the determination of the ultimate pit limit (upl) is the first step in the open pit mine planning process. in this stage that parts of the mineral deposit that are economic to mine are determined. there are several mathematical, heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms to determine upl. the optimization criterion in these algorithms is maximization of the total profit whilst satisfying the...

Toxic potency of quartz-containing dusts, including coal mine dusts, is usually inhibited by protective clay mineral layers on the surface of quartz particles. This investigation of 11 dusts recovered from lungs of coal miners with different silicosis grade shows that such layers persist during long-term contact with human lung tissues. On the other hand, the results suggest that an apparently ...

Remote sensing analysis is a crucial tool for monitoring the extent of mine waste surfaces and their mineralogy in countries with a long mining history, such as South Africa, where gold and platinum have been produced for over 90 years. These mine waste sites have the potential to contain problematic trace element species (e.g., U, Pb, Cr). In our research, we aim to combine the mapping and mon...

Mine drainage waters vary considerably in the range and concentration of heavy metals they contain. Besides iron, manganese is frequently present at elevated concentrations in waters draining both coal and metal mines. Passive treatment systems (aerobic wetlands and compost bioreactors) are designed to remove iron by biologically induced oxidation/precipitation. Manganese, however, is problemat...

In Sangan iron mine nearly two million tons of low-grade iron ore has been extracted and deposited in the mining site and currently no action is made on them. On the other hand, the mining site is located in the semi-arid region and wet processing has been restricted due to water shortage. In this research, the upgradation of Sangan low-grade iron ore from mine B has been performed by dry low-i...

Iron biominerals can form in neutral pH microaerophilic environments where microbes both catalyze iron oxidation and create polymers that localize mineral precipitation. In order to classify the microbial polymers that influence FeOOH mineralogy, we studied the organic and mineral components of biominerals using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), micro X-ray fluorescence (lXRF) micr...

0924-2716/$ see front matter 2012 International http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2012.09.014 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 9114 0897; fax E-mail address: [email protected] (R Hyperspectral imagery is used to map the distribution of iron and separate iron ore from shale (a waste product) on a vertical mine face in an open-pit mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Vertical...