of ground support for the operator. It looks at the design
methodology in terms of employing shotcrete as a fabric to
confine the rock mass between the individual bolts as dic-
tated by empirical charts. This is coupled with guidelines for
safe entry in terms of cure times as well as understanding of
the behavior of the shotcrete in terms of fibers and overall
strengths that result with respect to the design of the mine
openings. This enables the operator to better understand his
workplace and thereby provide a safer work environment.
Chamber of Commerce as the outstanding Alaskan of the
year. He also received the Denali Award from the Alaska
Federation of Natives. He currently leads the Anchorage-
based Pebble Partnership as chief executive officer.
The Pebble Project, Southwest Alaska
The potential for a mine at the Pebble Deposit located
in Southwest Alaska has captured the attention of the
mining industry and nearly all Alaskans. This world class
copper, gold and molybdenum deposit has brought a major
public policy decision to the forefront in Alaska about min-
ing, its legacies and its role in the modern economy. There
is a well-funded, organized campaign to stop the develop-
ment, but there is also equal interest in the opportunities
it could bring. Pebble Partnership CEO John Shively will
share his views about one of the most interesting prospects
in mining today.
Minerals is also engaged in technology development con-
cerning rare earth applications and has several patents in
this regard.
Previously, Smith was the president and chief execu-
tive officer of Chevron Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Chevron Corp. Chevron Mining operated five mines
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

and was engaged in a joint venture with Consol Energy
to develop the Youngs Creek Mine, a surface coal mine in
Wyoming. Smith also served as a vice president for Unocal,
where he was responsible for managing the real estate,
remediation, mining and carbon divisions. He worked for
Unocal for more than 22 years.
Smith received a B.S. degree in agricultural engineer-
ing from Colorado State University in 1981 and his Juris
Doctor, cum laude, from the Western State University
College of Law in 1990. He is a registered professional
engineer and an active member of the state bars of Cali-
fornia and Colorado.
Molycorp Minerals, Mountain Pass Rare Earth Operations
Rare earths (RE) and rare earth permanent magnets are
Student design competition
gets under way
By Brady Johnson, co-chair, Student Design Competition
A s the new academic year opens, SME and the Na-
tional Stone Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA),
have begun the 7th Annual Student Design Competition.
The competition is the mining industry’s
only academic competition of the year.
The competition is a two-stage, team-
based problem involving a technical
design and an oral presentation. The first
stage — technical design — takes place
during the first semester of the school year
on each team’s campus. It is designed to
simulate an engineering project prepared
by an engineering group for a company.
This year, the problem will focus on
evaluating the purchase of permitted sand
and gravel reserves. The problem will
highlight the challenges of mine planning,
plant design and reserve modeling. The
second stage of the competition will be held at the 2011
SME Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. It will be an oral
presentation given to the “board of directors” of the com-
pany. In the past, the second stage has typically consisted
of a financial justification of the first stage. The presenta-
tions are open to anyone attending the 2011 SME Annual
Meeting.
Students — if you would like to participate and can
put together a team of six undergraduates, please contact
the Student Design Competition Committee. The benefits
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
SME News SME Krumb Lecturers
essential to the clean energy and defense
technologies on which our nation’s (and
many other nations’) economy, secu-
rity and future depend. As global RE
requirements continue to grow at dou-
ble-digit rates, fueled primarily by the
development of green energy technolo-
gies, China’s domestic demand is also
soaring, and it has been forecast that the
country’s production will soon match its SMITH
internal consumption.
Molycorp Minerals has developed a mining-to-magnets
business strategy and plans to produce 18 kt (20,000 st)
REO per year by 2012, including up to 6.8 kt (7,500 st) of
RE permanent magnets. n
of participating in the competition include experience in
engineering design, a chance to enhance public speaking
skills and leadership experience in a team environment.
The competition is a great résumé builder
and the sponsoring companies may be
looking for new employees. Of course,
there is always the prize money.
If you are not a student but are inter-
ested in being involved with the youth
of the mining industry, please become a
sponsor of the competition. By becom-
ing a sponsor, your company’s name will
appear in front of a large group of the
industry’s future employees. Each year,
nearly 100 students from mining schools
across the country participate in the com-
petition. If you become a sponsor, any
student seeking employment will have
the opportunity to contact you. The competition will also
give you the opportunity to see your future employees in
action. This is a perfect opportunity to invest in the future
of our industry.
If you have any interest or questions about the 7th An-
nual SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition, please
contact the Student Design Competition Committee, Brady
Johnson competition co-chair, e-mail brady.johnson@gcinc.
com, phone 916-855-8877. We are very excited about this
year’s event and hope to see you in Denver. n
OCTOBER 2010 59
SME Scholarships
SME News
Peng ground control scholarship
issues call for applications

T he primary objective of the new Syd S. Peng Ground Control in Mining scholarship is to promote the science of
ground control. Recent trends in mining engineering education indicate a possible future shortage of competent
ground control engineers. To remedy this situation, undergraduate or graduate scholarships will be awarded annually to
encourage the development of ground control engineers and promote the ground control engineering discipline. View the
complete guidelines and submit an application online at www.smenet.org/scholarships. All applications are due by Oct. 25,
2010. If you have any questions, please call Membership Services at 303-948-4208 or e-mail baxter@smenet.org.

JEFFREY B. KERR graduated in May 2010 with a
B.S. in mining engineering from Virginia Tech. Kerr plans
to continue on to graduate school researching a topic in
ground control and roof stability for underground mines.
Because he was on the Dean’s List, Kerr was able to de-
clare his major as a sophomore. He was on the dean’s list
for all of the semesters that he was at Virginia Tech.
Kerr spent two summers working for Patriot Coal in
West Virginia where he earned experience in underground
surveying, environmental control, ventilation calculations
and mine planning. He worked more than 60 hours a week
to help pay for school. He also worked as a lab assistant for
professor Mario Karfakis in the junior-level rock mechanics
laboratory during the school year. His duties as a lab assis-
tant include preparing core samples for uniaxial and triaxial
testing and providing assistance to Karfakis during the lab
sessions.
Kerr was a member of the Virginia Tech student chap-
ter of SME, the Burkhart Mining Society. He has served as
the director of student intramural sports activities and as a
mentor to new sophomores coming into the mining depart-
ment. He is also a member of the International Society of
Explosives Engineers, and he has participated in the Appa-
lachian Service Project.
ANTHONY M. LeBARON is a graduate student and
research assistant in the mining engineering department
at the University of Utah. He is focusing his studies on
rock mechanics, numerical modeling, subsidence and rock
mass characterization. His thesis topic is on the coupled
modeling of subsidence associated with block caving using
numerical analysis and remote sensing. It is unique in that
the numerical models will be calibrated and validated using
subsidence data collected by means of differential inter-
ferometric synthetic aperture radar.
LeBaron received a B.S. degree in mineral engineer-
ing from New Mexico Tech. His senior design project was
on the Questa molybdenum deposit in Questa, NM. As an
undergraduate, he worked as a teaching assistant in the
surveying class and plans to make teaching a part of his fu-
ture career. For two summers, he worked as a intern at Lee
Ranch Coal. He did GPS surveying and initiated a program
to quantify haul truck performance using off-the-shelf GPS
units. In 2009, he published a paper with J. Donovan at the
43rd US Rock Mechanics Symposium and 4th US-Canada
Rock Mechanics Symposium entitled, “A comparison of
photogrammetry and laser scanning for the purpose of
automated rock mass characterization.” He is a member of
SME. n

Syd S. Peng (r) presented a Peng Ground Control in Mining Syd S. Peng (r) presented a Peng Ground Control in Mining
scholarship to Jeffrey B. Kerr, Virginia Polytechnic University and scholarship to Anthony Le Baron (l), University of Utah, at the
State University (l), at the SME Annual Meeting in Phoenix. SME Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

60 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 SME News
Portal 31 exhibition mine honored
in engineering competition

E ngineering Consulting Services Inc. (ECSI) of Lexing-

ton, KY received one of 16 Honor Awards given in the
American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC)
44th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards competi-
tion. The award was given for ECSI’s work at the Portal 31
Exhibition Mine
in Lynch, KY. The
ACEC is a Wash-
ington D.C.-based
business association
representing ap-
proximately 5,700
independent engi-
neering companies
throughout the The Portal 31 exhibition mine visitors’ car begins its mine tour.
United States.
ECSI worked tourism to the state. The project is among 163 engineering
with museum and projects that were recognized by ACEC as pre-eminent
exhibit designers to engineering achievements for 2009. Judging for the awards
transform a deacti- took place in February 2009 by a distinguished panel of
vated mine portal more than 30 engineers, architects and representatives from
J. Steven Gardner (r), president and chief into a high-tech government, media and academia. Criteria for the awards
executive officer, and Jamie Draper, attraction that show- include uniqueness and originality, technical, social and eco-
marketing director, accepted the award cases Kentucky’s nomic value, complexity and success of the project in meet-
on behalf of ECSI. coal mining heritage, ing goals. All winners were recognized at the Engineering
from the days of picks and shovels to modern equipment. Excellence Awards Gala held April 27, 2010 at the Grand
Portal 31 is part of a series of attractions designed to bring Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. n

Mining exhibit a hit at Taste of Colorado festival

T housands of attendees and hundreds of teachers
learned about the importance of mining and minerals
in the 12.2 x 12.2 m (40 x 40 ft) exhibit tent at the Festival
of Mountain and Plain — Taste of Colorado during the
Labor Day weekend in downtown Denver. The Colorado
Mining Exhibit Foundation of Lakewood, CO, a nonprofit
education corporation, organized the event in Civic Center
Park. About $30,000 was raised to fund the walk-through
tent, which contained free gold panning, a free fossil hunt
and about 100 industry volunteers to talk to people about
mining.
Other displays included videos showing modern mining
and reclamation technologies, large graphics showing how
minerals are important to our high standard of living and
tables full of free educational material for teachers, home
schoolers, librarians, Scouts and parents. More than 500,000
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
people attended the festival and exit polls showed that
thousands visited the mining exhibit.
Major sponsors who donated more than $1,000 included
FMI/Henderson, Newmont, Arch/Mountain Coal, Peabody/
Twentymile and Chevron Mining. Additional support came
from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources,
the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, the Mining &
Metallurgical Society of America, the Denver Gold Group,
the Colorado Mining Association, the American Coalition
for Clean Coal Electricity, the SME GEM Committee, As-
sociated Governments of Northwest Colorado, the Den-
ver Coal Club and the Office of Surface Mining. Barney
Guarnera and Stan Dempsey were personal contributors.
For more information on this proactive outreach proj-
ect, contact Guy Johnson, Exhibit Coordinator, at 303-969-
0365 or GPJ222@aol.com. n
OCTOBER 2010 61
Meetings
SME News
West Virginia hosts
29th ground control conference
T he 29th International Conference on Ground Control
in Mining was held this fall in Morgantown, WV. The
conference, which began in 1981, was the vision of Syd S.
Peng, professor at West Virginia University. His vision was
to bring together the mining community to discuss and pro-
mote technologies and strategies for ensuring the stability
of surrounding rock formations during mining operations.
Presenters and attendees at this conference represent a
true who’s who of ground control for mining. This year, the
conference had nearly 300 attendees who were treated to
top-quality presentations from 45 well-known engineers
and scientists. The attendees came from all regions of the
United States and 14 foreign countries, including Australia,
Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Liech-
tenstein, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom. As in past years,
the topics covered encompassed nearly all areas of ground
control, including mine design, roof bolting and numerical Many attendees took a post-conference mine tour of Consol
Energy’s Robinson Run Mine near Shinston, WV.
modeling, to name a few. Each attendee received a confer-
ence proceedings as a full-color, hard-cover book and as
a flash drive. The 29th conference was coordinated under
the leadership of Thomas Barczak and Steve Tadolini. They
have been involved in the conference for decades and both
studied under the mentorship of Professor Peng. They will
continue to serve in leadership positions as the conference
moves into its third decade and will have significant respon-
sibilities for continuing this prestigious event.
The 30th International Conference for Ground Control
in Mining is already being planned and additional details
can be found at www.icgcm.conferenceacademy.com. Next
Tom Barczak (l) and Steve Tadolini (r) talk to Australian year’s conference will include several special events as it
visitor, Fritz Russell. will celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Peng’s vision. n

Pittsburgh student chapter

(Continued from page 56)
construction; Jim Mazzocca, overland conveyor installa-
tion; and Chad Cunningham, preparation plant and harbor
upgrades.
Student chapter president, Nicole Iannacchione, opened
the meeting by welcoming more than 50 mining industry
professionals. These included representatives from coal
companies, mining contractors, state and government agen-
cies, vendors, machine manufacturers, mining consultants,
academia and SME members from the Pittsburgh Section.
Many from these groups have provided donations to sup-
port the new student chapter, the mining engineering pro-
gram, student fundraising events, field trips and upcoming
SME student activities.
The student chapter faculty advisor leading this ener-
getic group of students is Anthony Iannacchione, P.E. He
is the director of the Pitt Mining Engineering Certificate
Program and former SME Krumb lecturer. Gary Takena-
ka is the chapter industry advisor. He is general manager
of applied improvements at Consol Energy. The new chap-
ter members are eager to learn more, gain hands-on min-
ing experience and enjoy what SME has to offer students.
Please join me in welcoming the University of Pittsburgh
student chapter to SME and an exciting mining career.
For more information about the University of Pitts-
burgh student chapter, visit its website at http://pittsme.
webs.com. n

62 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 SME News Obituaries

Jack Victor Desvaux

J ack Victor Desvaux died May 11, 2010 in Georgetown, TX. He was born in Kansas
City, MO Oct. 26, 1919. He received a B.S. degree in mining engineering from the New
Mexico School of Mines in Socorro, NM in 1941. He was associated with Asarco for 35
Necrology
date name and city
elected
years in a variety of technical and supervisory positions, from junior engineer to manager.
Desvaux was mine superintendent at Ground Hog in Vanadium. 1938 A. L. Barrett **
Following several promotions and transfers, Desvaux served 10 years as manager of the Virginia Beach, VA
Eastern Division of the company’s Exploration Department, headquartered in Knoxville,
TN. Prior to his retirement, he was an administrator in the Exploration Department in New 1970 William J. Cavanaugh
York. His career included extensive traveling, and he lived in Arizona, New Mexico, Peru, Barnegat, NJ
Tennessee and New York. He joined SME in 1952 and was a member of the Legion of Hon-
or. He was a professional engineer in New Mexico. 1992 Stephen W. Kline
Desvaux retired to Silver City, NM in 1978. He enjoyed outdoor activities and was Russellville, AR
an avid fisherman. He was involved in many local clubs, including SME, and was a past
member of the New York Mining Club. He was also a part-time consultant to the mining 1973 Fredoon S. Watcha
industry with assignments in Alaska and the Philippines. Mumbai, India
Desvaux was preceded in death by his wife, the former Louise Sherwood of Silver ** Legion of Honor n
City. He is survived by his daughter Jill Hubbs, his son Jay, and two grandchildren. n

SMEF McIntosh Scholarship

(Continued from page 55)
2009 mine layout to the 2010 footprint, geotechnical trace
mapping and fault mapping. He is a member of Virginia
Tech’s SME student chapter, and he also participates in the
mining and mineral competition and Women in Mining.
Benjamin Sutton is a junior studying mining engineer-
ing at the Missouri University of Science and Technology
(MST). He completed a summer internship for the Doe
Run Co. where he worked in underground metal mining.
He is the secretary for the SME student chapter and also
serves as captain of the MST Black mine rescue team. This
has inspired him to seek an emphasis in mine health and
safety. Congratulations from the SMEF to all recipients.
More information about the McIntosh Engineering
Scholarship may be found online at www.smenet.org/schol-
arships or by contacting Tessa Baxter, Division and Local
Section Coordinator, SME, 8307 Shaffer Pkwy., Littleton,
CO 80127, 303-948-4208, e-mail baxter@smenet.org. Ap-
plications for the 2011-2012 scholarships will be accepted
beginning Jan. 1, 2011. n

Matthew Aikins, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Jenna Alexander, Safford, AZ
John Ayarbe, Albuquerque, NM
Britt Babcock, Colorado Springs, CO
Ron Babich, Glendale, AZ
Kelly Bailey, Birmingham, AL
Medhi Bakhshi, Tempe, AZ
Eric Bella, Shavertown, PA
James Benda, Virginia, MN
Robb Bigelow, Hibbing, MN
William Bond, Virginia, MN
Joseph Bontje, Denver, CO
Terry Briggs, Greenwood Village, CO
Ana Lucia Del Carpio, Lima, Peru
Carlos Espinoza, Vina Del Mar, Chile
Gerald Eykholt, Madison, WI
Eric Fisher, Kingsford, NSW, Australia
Richard Fredrickson, Hoyt Lakes, MN
Antonio Gallovich, Williamsport, MD
Ignacio Garcia, Grande Cache, AB,
Canada
Baylor Gibson, La Crescenta, CA
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng
Roberto Gonzalez, Col San Pedro de
Los Pinos, DF, Mexico
Christian Guerra Rojas, Lima, Peru
Danielle Gunnell, Newport, VIC,
Australia
Nick Hasche, Randwick, NSW, Australia
Cody Hildreth, Alledonia, OH
Zeshan Hyder, Blacksburg, VA
Jeff Johnson, Salt Lake City, UT
Park Junhyeok, Seoul, Republic of Korea,
Michael Keener, Canonsburg, PA
Jonathan Kolbe, Kittanning, PA
John Krell, Blacksburg, VA
Matt Lamoreaux, Alledonia, OH
Jean Lebire, Les Coteaux, PQ, Canada
Alexander Lemon, London, England
Ralph Lestock, Rocky River, OH
Philip Lundman, Freedonia, WI
Chris Lynch, Thirlmere, NSW, Australia
Daniel Magill, Webster, TX
Darren Mathewson, Cameron Park, NSW,
Australia
SME Membership
Steve Menden, Maple Plain, MN
Hans Meyer, Atlanta, GA
Donald Morrison, Hibbing, MN
Craig Mort, Leichhardt, NSW, Australia
Patrick Mukonki, Lubumbashi,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Alejandra Pesqueira, Safford, AZ
Kevin Petz, Hoyt Lakes, MN
Trevor Plote, Duluth, MN
Nirmal Prasad, Sahuarita, AZ
Majumdar Prithvi, Chennai TN, India
Tim Quintero, Safford, AZ
Owen Riddy, Muswellbrook, NSW,
Australia
Benjamin Schmidt, Lakewood, CO
Santosh Stephen, Frisco, TX
Kirt Suomela, Washington, DC
Isao Taniguchi, Tokyo, Japan
Antonio Velarde, Pittsburgh, PA
Raul Villacorta-Iriarte, Winnemucca, NV
Katherine Wood, Wheeling, WV
Mohit Yadav, Jaipur, India n
OCTOBER 2010 63
New Products
Larox Flowsys introduces new knife gate valves
The new line of Larox knife gate valves features
an industrial cast-iron body and a heavy-duty
stainless steel gate. Each valve is fully loaded and
originally equipped with a flushing port, limit switch
mounting, a locking gate and top and bottom stem
protectors. The new knife gate valves have a heavier
thicker gate and a J-ring seat design that is
able to withhold higher pressures than the
conventional C-ring design. Removable
seats on both sides of the blade provide
a bi-directional bubble-tight seal. No
part of the metal is exposed to the slurry.
Three types of Larox knife gate valves are
offered for every process need — flanged,
wafer and high-pressure. They are available
with pressure ratings up to 300 psig and
diameters ranging from 50.8 to 609.6 mm
(2 to 24 in.)
When a knife gate valve is in the
open position, the two sleeves seal against
each other in the center. A full bore allows
the slurry to travel through the valve
without touching any metallic components.
While closing the valve, the gate is forced
progressively down as it nears the fully closed
Bucyrus offers underground vehicle flexibility
Bucyrus diesel rubber-tire vehicles have been
designed to work in combination with other equipment or
independently in high-production underground coal mines.
A crucial feature of Bucyrus diesel rubber-tire vehicles is
that they deliver a high return on investment, since they are
flexible, not task-specific and perform multiple functions.
The design philosophy behind Bucyrus rubber-tire diesel
vehicles is to have a commonality of parts across shared
platforms. Major components are common with other units
in the Bucyrus product line.
The three major types of Bucyrus diesel rubber-tire
vehicles in underground coal mines are load haul dump
(LHD) utility vehicles, material haulage transportation and
The Bucyrus FBL-10 LHD utility vehicle with trailer CHT 50.
64 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
position. At this point, the sleeves are sealed tightly
against both sides of the gate, so that the line pressure
is completely and efficiently contained.
There are two matching rubber sleeves in the
valve housing that seal tightly against the gate when
the valve is in the closed position. They suction
together when it is in the open position. This
tight seal provides the high, internal line
pressure, which, in combination with the
double-seated sleeve design, permits a
perfectly tight shutoff. A variety of sleeve
materials are available for different process
needs.
Larox knife gate valves have
elastomer secondary seals that replace the
conventional gland packing. These elastomer
secondary seals perform wiping and
lubricating actions to the blade as it strokes
down into the silicone-filled grease contours
of the seal itself. This type of lubrication
allows easer actuation and movement. And
there is no need to remove the valve from the
line when a replacement is necessary.
www.larox.com
heavy-lift shield haulers. The shield haulers can be used to
transport AFC drives and shearers. They are designed to
be compact, with a minimum profile and roadway presence.
A removable cookie plate and fixed fork tynes allow the
shield hauler to supplement underground roof support
installation and relocate transport equipment. They can also
be used in other heavy-lift operations.
With a CHT-50 trailer, the LHD utility vehicle can be
used in a longwall move transporting roof supports. With
a reeler attachment, it can install AFC chains, conveyor
belts and cables. With a jib crane, it can lift and locate
components. The range of buckets allows the LHD to
transport and load coal, rock or road base and cleanup
roadways. Bucyrus rubber-tire diesel
vehicles offer either wet bath or dry
scrubber exhaust systems. By combining
low-emission engines and the wet and
dry exhaust packages, Bucyrus addresses
mine ventilation concerns in dissipating
diesel-particulate emissions. The dry
and wet exhaust systems cool and clean
the exhaust gas before it mixes with
mine ventilation air and use a catalytic
converter to regenerate the exhaust gas
and reduce the emissions.
www.bucyrus.com
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 New Products

Sioux heaters are ideal for heap-leach process

Sioux Corp., a manufacturer of application-specific, specialty cleaning
equipment, fluid heating systems and steam generators, offers a complete line
of solution heaters for the mining industry. Sioux’s solution heaters are ideal
for heating cyanide for the heap-leach process, in addition to many other
solution heating applications. These units use 100 percent stainless-steel wetted
parts, including the heating coil. This makes them ideal for use with caustic
solutions, such as cyanide. The electrical enclosures are watertight NEMA 4 for
improved reliability in wet environments, and the heating coil has had numerous
improvements to increase performance, efficiency, reliability and ease of
maintenance.
All Sioux products are backed by the company’s 20-year reliability guarantee,
superior support after the sale and more than 70 years of experience.

www.sioux.com Solution heaters substantially increase

gold recovery efficiency by using hot
solution during the heap leach process.

Cognis receives U.S. patent for

split circuit technology
The Mining Chemical Technology Division of Cognis’
Functional Products Group has received a U.S. patent for
its split circuit technology. This technology is particularly
applicable to the agitation leach/solvent extraction circuits
of copper ores. The split circuit configuration splits the
leached solution into high- and low-grade streams, which,
in turn, are treated separately in the solvent extraction
process. The raffinate produced from the high-grade
solution is returned to the leaching step to fully reuse the
acid that has been generated. Raffinate produced from the
low-grade leach solution, lower in concentration of metal
species and acid, is used in the washing activity. A portion is
ultimately bled from the circuit as the soluble loss fraction.
The configuration minimizes soluble losses.
The economic benefits of the split circuit are apparent
once a detailed mass balance of both the metal species and
acid is performed. The simplicity of the concept means that
it can easily be incorporated into an existing flowsheet with
a minimum of capital outlay. In areas of the world where the
cost of acid and neutralizing agent are high, the operating
cost benefits of the concept can be substantial. The split
circuit concept has been implemented at five copper
agitation leach/solvent extraction circuits and has been
included in feasibility studies for other large-scale projects.
www.cognis.com

Magnalight adds a portable LED light

tower to its product line
Larson Electronics announced the addition of a 14,400-lumen LED light tower to
its product line. Dual 90-watt LED light heads are fixed to a removable mount head,
supported by a 2.44 m (8-ft) collapsible tripod. The WALTP-2X90Y tower can be
configured to project 180 watts of bright, white light in a long, narrow spot or wide area
flood mode. In flood mode, the wet-area rated LED light covers as much area as a 1,000-
watt metal halide light. The dual, 90-watt LED light head is removable from the collapsible
industrial-grade aluminum tripod. Operators can collapse the tripod into a 0.92-m, 3.6-kg
(3-ft, 8-lb) package for portability. The 4.1-kg (9 lb) LED light heads are easily stored as
well. The tower can be operated from standard U.S. 110-volt power or 12/24-volt dc power,
such as a standard U.S. wall outlet or a military vehicle. It is IP67 rated for outdoor use and
can be deployed quickly.
Larson Electronics’ Magnalight line offers a selection of LED lighting, including
vehicle-mounted lights, explosion-proof lights, intrinsically safe flashlights, replacement
bulbs, PAR38 bulbs and standard bulbs. n
www.magnalight.com
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 65
New Media
Hoist & Haul 2010
2010, Proceedings of the International Conference on Hoisting and Haul-
age, edited by Peter Brokenshire and Susan Andersen, published by SME, 8307
Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton, CO 80127 USA, phone 1-800-763-3132, 303-948-4225,
fax 303-933-6269, e-mail books@smenet.org, website www.smenet.org, 344 pp,
ISBN-13: 978-0-87335-337-3, $119.
Today’s mining professionals must meet the ever increasing challenges of
larger, more efficient and safer ore-handling systems. New developments in
technology have led to a host of different transport solutions. Design decisions
are greatly influenced by these advancements, which can impact the financial
requirements for new projects. Hoist & Haul 2010 provides the most current,
cutting-edge insights into these important issues.
This book is a compilation of the papers delivered at the 2010 International
Conference on Hoisting and Haulage. It provides a comprehensive update of
major developments and lessons learned since the last industry gathering in
2005. From the handling of ore at the point of extraction to stockpiling on the
surface, dozens of case histories document the latest trends in shaft hoisting,
incline and drift hoisting, conveying, hydraulic hoisting, rail haulage, tramming
and truck haulage. Experts involved in key mining projects throughout the world
share best practices on the design of systems and components, operations and
economic and safety issues.
Hoist & Haul 2010 is essential reading for anyone in the mine hoisting and
underground material transport community, including operators, engineering
and construction firms, equipment vendors, consultants, academicians and gov-
ernment officials. Sample contents of the book include:
• Brakes and Brake Controls • Drives and Drive Controls • Underground Materials Handling
• Incline Shaft Systems • Hoisting System Elements • Horizontal Transport
• Shaft Guides • Health, Safety and Risk • Design, Operation and
• Innovative Systems • Shaft Systems: New and Upgraded Maintenance of Ropes.

Equipment Management Workbook

2010, by Paul D. Tomlingson, published by SME, 8307 Shaffer Pkwy, Little-
ton, CO 80127, USA, phone 800-763-3132, 303-948-4225, fax 303-933-6269,
e-mail books@smenet.org, website www.smenet.org, 152 pp., ISBN-13: 978-0-
87335-335-9, $69.
The Equipment Management Workbook is a companion to the acclaimed
text, Equipment Management: Key to Equipment Reliability and Productiv-
ity in Mining, second edition. The Equipment Management text is regarded as
essential reading for mining professionals and outlines a proven and practical
strategy for ensuring the profitability of mining operations through quality
maintenance management. This workbook provides an easy, effective way for
readers to review and confirm the valuable lessons presented in the original
text. Its step-by-step approach focuses on the most critical aspects of a success-
ful maintenance management program. Each chapter challenges the reader to
recall the real-world experiences and recommendations from the text. Multi-
ple-choice, true/false and yes/no exercises reinforce every key concept.
The reader will benefit from author Paul Tomlingson’s more than 35 years
of worldwide maintenance consulting experience. Tomlingson’s textbook and
workbook comprise a how-to guide that will enable mining organizations to
implement a comprehensive equipment management strategy to ensure equip-
ment reliability, as well as work force productivity. Sample chapters of the book
include:
• Understanding Equipment Management • Leadership in Equipment Management,
• Applying the Principles of Equipment Management • Work Load Versus Work Force
• Developing the Equipment Management Program • Improving Work Force Productivity. n

66 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 international coal
PreParation congreSS
2010 conference
ProceedingS

The challenges facing the coal preparation industry have never been more
complex or daunting: China, India, and South Africa are experiencing
unprecedented growth in the use of coal. India is expected to be the world’s
largest importer of coal through 2030. New environmental regulations
in the United States and elsewhere are forcing operators to be even more
innovative and resourceful. How will the burgeoning demand affect global
pricing? How can coal preparation companies employ more effective
cleaning processes and technologies to reduce the environmental
footprint of their mining facilities and waste storage areas?
You’ll find answers to these and hundreds of other critical questions in
International Coal Preparation Congress: 2010 Conference Proceedings.
This 992-page book is a compilation of 118 state-of-the-art technical
papers presented at the industry’s most prestigious gathering. A CD con-
taining the full text is included. Read what coal preparation experts from
20 countries have to share on a variety of current issues, including:
• Water-based coal processing facilities and a review of plant
designs and operations used throughout the world.
• Breakthroughs in dense medium separations, water-based
separation processes, froth flotation, and de-watering.
• New wear-resistant materials proven to help plant operators
reduce maintenance costs, elevate plant availability, and
maintain a high level of process efficiency.

international coal • Groundbreaking methodologies that maximize the amount of

coal recovered while meeting the required product specifications.
PreParation congreSS: • The processing and potential uses of waste.

2010 conference ProceedingS • Innovative online monitoring and control methods and the
latest on the application of modeling and simulation.
Edited by Rick Q. Honaker • Advancements in technologies that can upgrade coal without
Book plus CD the use of water, including density-based, thermal, and optical
dry cleaning.
2010, 992 pages, 4 lbs
• And much, much more.
ISBN-13: 978-0-87335-330-4
Book Order No. 330-4 Published every four years in concert with this authoritative gathering,
International Coal Preparation Congress: 2010 Conference Proceedings
$139 Member
is an indispensable resource for the global community of industry
$109 Student Member
professionals, public policy makers, environmental advocates, as well
$169 Non-Member/List
as mining academics and students.

SectionS
• Marketing and Utilization • Dry Coal Cleaning
• Preparation Plant Operations • Low Ran Coal Upgrading
• Screening and Classification • Environmental Management
www.smenet.org/store • Dense Medium Separations • On-Line Monitoring and Control
• Water-Based Separations • Modeling and Simulation
books@smenet.org
• Froth Flotation • Waste Processing and Utilization
Local • Dewatering • Research
303.948.4225 • Thermal Drying • General
Your most Toll-free
precious resource.
1.800.763.3132
The Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
8307 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127 USA
Web Directory
THE BEST IN MINING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
BETE Fog Nozzle, Inc.
Manufacturers of spray nozzles for fire
protection, conveyor and truck washing
and dust control.
Email: sales@bete.com www.bete.com
Call & Nicholas, Inc.
2475 No. Coyote Drive, Tucson, AZ 85745
Email: cni@cnitucson.com
www.cnitucson.com
Cognis Corporation
Mining Chemicals Technology
Solvent Extraction Reagents
2430 N Huachuca Drive, Tucson, AZ 85745
www.cognis.com
Dawson Metallurgical
Laboratories, Inc.
an FLSmidth Company
Minerals processing testing & consulting
Telephone: (801) 596-0430
Email: SLCDawsonLabs@FLSmidth.com
www.flsmidthminerals.com/dawson
dnh search - Headhunters
P.O. Box 277, Cambria, CA 93428
Telephone: (805) 203-5878
Fax: (805) 203-5887
dhanak@dnhsearch.com
www.dnhsearch.com
Downer EDI Mining -
Mineral Technologies
Leaders in fine mineral gravity separation
with Reichert spirals. Reading magnetic
separators & Kelsey Centrifugal Jig.
Telephone (fax): (904) 827-1694 (1695)
E-mail: pbarkermdmtusa@aol.com
www.mineraltechnologies.com.au
EarthRes Group, Inc.
Mining engineers and professional
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www.earthres.com
FLSmidth
Your one source for the world’s largest
installed base of original equipment
including: Crushing, Grinding, Classifying,
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& Service.
Telephone: (801) 526-2000 or (610) 264-6900
www.flsmidthminerals.com
68 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
FMC Technologies/
Material Handling Solutions
Syntron® and Link-Belt Material Handling
Equipment. Tupelo, MS
Telephone: (800) 356-4898
www.fmctechnologies.com/materialhandling
GIW Industries, Inc.
“The Experts in Slurry Pump Design”
5000 Wrightsboro Road,
Grovetown, GA 30813
Telephone: (706) 863-1011
www.giwindustries.com
Hitachi Construction
and Mining Products
Hitachi hydraulic excavators and haul
trucks have built an excellent reputation
for high productivity, low maintenance
costs, and long-life reliability.
www.hitachimining.com
ITT Water & WasteWater USA -
Flygt Products
Pumps, mixers, monitoring and control
products, pre-engineered, self-cleaning
fiberglass pump stations.
1000 Bridgeport Ave., Suite 402, Shelton, CT
Telephone: (203) 712-8999
www.flygtus.com
J. H. Fletcher & Co.
Roof drills, long hole drills, mobile roof
supports, prime movers, scalers, jumbos
and other specialized underground mining
equipment.
Telephone: (304) 525-7811
www.jhfletcher.com
Luff Industries Ltd. - Canada
Manufacturer of quality conveyor
components. Idlers, Pulleys, Impact
Beds, Accessories. The most dependable
conveyor products available!
Toll-Free: 1-888-349-LUFF (5833)
www.luffindustries.com
Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc.
International Engineering Consultants
ENERGY / ENVIRONMENTAL /
ENGINEERING / CARBON
Locations in KS, KY, LA, NC, PA, TN, VA,
WV Telephone: 276.322.5467
Email: corp@mma1.com www.mma1.com
Naylor Pipe Company
Manufacturers of Spiralweld Steel Pipe and
Fittings 4” to 102”, #14ga. to 1/2” wall.
Telephone: (773) 721-9400
Fax: (773) 721-9494
www.naylorpipe.com
Post Mixing Optimization
and Solutions
Mixing Consulting; Audit, Optimize, Design
Mixers, Copper & Nickel SX, Solvent
Extraction, Biooxidation, Gold CIP/CIL,
Agitated Leaching, and Autoclaves
www.postmixing.com
Prep Tech, Inc.
Cyclones, spirals, flotation, filter press,
magnetic separators 4412 Rt. 66,
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Telephone: (888) 447-7737
www.preptech.com
Richwood
Conveyor Belt Cleaners, Load Zone
Protection, Material Containment, Pulley
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Rely on Richwood
Toll Free: (800) 237-6951
www.richwood.com
Schaeffler Group USA, Inc.
E1 spherical roller bearings, split
spherical roller bearings, TAC11, seals,
dragline, shovel and motorized wheel
bearings. www.fag.com
Skelly and Loy, Inc.
MINING ENGINEERS AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS
449 Eisenhower Boulevard, Suite 300
Harrisburg, PA 17111
Telephone: (800) 892-6532 or (717) 232-0593
www.skellyloy.com
TESSCO Technologies
TESSCO is a value-added supplier of
MSHA-approved products for wireless
two-way communication from leaky cable,
antennas, broadband wireless radios,
power supplies and custom enclosures.
www.tessco.com
Vibra-Tech/GeoSonics
Blast Consulting & Seismograph
Manufacturing
Allied Companies with 80 years
experience.
Telephone: (800) 992-9395 / (800) 233-6181
www.geosonics.com
www.vibra-tech-inc.com
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 Classifieds

AUGUST 2010
VOL. 62 NO. 8
Missouri University of Science & Technology
Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering

Freeport builds
PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR /
DMLZ Mine ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MINING
ENGINEERING
Applications are invited from qualified individuals to fill a senior faculty position at the
rank of Professor of Mining Engineering, Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering at
Heavy equipment
back on a roll Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). Depending on qualifications
Resolution Copper’s and experience, the position may be filled at the rank of Professor, Associate or Assistant
mine a showcase
for Rio Tinto Professor. The Department, which has a long history of educating engineers for the mining
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com industry, has one of the nation’s largest and most respected mining engineering programs.
It has strong ties with the domestic coal, metal, industrial minerals, stone and aggregate
industries, as well as several international academic institutions and industries. In addition,
www.MiningEngineeringMagazine.com

the Department has a long history of teaching and research in the explosives field and has
been expanding recently in this area.
The Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering has over 400 undergraduate and graduate
students in both Mining and Nuclear Engineering disciplines. The Department houses a
19-acre Experimental Mine on campus for research and teaching activities. Other research
facilities associated with the Department include a Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research
Center with associated Explosives Research Laboratory, Western Mine Safety and Health
Training and Translation Center, Center for Energy Research and Development and a Nuclear
Reactor. Missouri S&T, part of the land-grant University of the State of Missouri, is located in
South Central Missouri in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. There are approximately 6,300
students on the Rolla campus, of which about 85% are science and engineering students.
The successful applicant must (i) have earned doctoral degree in mining engineering or a
related engineering field with relevant mining industry experience, (ii) be established as a
researcher with successful history of research experience, and (iii) have a track record of
funding with peer-reviewed publications. Candidates with strong background and research
experience in underground mining, surface mining, mine design and/or energy-related issues
are preferred. Responsibilities will include research, graduate and undergraduate teaching,
and service. Rank and remuneration will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
This is a tenure track position.
The final candidate is required to provide official transcript(s) for any college degree(s) listed
in application materials submitted. Copies of transcript(s) must be provided prior to the start
of employment. In addition, the final candidate may be required to verify other credentials
listed in application materials. Failure to provide official transcript(s) or other required
verification may result in the withdrawal of the job offer.
Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2010 and continue until the position is filled.
The successful candidate is expected to start on January 1, 2011. All application materials,
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used include PDF and Word. Hard copy, printed documents will no longer be accepted.
Please remember to include the reference number listed with each job in your application
materials that you submit.
Human Resource Services
Reference 00031195
Missouri University of Science and Technology is an AA/EEO
employer. Females, minorities and persons with disabilities are
encouraged to apply. Missouri S&T participates in E-Verify. For more
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Classifieds

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Annual Meeting
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December 5-6, 2010
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SME/ARIZONA CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
(Photocopy this form if additional forms are needed)
Fax Form To: 303-979-3461 • Online: www.smenet.org or
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Meetings Dept. • Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
8307 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127
Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Employer _______________________________________________________________________________________________
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Check One
Before After
11/5/10 11/5/10 Payment
(
(
)
)
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Author A
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_____ Student(s) S $30 $ _________ If so, please identify them. (1992 ADA)
Card Number __________________________________________________________ Exp. Date _____________________________________
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• Submit only one request on each form. Additional forms may be obtained by photocopying this sheet.
• All reservation requests must be processed through the Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort.
• To change your arrival or departure date or the type of room requested, contact the hotel at 520-544-5000
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or FAX TO: 520-544-1224
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Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Employer _______________________________________________________________________________________________
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www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 73

 Professional Services

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74 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 Professional Services

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www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 75
Professional Services

Marston Ad. 4/color:MINING AD/2.125x2-2 7/16/08 11:28 AM Page 1

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76 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com

 Professional Services

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www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 77

 2010 Professional DeveloPment
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for ore reserves anD mine Planning

Mineral project evaluation techniques and applications: From

conventional methods to real options
November 8-11, 2010, Montreal
Michel Bilodeau, McGill University, Canada

Learn the basics of economic/financial evaluation techniques, as well as the practical implementation
of these techniques to mineral project assessments.

• How to gain a practical understanding of economic/financial evaluation principles.

• How to develop the skills necessary to apply these to support mineral project decisions.

Upcoming 2011 Seminars

• New - Certification in ore reserve risk and mine planning
optimization. Starts May 2011, Montreal Canada.
Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University

For more details please visit- www.mcgill.ca/conted/prodep/ore/

• Theory and practice of sampling particulate materials - Part 1

COSMO Lab QA-QC, mine, and project audits - Part 2
Mining Engineering
Dominique François-Bongarçon, AGORATEK, USA

• Strategic risk management in mine design: From life-of-mine to

For registration and global optimization
information Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada; Gelson Batista, AMEC,
please contact: Canada; and Gerald Whittle, Whittle Consulting Australia.

Deborah Frankland • An introduction to cutoff grade estimation: Theory and practice

Dept. of Mining and
Materials Engineering
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec
• Geostaistical mineral resource/ore reserve estimation and
Email:
admcrc.mining@mcgill.ca
Phone: (514) 398-4755,
ext. 089638
Fax: (514) 398-7099
in open pit and underground mines
Jean-Michel Rendu, Executive Consultant, Snowden, Australia
meeting the new regulatory environment: Step by step from
sampling to grade control
Michel Dagbert, Geostat Systems Int, Canada; Jean-Michel Rendu, Consultant, USA;
and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada
www.smenet.org
http://cosmo.mcgill.ca
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www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng OCTOBER 2010 79

The Drift of Things
Coal versus natural gas
New law hurts
Colorado coal
Colorado’s legislature, in April,
passed H.B. 1365, a bill that required
the state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy,
to file a plan with the state’s Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) outlining
how it will reduce air pollution
emissions from its electric generating
plants.
The measure, dubbed the Clean
Air-Clean Jobs Act, was signed into
Steve Kral,
law by Gov. Bill Ritter. It provided
Editor
Xcel Energy with incentives to
replace 900 MW of electricity from
its coal plants with natural gas by 2017. At the
time the measure was proposed, Xcel Energy
voiced its opposition, saying the costs would be
too great. However, once it became evident that
the measure had a significant amount of support
from state lawmakers, the utility changed its
position to one of support.
Xcel’s plan is to spend $1.3 billion to retrofit
several of its coal-burning units to natural
gas. The utility claims its plan would promote
economic development in the state and only add
about 2 percent, or $14, to the average residential
bill by 2020. However, Xcel also said that base
rates through inflation could increase by 31
percent during the next 10 years, bringing the
average annual residential bill to $934.
The plan is, of course, supported by the oil
and gas industry, environmental groups and the
governor, who has made it clear since his election
that he wants Colorado to be known as a clean
energy, clean jobs state. He is not running for re-
election, by the way.
The Colorado Mining Association (CMA)
and other opponents to the plan say the Clean
Air-Clean Jobs Act was rushed through the
legislature with little input from industry. CMA
president Stuart Sanderson said the bill is
“decidedly anti-coal.” In addition to significant
job losses in the coal industry, energy consumers
stand to lose in a big way, he said, “as the cost of
natural gas exceeds that of coal by 300 percent.”
The coal industry in the state will suffer
by Xcel’s plan. “It will hurt Colorado coal
production,” Sanderson said. “Proponents
erroneously contend that Colorado will not
suffer major impacts as we sell coal on the export
80 OCTOBER 2010 Mınıng engıneerıng
market.” However, he pointed out that coal
export sales (outside of the state), decreased by
nearly 5.4 Mt (6 million st), or 27 percent, in a
year. And the passage of H.B. 1365 means that
2.3 Mt (2.6 million st) of coal that is currently
sold to two of Xcel’s Front Range plants will
disappear.
Proponents of H.B. 1365 and the utility’s plan
point to a study by the University of Colorado’s
Leeds School of Business that showed a positive
economic impact for the state. It projected that
Xcel’s spending would generate up to $1.7 billion
in economic activity and create 1,254 jobs in the
construction industry between 2010 and 2026.
However, an analysis of Xcel’s plan by Roger
Bezdek, an economist and national energy
expert, went in the opposite direction. He said
in testimony filed with the PUC that Xcel’s
plan would cause electricity rates in Colorado
to increase between 11 percent and 50 percent,
contrary to Xcel’s 2 percent estimate. Bezdek
also said the utility’s plan would result in:
• A reduction in Colorado’s gross state
product (GSP) of between $2.8 billion
and $12 billion annually.
• Annual job losses in range of 30,000 to
nearly 120,000.
• Cumulative GSP losses from 2011
through 2020 of almost $117 billion.
• Cumulative job losses between 2011 and
2020 of 1.2 million.
• Cumulative costs to ratepayers during
the same time period of up to $22 billion.
Another analysis of Xcel’s plan was
performed by Harvey Cutler, an economist at
Colorado State University. His analysis may be
the most significant of the three in that it was
performed for the PUC and could be the one the
commission most relies upon. Cutler calculated
that, over 10 years, Xcel’s planned move from
coal to natural gas would cost Colorado residents
about $89 million. And local and state taxes
would be reduced by about $2.8 million.
Cutler’s analysis also determined that job
losses associated with increased electricity rates
could reach 2,459. This would include 882 jobs
that are linked to the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act.
Colorado’s PUC held hearings on the plan
for two weeks during late October and early
November. A final decision approving or
disapproving the plan is due by Dec. 15. n
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
 2011 SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit
& CMA 113th National Western Mining Conference
Shaping a Strong Future Through Mining
February 27 – March 2, 2011 • Denver, Colorado

The premier gathering of mineral professionals is not to be missed.

Mark your calendar for the following:

PROGRAM
Coal & Energy • Industrial Minerals & Aggregates • Environmental
Geology • Mining & Exploration • Mineral & Metallurgical Processing
Robert Bates Symposium • R-H Yoon Symposium
Underground Construction Association of SME • Valuation

EXHIBIT
The industry’s best market place. Plan on experiencing more than
400 of industry’s most innovative suppliers of products and services.

PLUS: Short Courses • Field Trips • Social Activities

Student Activities • And much more!

For more information on the 2011 SME/CMA Meeting, contact:

SME, 8307 Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton, CO 80127
www.smenet.org • sme@smenet.org • 303-948-4200
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