K. Dachri; Kh. Naji; K. Nouar; I. Benzakour; Kh. Ouzaouit; M. Badri; A. Boussetta; H. Faqir; Kh. El Amari; M. Hibti
Abstract
This work aims to define an efficient and innovative tool in order to make early metallurgical predictions of the Tizert deposit in western Anti-Atlas-Morocco. To do this, the mineralogical approach is used as a tool of gometallurgical prediction using a combination of the lithological field observations ...
Read More
This work aims to define an efficient and innovative tool in order to make early metallurgical predictions of the Tizert deposit in western Anti-Atlas-Morocco. To do this, the mineralogical approach is used as a tool of gometallurgical prediction using a combination of the lithological field observations on representative drill cores, microscopic characterization performed on 54 thin sections, and automated quantitative mineralogy (AQM) conducted on five composite samples. The metallurgical prediction of the Tizert ore is based on the liberation data, notably on the copper content locked in the gangue and on unrecoverable copper buried as a solid matrix in the gangue minerals (refractory copper). In order to ensure the validity of the proposed method, the results of mineralogical prediction are compared with the flotation test work performance. As a result, the predicted copper recovery results from the mineralogical data are practically the same as those obtained through the flotation tests, showing a maximum difference of 2.02%, an R2 value of 0.96, and a Root Mean Square Error of 1.64%. These results indicate that using the AQM data, the copper recovery could be predicted accurately for the Tizert ore. Furthermore, an early prediction of the flotation performance is very useful in the geo-metallurgical model conception. In addition, such an approach ensures visibility throughout the life of the mine, and provides quick and cost-effective data for processing the performance. On an industrial scale, the applicability of this method can be expanded further by integrating the mineralogical approach into all steady-state processes in order to cover the possible mineralogical variety during the operations, and ensure an industrial process control.
Edith Amoakie Amoatey; Eric Tetteh Glover; David Okoh Kpeglo; Francis Otoo; Dennis Kpakpo Adotey
Abstract
Knowledge of accurate radio-isotopic signatures of NORM waste disposal site is essential prior to the disposal, to ascertain the baseline radioactivity levels. In this work, soil and water from a NORM waste site situated at Sofokrom in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana is characterized and determined. ...
Read More
Knowledge of accurate radio-isotopic signatures of NORM waste disposal site is essential prior to the disposal, to ascertain the baseline radioactivity levels. In this work, soil and water from a NORM waste site situated at Sofokrom in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana is characterized and determined. The mean activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K measured in the soil samples are 40.31 ± 13.93 Bq/kg, 63.29 ± 23.18 Bq/kg, and 198.71 ± 49.10 Bq/kg, respectively, with the 226Ra and 232Th average values being higher than the average worldwide values by UNSCEAR. Also, the average activity levels of water samples from monitoring borehole measured for 226Ra and 232Th are within the WHO guidance levels of 1 Bq/L. The radiological parameters such as internal and external hazard indices (Hin and Hex), absorbed dose rate (D), and radium equivalent activity (Raeq) are estimated to assess the radiological risk to human, and compared with other similar works. Except for the annual gonadal dose, the remaining parameters are less than the recommended values. Multivariate statistical analysis is done to establish the interrelations among the activity concentrations of the radionuclides and their radiological parameters using Pearson correlation coefficient and principal component analysis. Strong positive correlations between 226Ra, 232Th, and the radiological parameters are observed. These findings would serve as the reference point for assessing future variations in the background radioactivity level owing to the geological or human activities from the disposal of the oil waste in the environment, as well as to aid in improving the technical foundations for the management of the NORM waste.
Z. Bayatzadeh Fard; F. Ghadimi; H. Fattahi
Abstract
Determining the distribution of heavy metals in groundwater is important in developing appropriate management strategies at mine sites. In this paper, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) methods to data analysis,namely artificial neural network (ANN), hybrid ANN with biogeography-based optimization ...
Read More
Determining the distribution of heavy metals in groundwater is important in developing appropriate management strategies at mine sites. In this paper, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) methods to data analysis,namely artificial neural network (ANN), hybrid ANN with biogeography-based optimization (ANN-BBO), and multi-output adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (MANFIS) to estimate the distribution of heavy metals in groundwater of Lakan lead-zinc mine is demonstrated.For this purpose, the contamination groundwater resources were determined using the existing groundwater quality monitoring data, and several models were trained and tested using the collected data to determine the optimum model that used three inputs and four outputs. A comparison between the predicted and measured data indicated that the MANFIS model had the mostpotential to estimate the distribution of heavy metals in groundwater with a high degree of accuracy and robustness.
Mineral Processing
V. Radmehr; Seyed Z. Shafaei; M. Noaparast; H. Abdollahi
Abstract
This paper presents a new approach for flotation circuit design. Initially, it was proven numerically and analytically that in order to achieve the highest recovery in different circuit configurations, the best equipment must be placed at the beginning stage of the flotation circuits. The size of the ...
Read More
This paper presents a new approach for flotation circuit design. Initially, it was proven numerically and analytically that in order to achieve the highest recovery in different circuit configurations, the best equipment must be placed at the beginning stage of the flotation circuits. The size of the entering particles and the types of streams including pulp and froth were considered as the basis for specialization of the flotation processes. In the new approach, the flotation process plays as the two functions of primary and secondary concentrations. The proposed approach was applied to a lead flotation circuit of a lead-zinc flotation plant. The results obtained showed that in most traditional-oriented circuits, a large part of the streams containing valuable metals were returned to the rougher stage, which, in turn, reduced the efficiency and caused perturbation. In the new approach, providing more control over unit operations in the circuit could provide a higher performance. In addition, in cases where zinc minerals are liberated from their gangue in coarse size, the new approach, by generating coarse-grained tailing, can prevent excessive grinding of zinc minerals in the feed into the zinc flotation circuit.
Exploitation
Assefa Hailesilasie Wolearegay; Yowhas Birhanu Amare; Asmelash Abay Hagos; Kassa Amare Mesfin; Hagos Abraha; Bereket Gebresilassie; Nageswara Rao Cheepurupalli; Yewuhalashet Fissha
Abstract
The Dichinama area in northern Ethiopia is a potential source of dimension stone, but the quality of the marble has been a major challenge for mining operations. This research aims to evaluate the quality of dimension stone by conducting a comprehensive study involving geological mapping, geotechnical ...
Read More
The Dichinama area in northern Ethiopia is a potential source of dimension stone, but the quality of the marble has been a major challenge for mining operations. This research aims to evaluate the quality of dimension stone by conducting a comprehensive study involving geological mapping, geotechnical testing, and geochemical analysis. The study collected nine rock samples from three active mining sites in the Dichinama area, analyzing properties such as density, water absorption, compressive strength, flexural strength, and abrasion resistance. Additionally, ten samples were collected for geochemical analysis, focusing on parameters like calcite, CaO values, LOI, SiO2 content, and other oxide concentrations. The geotechnical tests revealed that the properties of the marble in the Dichinama area were mainly calcite, with compressive strength values ranging from 29.6 to 74.5 MPa, flexural strength from 7 to 52.5 MPa, abrasion resistance from 8.3 to 17.2, density from 2257 to 2562 kg/m3, and water absorption from 0.12 to 0.93. However, most of these parameters fell below the minimum ASTM standards for marble dimension stone. The results suggest that these inferior characteristics negatively affect the recovery and quality of the dimension stone.
Exploitation
H. Aryanmehr; M. Hosseinjanizadeh; M. Honarmand; F. Naser
Abstract
In this work, we focus on investigating the Quickbird and Landsat-8 datasets for mapping hydrothermal and gossans alterations in reconnaissance porphyry copper mineralization in the Babbiduyeh area. This area is situated in the Central Iranian Volcano-sedimentary Complex, where large copper deposits ...
Read More
In this work, we focus on investigating the Quickbird and Landsat-8 datasets for mapping hydrothermal and gossans alterations in reconnaissance porphyry copper mineralization in the Babbiduyeh area. This area is situated in the Central Iranian Volcano-sedimentary Complex, where large copper deposits like Sarcheshmeh as well as numerous occurrences of copper exist. The alteration zones are discriminated by implementation of band ratio and principal component analysis on the Quickbird and Landsat-8 datasets. The image processing results are evaluated by field surveys, X-ray diffraction (XRD), microscopic thin section, and spectroscopic studies of field samples as well as the 1:100000 Sarduiyeh and 1:5000 Babbiduyeh geological maps. In addition, the spectral characterizations of the samples are analyzed by visual inspection, and the PIMAView, SAMS, and ViewSpecpro software programs. The combined spectroscopic measurements, XRD analyses, and petrographic studies revealed mineral assemblages typical of the phyllic, phyllic-supergen, propylitic, argillic, and gossan alterations. The results obtained from image processing and analysis of field samples illustrated examples of effects of iron oxides and hydroxides on the surface of phyllic and argillic alterations. Hence, it can be concluded that the areas discriminated in Quickbird as gossans correspond to the phyllic and argillic alteration areas.
Exploration
Ajay Kumar
Abstract
Land use (LU) classification based on remote sensing images is a challenging task that can be effectively addressed using a learning framework. However, accurately classifying pixels according to their land use poses a significant difficulty. Despite advancements in feature extraction techniques, the ...
Read More
Land use (LU) classification based on remote sensing images is a challenging task that can be effectively addressed using a learning framework. However, accurately classifying pixels according to their land use poses a significant difficulty. Despite advancements in feature extraction techniques, the effectiveness of learning algorithms can vary considerably. In this study conducted in Talcher, Odisha, India, the researchers proposed the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to classify land use based on a dataset collected by the Sentinel-2 satellite. The study focused on the Talcher region, which was divided into five distinct land use classes: coal area, built-up area, barren area, vegetation area, and waterbody area. By applying ANNs to the mining region of Talcher, the researchers aimed to improve the accuracy of land use classification. The results obtained from the study demonstrated an overall accuracy of 79.4%. This research work highlights the importance of utilizing remote sensing images and a learning framework to address the challenges associated with pixel-based land use classification. By employing ANNs and leveraging the dataset from the Sentinel-2 satellite, the study offers valuable insights into effectively classifying different land use categories in the Talcher region of India. The findings contribute to the advancement of techniques for accurate land use analysis, with potential applications in various fields such as urban planning, environmental monitoring, and resource management.
A Atrafi; H Hodjatoleslami; Mohammad Noaparast; Z Shafaei; A Ghorbani
Abstract
This study aimed to explore concentration of a low grade sulfide-oxide lead-zinc sample containing 2.3% Pb, 1.91% Zn taken from Changarzeh mine, South Natanz, Iran. The effects of different parameters such as type and dosage of collector, milling retention time, dosage of sodium sulfur and its preparation ...
Read More
This study aimed to explore concentration of a low grade sulfide-oxide lead-zinc sample containing 2.3% Pb, 1.91% Zn taken from Changarzeh mine, South Natanz, Iran. The effects of different parameters such as type and dosage of collector, milling retention time, dosage of sodium sulfur and its preparation time, application of sodium silicate, pH and solid content were investigated in relation to flotation efficiencies. Optimum experiment was carried out in cumulative flotation with 200g/t KAX as collector, 2000g/t Na2S, 500g/t sodium silicate, 30g/t MIBC and at pH=10. This test yielded 94% of lead recovery under optimum condition performance, and a concentrate with 70%Pb was produced through cleaning stages. Eighteen minutes was found to be the optimum time for lead flotation in laboratory scale. Application of gravity method for the production of a middle product was also considered. For shaking table the effect of table slope and water flowrate and for jig the effect of water flowrate and frequency were studied. Gravity separation by shaking table resulted in a concentrate with 46%Pb and 80% recovery, so shaking table could be proposed for production of pre-concentrate.
Omid Frough; Seyed Rahman Torabi; Majid Tajik
Abstract
Successful application of a TBM in a project requires investigating both the ground conditions and the machine and backup system design features. Prediction of the machine performance is very important as it has a big effect on the duration of the project and the costs. In this respect, both penetration ...
Read More
Successful application of a TBM in a project requires investigating both the ground conditions and the machine and backup system design features. Prediction of the machine performance is very important as it has a big effect on the duration of the project and the costs. In this respect, both penetration rate and advance rate must be estimated. Utilization factor, which depends on the type of operation, management, maintenance, geological conditions, mucking delays and other downtimes, correlates the advance rate and penetration rate. Adverse rock mass conditions such as mixed face condition, water problem and instability of rock have a great role in TBM downtimes and reduce the machine utilization considerably. Based on detailed engineering geological reports and maps and daily site reports taken from Karaj-Tehran Water Conveyance Tunnel ( Lots 1 and 2), this paper evaluates, main rock mass properties utilized for the estimation of TBM performance and discusses their effect on the machine utilization. . More specifically it uses the developed database also contains daily boring time, different rock mass related downtimes, daily advance and length of bored tunnel in each engineering geological units. It is concluded that the percentage of the rock mass related downtimes can be estimated via RMR within reliable coefficient of determination.
Amir Mollajan; Hossein Memarian; Behzad Tokhmechi
Abstract
Detection of Oil-Water Contacts (OWCs) is one of the primary tasks before evaluation of reservoir’s hydrocarbon in place, determining net pay zones and suitable depths for perforation operation. This paper introduces Bayesian decision making tool as an effective technique in OWC detecting using ...
Read More
Detection of Oil-Water Contacts (OWCs) is one of the primary tasks before evaluation of reservoir’s hydrocarbon in place, determining net pay zones and suitable depths for perforation operation. This paper introduces Bayesian decision making tool as an effective technique in OWC detecting using wire line logs. To compare strengths of the suggested method in detecting OWC with conventional one, the same database was used. Proposed method was applied to wire line logs in three wells of a carbonate reservoir in an oil field of the southwestern Iran and its results have been evaluated by well testing results. Results indicate that the usage of Bayesian method in detecting OWC is more accurate than conventional method and may improve the results about 5% on average. In addition, using this method, any variation of water saturation (Sw) log and reservoir fluid types may be detectable.
H. Rezaee; O. Asghari; J.K. Yamamoto
Abstract
A simple but novel and applicable approach is proposed to solve the problem of smoothing effect of ordinary kriging estimate which is widely used in mining and earth sciences. It is based on transformation equation in which Z scores are derived from ordinary kriging estimates and then rescaled by the ...
Read More
A simple but novel and applicable approach is proposed to solve the problem of smoothing effect of ordinary kriging estimate which is widely used in mining and earth sciences. It is based on transformation equation in which Z scores are derived from ordinary kriging estimates and then rescaled by the standard deviation of sample data and the sample mean is added to the result. It bears the great potential to reproduce the histogram and semivariogram of the primary data. Actually, raw data are transformed into normal scores in order to avoid asymmetry of ordinary kriging estimates. Thus ordinary kriging estimates are rescaled using the transformation equation and after that back-transformed into the original scale of measurement. For testing the proposed procedure stratified random samples have been drawn from an exhaustive data set. Corrected ordinary kriging estimates follow the semivariogram model and back-transformed values reproduce the sample histogram, while keeping local accuracy.
R. Rahmannejad; A. Kargar; V. Maazallahi; E. Ghotbi-Ravandi
Abstract
The ground reaction curve (GRC) is a vital component of the convergence-confinement method, which possesses many applications in the underground space designs. It defines a relation between the tunnel wall deformations and the ground pressure acting on the tunnel walls. Generally, GRC includes descending ...
Read More
The ground reaction curve (GRC) is a vital component of the convergence-confinement method, which possesses many applications in the underground space designs. It defines a relation between the tunnel wall deformations and the ground pressure acting on the tunnel walls. Generally, GRC includes descending and ascending branches. According to many researchers, the descending branch trend for the ground pressure stops after the critical deformation, and thus the ground pressure on the support system increases due to the formation of a loosening zone and an ascending branch, and finally, the creation of an ultimate pressure on the support system. In this work, two relations are proposed to determine the ultimate ground pressure acting on a circular tunnel in a continuous medium. It is assumed that the rock mass obeys the elastic perfectly plastic model with a cohesionless behavior in the broken zone. This is accomplished by incorporating the Duncan-Fama solution and the two models of Yanssen-Kötter and Caquot rigid plastic. The ground pressure obtained by the Caquot model shows a better correlation with the Goel-Jethwa equation compared with the Yanssen-Kötter solution.
H. Bejari; A. A. Daya; A. Roudini
Abstract
Based on existence of the chromite deposits in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran, and also various applications of chromite in different industries, it is expected that the establishment of chromite processing plant is required in the erelong. The geographical location of a processing plant ...
Read More
Based on existence of the chromite deposits in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran, and also various applications of chromite in different industries, it is expected that the establishment of chromite processing plant is required in the erelong. The geographical location of a processing plant can have a strong influence on the success of an industrial venture. The processing plant site selection is a multi-criteria decision problem. The conventional methods used for a plant location selection are inadequate for dealing with the imprecise or vague nature of a linguistic assessment. To overcome this difficulty, the fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods are proposed. This paper presents an application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method based on the fuzzy sets (Fuzzy AHP) used to select an appropriate site for a chromite processing plant in the Sistan and Baluchestan province. For this purpose, based on the concentration of chromite deposits in different regions of the province, four feasible alternatives including the Zahedan, Khash, Iranshahr, and Nikshahr cities are selected for a chromite processing plant. The quantitative and qualitative criteria such as availability of raw materials, availability of labors, education, climatic conditions, environmental impacts, infra-structural facilities and security, and local community considerations are used to compare the feasible alternatives. Finally, the alternatives are ranked, and a convenient location is recommended for the construction of the chromite processing plant. The results obtained show that the city of Zahedan is the best alternative.
U. Yenial; G. Bulut
Abstract
Two common waste materials, red mud and fly ash, were used to produce a new nano-hybrid adsorbent by heat treatment with alkali addition. The new zeolitic structure formation of the hybrid adsorbent was revealed using the BET surface area, XRD, and SEM analyses. This hybrid adsorbent was utilized to ...
Read More
Two common waste materials, red mud and fly ash, were used to produce a new nano-hybrid adsorbent by heat treatment with alkali addition. The new zeolitic structure formation of the hybrid adsorbent was revealed using the BET surface area, XRD, and SEM analyses. This hybrid adsorbent was utilized to remove arsenic from synthetic and real waste waters by batch and column adsorption experiments. The parameters such as the pH, contact time, and effect of the co-existing ions were investigated. Slightly acidic media favored arsenic adsorption by the hybrid adsorbent, the same as the individual use of fly ash and red mud. The effects of ions such as Fe3+, Cu2+, Cl-, SO42-, and PO43- were investigated as the co-existing ions. It was found that arsenic adsorption increased with cationic ions and decreased with anionic ions according to their valance charge. The intra-particle diffusion model showed that adsorption took place at three different rates depending on time. The hybrid adsorbent was formed as a pellet and utilized in a column for treatment of arsenic containing real waste water. The hybrid adsorbent derived from mineral wastes was more successful than their individual usages.
A. Aryafar; R. Mikaeil; F. Doulati Ardejani; S. Shaffiee Haghshenas; A. Jafarpour
Abstract
The process of pollutant adsorption from industrial wastewaters is a multivariate problem. This process is affected by many factors including the contact time (T), pH, adsorbent weight (m), and solution concentration (ppm). The main target of this work is to model and evaluate the process of pollutant ...
Read More
The process of pollutant adsorption from industrial wastewaters is a multivariate problem. This process is affected by many factors including the contact time (T), pH, adsorbent weight (m), and solution concentration (ppm). The main target of this work is to model and evaluate the process of pollutant adsorption from industrial wastewaters using the non-linear multivariate regression and intelligent computation techniques. In order to achieve this goal, 54 industrial wastewater samples gathered by Institute of Color Science & Technology of Iran (ICSTI) were studied. Based on the laboratory conditions, the data was divided into 4 groups (A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4). For each group, a non-linear regression model was made. The statistical results obtained showed that two developed equations from the A-3 and A-4 groups were the best models with R2 being 0.84 and 0.74. In these models, the contact time and solution concentration were the main effective factors influencing the adsorption process. The extracted models were validated using the t-test and F-value test. The hybrid PSO-based ANN model (particle swarm optimization and artificial neural network algorithms) was constructed for modelling the pollutant adsorption process under different laboratory conditions. Based on this hybrid modeling, the performance indices were estimated. The hybrid model results showed that the best value belonged to the data group A-4 with R2 of 0.91. Both the non-linear regression and hybrid PSO-ANN models were found to be helpful tools for modeling the process of pollutant adsorption from industrial wastewaters.
M. Kamran
Abstract
Drillability is one of the significant issues in rock engineering. The drilling rate index (DRI) is an important tool in analyzing the drillability of rocks. Several efforts have been made by the researchers to correlate and evaluate DRI of rocks. The ensemble learning methods including the decision ...
Read More
Drillability is one of the significant issues in rock engineering. The drilling rate index (DRI) is an important tool in analyzing the drillability of rocks. Several efforts have been made by the researchers to correlate and evaluate DRI of rocks. The ensemble learning methods including the decision tree (DT), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), and random forest (RF) are employed in this research work in order to predict DRI of rocks. A drillability database with four parameters is compiled in this work. A relationship between the input parameters and DRI is established using the simple regression analysis. In order to train the model, different mechanical properties of rocks incorporating the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), brittleness test (S20), and sievers’ J-miniature drill value (Sj) are taken as the input variables. The original DRI database is randomly divided into the training and test sets with an 80/20 sampling method. Various algorithms are developed, and consequently, several approaches are followed in order to predict DRI of the rock samples. The model performance has revealed that RF predicts DRI with a high accuracy rate. Besides, the Monte Carlo simulations exhibit that this approach is more reliable in predicting the probability distribution of DRI. Therefore, the proposed model can be practiced for the stability risk management and the investigative design of DRI.
Myong Chun Pak; Un Chol Han; Dong Il Kim
Abstract
Mining Method Selection (MMS) is the first and the most critical problem in mine design, and depends on some parameters such as the geo-technical and geological features and economic factors. The factors affecting MMS are determined by some mining experts, and the most suitable mining method is selected ...
Read More
Mining Method Selection (MMS) is the first and the most critical problem in mine design, and depends on some parameters such as the geo-technical and geological features and economic factors. The factors affecting MMS are determined by some mining experts, and the most suitable mining method is selected using the hesitant fuzzy group decision-making (HFGDM) and technique for order performance by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. These factors include the type of deposit, slope of deposit, thickness of orebody, depth below the surface, grade distribution, hanging wall Rock Mass Rating (RMR), footwall RMR, ore body RMR, recovery, capital cost, mining cost, annual productivity, and environmental impact. Firstly, we propose the group decision-making (GDM) method to determine the weights of multi-attributes based on the score function with the decision-makers’ weights, in which the n-dimensional hesitant fuzzy environment take the form of hesitant fuzzy sets (HFS). Then we calculate the weights of these factors using the HFGDM method. A simple case study is also presented in order to illustrate the competence of this method. Here, we compare the seven mining methods for an Apatite mine, and select the optimal mining method using the TOPSIS method. Finally, the sub-level stope mining method is selected as the most suitable method to this mine.
Exploitation
M. Mohtasham; H. Mirzaei Nasirabad; A. Mahmoodi Markid
Abstract
Truck and shovel operations comprise approximately 60% of the total operating costs in open pit mines. In order to increase productivity and reduce the cost of mining operations, it is essential to manage the equipment used with high efficiency. In this work, the chance-constrained goal programing (CCGP) ...
Read More
Truck and shovel operations comprise approximately 60% of the total operating costs in open pit mines. In order to increase productivity and reduce the cost of mining operations, it is essential to manage the equipment used with high efficiency. In this work, the chance-constrained goal programing (CCGP) model presented by Michalakopoulos and Panagiotou is developed to determine an optimal truck allocation plan in open pit mines and reduce the waiting times of trucks and shovels. The developed goal programming (GP) model is established considering four desired goals: “maximizing shovel production”, “minimizing deviations in head grade”, “minimizing deviations in tonnage feed to the processing plants from the desired feed” and “minimizing truck operating costs”. To employ the developed model, a software is prepared in Visual Studio with C# programming language. In this computer program, the CPLEX optimizer software is incorporated for solving the developed goal programing model. The case study of Sungun copper mine is also considered to evaluate the presented GP model and prepared software. The results obtained indicate that the developed model increases the mine production above 20.6% with respect to the traditional truck allocation plan, while meeting the desired grade and the stripping ratio constraints.
R. Kharzi; R. Chaib; I. Verzea; A. Akni
Abstract
This article describes the process of improving risk management practices in a foundry of the ALFET Company (Algeria). The proposed methodology is based on the decision matrix risk assessment technique. This technique allows making a risk assessment for each source of risk (machine, man, environment, ...
Read More
This article describes the process of improving risk management practices in a foundry of the ALFET Company (Algeria). The proposed methodology is based on the decision matrix risk assessment technique. This technique allows making a risk assessment for each source of risk (machine, man, environment, and management), which leads to the determination of the overall risk rate during the activity by a new concept. The latter giving a comprehensive vision of occupational health and safety, and compares it with the ALARP principle to determine the acceptability of risk. The main goal of this work is to inculcate a culture on the effects of changing behaviors and attitudes, to disseminate the culture of continuous and sustainable progress within the enterprise, and to ensure that a good atmosphere is maintained in the workplace. It aims to protect and promote the health and safety of workers and the working environment in order to promote a safe and sustainable development company. Our work shows that the working environment is tolerable in terms of health and safety at work. However, to promote a safe and sustainable development in company, an action plan based on the evaluation of the field and feedback through priority actions is recommended for continuous improvement in OSH. Toward the workplace should be continuously monitored to detect risk factors as early as possible before they have negative effects.
Farouk Sayed; Mohamed Saleh Hassan Hammed; Ahmed Gaber Shided; Ahmed Wagih Hussein
Abstract
The northwestern margin of the Red Sea is developed as several rift-related fault blocks. These fault blocks comprise two mega tectono-stratigrahicsuccessions; the Pre-riftsuccessioncould be sub-divided intothe Precambrian Basement rocks and theUpperCretaceous-Lower Eocenedeposits,whilst the Syn-rift ...
Read More
The northwestern margin of the Red Sea is developed as several rift-related fault blocks. These fault blocks comprise two mega tectono-stratigrahicsuccessions; the Pre-riftsuccessioncould be sub-divided intothe Precambrian Basement rocks and theUpperCretaceous-Lower Eocenedeposits,whilst the Syn-rift sequence includesthe Oligocene to Quaternary deposits. Lithologic differentiation of these rock units being encountered in thestudied area is accomplishedutilizing different remote sensing imagery enhancement techniques of the OLI data (Landsat-8) aided with field verification. Spectral signature analysis of different rock units, false-color composite, band-ratio, principle component analysis, minimum noise fraction, and independent component analysis are powerful tools in discrimination of the main rock units.The maximum likelihood distance supervised classificationtechnique is a robust tool in the identification of the contact between the different rock units. Radiometrically terrain corrected (RTC) DEM data extracted from PALSAR with a spatial resolution of 12.5m is utilized for the construction of a 3D perspective view image of the studied area. The present study offers a unique method for lithologic discrimination of main rock unitsutilizing OLI images, and introduces an enhanced high-resolution structural map of the studied area aided with field verification.
Exploration
Abdalmajed Milad Shlof; Mohd Hariri Arifin; Muhammad Taqiuddin Zakaria; Emmanuel O. Salufu
Abstract
More than sixty thermal springs have been detected across Peninsular Malaysia, with about 75% conveniently located in easily accessible areas. The potential for thermal energy growth has been recognized at four hot spring localities: Lojing, Dusun Tua, Ulu Slim, and Sungai Klah. This article analyses ...
Read More
More than sixty thermal springs have been detected across Peninsular Malaysia, with about 75% conveniently located in easily accessible areas. The potential for thermal energy growth has been recognized at four hot spring localities: Lojing, Dusun Tua, Ulu Slim, and Sungai Klah. This article analyses Peninsular Malaysia's geothermal development's geological, geochemical, and geophysical research to assess its appropriateness and performance. The geological data provide insights into the structural characteristics and spatial distribution of thermal springs within the studied area. Geochemical studies measure reservoir temperatures, revealing the highest recorded temperature exceeds 189°C. The review shows that the hot springs are derived from a recharge region linked to high-altitude topography, with their source being meteoric water. Several geophysical techniques, such as transient electromagnet (TEM), gravity, land and satellite magnetic, ground penetration radar (GPR), seismic, resistivity, and induced polarization (IP), have been employed to examine the geothermal system in Malaysia. The sole magnetotelluric (MT) investigation at Ulu Slim deviates from this pattern. The source suggests uncertainty regarding accuracy related to station distance, highlighting these concerns. Most studies indicate that magma intrusion is the most likely heat source. To offer a comprehensive understanding of Peninsular Malaysia's geothermal potential, this study reviews previous research and presents a feasible model that incorporates all current facts.
Environment
Ayodele Owolabi; Sunday Olabisi Daramola
Abstract
Nigeria is abundantly blessed with solid mineral resources such as copper, gold, and tantalite, which are essential for the economic growth of the country. The extraction of these mineral resources comes with the generation of huge amount of waste. This study examines the possibility of utilizing some ...
Read More
Nigeria is abundantly blessed with solid mineral resources such as copper, gold, and tantalite, which are essential for the economic growth of the country. The extraction of these mineral resources comes with the generation of huge amount of waste. This study examines the possibility of utilizing some mine wastes from Jos, Nigeria, in embankment construction by subjecting them to relevant laboratory geotechnical experiments. The results indicates that the overburden materials contain clay-sized fraction ranging 5-20%, while the sand fraction ranged 42-82%, which is an indication of the predominance of sand size particles. On the other hand, the clay-sized particles in the tailings range 5-21%, while the sand fractions range 65-80%. The overburden materials recorded liquid limit values ranging 26-48% and plasticity index ranging 6.3-21%, while the liquid limit and plasticity index of the tailings range 23-32.8% and 6.2-11.6%, respectively. The maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture content (OMC) of the overburden materials vary 1.84-1.98 mg/m3 and 1.4-17.2%, respectively, with an average of 1.89 mg/cm3 and 16%. On the other hand, the tailings recorded MDD ranging 1.88-2.06 mg/m3 with their OMC ranging 14.4-16% with an average 14.86%. The soaked California bearing ratio (CBR) of the overburden materials range 27-32%, while that of tailings ranges 25-32%. The geotechnical evaluation of the overburden materials and tailings reveals that most of the materials are suitable for embankment construction. However, the high linear shrinkage of some wastes renders them unsuitable.
Mineral Processing
H. Shahgholi; K. Barani; M. Yaghobi
Abstract
Vertical roller mills (VRMs) are well-established grinding equipment for various tasks in the coal and cement industry. There are few studies on simulation of VRMs. In this research work, application of perfect mixing model for simulation of a VRM in a cement grinding plant was investigated. Two sampling ...
Read More
Vertical roller mills (VRMs) are well-established grinding equipment for various tasks in the coal and cement industry. There are few studies on simulation of VRMs. In this research work, application of perfect mixing model for simulation of a VRM in a cement grinding plant was investigated. Two sampling surveys were carried out on the VRM circuit. The samples and data from the first survey were used for the experimental determination of the breakage function and model calibration. The breakage distribution function of the material was determined by the compressed bed breakage test in a piston-die cell device. The model parameters were back-calculated using the feed and product size distribution data and the breakage distribution function. The model parameters obtained were used for simulation of the second survey and validation of the model. The simulation results showed that the simulated product size distribution curves fitted the measured product curves quite well.
R. Norouzi Masir; R. Khalokakaie; M. Ataei; S. Mohammadi
Abstract
Mining can become more sustainable by developing and integrating economic, environmental, and social components. Among the mining industries, coal mining requires paying a serious attention to the aspects of sustainable development. Therefore, in this work, we investigate the impacting factors involved ...
Read More
Mining can become more sustainable by developing and integrating economic, environmental, and social components. Among the mining industries, coal mining requires paying a serious attention to the aspects of sustainable development. Therefore, in this work, we investigate the impacting factors involved in the sustainable development of underground coal mining from the structural viewpoint. For this purpose, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique, which is a graph-based method, is utilized. To do so, at first, twenty effective factors are determined for three components. Then the hierarchical structure and the systematic approach are used to determine the total exerted influence or total received influence of the components. The results obtained show that the environmental and social components are the most important, and the economic components are the least important among them.
Rock Mechanics
M. Nikkhah; M. A. Ghasvareh; N. Farzaneh Bahalgardi
Abstract
In general, underground spaces are associated with high risks because of their high uncertainty in geotechnical environments. Since most accidents and incidents in these structures are often associated with uncertainty, the development of risk analysis and management methods and prevention of accidents ...
Read More
In general, underground spaces are associated with high risks because of their high uncertainty in geotechnical environments. Since most accidents and incidents in these structures are often associated with uncertainty, the development of risk analysis and management methods and prevention of accidents are essential. A deeper recognition of the factors affecting the implementation process can pave the way for this purpose. Risk rating of projects is a key part of the risk assessment stage in the risk management process of each project. Various multi-criteria decision-making methods, as quantitative approaches, are used to allow them to be used in the risk rating issue of each project. In this work, a new model is provided for risk management of Mashhad Urban Railway Line 3 using the game theory and multi-criteria decision-making methods. Based on the answers of the specialists and experts to the prepared questionnaires, various risk groups identified using the TOPSIS and AHP multi-criteria decision-making methods are ranked. Accordingly, the group of economic risks, as the most important risk and social risk group, is ranked as the least significant in both methods. In the following, the appropriate response to the main risks of the ratings is proposed based on the modeling of the game theory, and ranked in terms of importance. Also the worst risk scenario in the project is identified, and the appropriate responses for this state are also expressed in order of importance. The results obtained indicate that the risk of financing problems is the most significant risk, and other risks are ranked in terms of importance in the next ranks. Additionally, the use of new financing methods at times of credit scarcity and project financial problems is also considered as the most important response to the risk in this project.
