Advances in Applied Strategic Mine Planning addresses core aspects of the sustainable, responsible, and optimal development and utilization of Earth’s mineral resources.

It presents both state-of-the art methods and major applications in the global mineral resources industry and includes contributions from international experts in the field.

This collection of papers on topics in the field of strategic mine planning discusses orebody modeling, mine-planning optimization and the optimization of mining complexes. Elaborating on the state of the art in the field, it describes the latest technologies and related research as well as the applications of a range of related technologies in diverse industrial contexts.

Born in 1939 in Taiwan, Syd Peng was one of seven children of a poor but hardworking farmer and his wife. Syd began life in a ramshackle house with a leaky roof, carrying water for his family from a nearby well.

But Syd worked and studied hard, in Taiwan and then in America, and—thanks to his intelligence and strong work ethic—built a life as an engineer, researcher, teacher, author, and founder of the acclaimed International Conference on Ground Control in Mining.

After school and technical college in Taiwan, followed by military service with the Chinese Army, Syd got his first real job—in a coal mine. There he was exposed to the extremely unsafe mining practices of the time. “I began to fear for my life whenever I entered the mines,” he writes.

Thus, he found his lifelong passion to make coal mining—an industry upon which the world continues to depend for much of its energy needs—safer for those who go underground. He became an international expert in ground control for mining, longwall mining, and mine subsidence, helping to create safer conditions for miners and higher productivity for the industry.

APCOM 2015: Your key to effective decision making and staying current with the rapidly evolving minerals industry. The symposium series on the Application of Computers and Operations Research in the Mineral Industry (APCOM) was initiated by The University of Arizona in 1961. Since then APCOM has become an international forum for presentation, discussion, and criticism of the state-of-the-art and emerging technologies in the fields of computer and operations research applications applied to the broad minerals industry.

With 113 peer-reviewed papers from all mineral industry sectors—industry, academia, and government agencies—the 37th APCOM proceedings holds the latest wisdom and the most current best practices to incorporate computer technology into mining operations and mining public relations.

The mining operations topics cover sophisticated new engineering techniques to identify better mineral deposits and extract them more efficiently in a safer, better-managed mine using the latest tools in geometallurgy, geostatistics, mine design, production planning, 2D and 3D modeling, simulations, mine automation, rock mechanics, mineral processing and unconventional energy resources.

Mining public relations topics, broadly defined, cover not just publicity and outreach but regulatory compliance—winning over neighbors, environmental activists, and other stakeholders—and designing interfaces and training tools using virtual reality and other cutting-edge applications.

Applied Mining Geology provides a detailed overview of the operational principles of modern mining geology. It includes comprehensive descriptions of mining geology techniques, including conventional methods and new approaches.

The book presents a comprehensive summary of mining geology procedures from data collection, quality assurance to their utilization in resource/reserve models, and implementation in mine production plans, which can be used as guidelines by mining industry specialists. A good mix of theory and practice is covered and will be of interest to a wide range of experienced geologists, specialists, students, lecturers, and researchers. Applications of the methods are explained using case studies and are facilitated by the computer scripts added to the book as electronic supplementary material.

This book was selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2017.

Basics of Metal Mining Influenced Water is a must-read for planners, regulators, consultants, land managers, students, researchers, or others concerned about the environmentally sound management of metal mine wastes and drainage quality.

The first of a series of six handbooks on technologies for managing metal mine and metallurgical process draining, this book offers a unique, comprehensive perspective on the subject. Unlike other texts that focus primarily on acid drainage from coal mines, the authors examine both acidic and neutral pH waters that can be hazardous to the environment.

Planning a new mine in today’s increasingly contentious regulatory and political environment demands a different philosophy. Basics of Metal Mining Influenced Water takes an innovative, holistic approach by considering all aspects of the mine life cycle, including closure.

Written by a team of experts from state and federal governments, academia, and the mining industry, Basics of Metal Mining Influenced Water also discusses the major physical and chemical relationships between mining, climate, environment, and mine waste drainage quality.

The authors have included an extensive glossary defining hundreds of technical terms for easier reading and understanding.

Beneficiation of Phosphate Ore examines various methods for processing phosphate rock, an important mineral commodity used in the production of phosphoric acid. The majority of phosphoric acid is produced by the wet process, in which phosphate rock is reacted with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid and gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate). This wet process demands a phosphate rock feed that meets certain specifications to produce phosphoric acid efficiently and economically. Beneficiation of Phosphate Ore thoroughly explains the methods used in beneficiation of different types of phosphate ores for use in the wet process. The mineralogical properties of the two major types of phosphate deposits, sedimentary and igneous, are described along with the processing methods. The benefits and disadvantages of each process are discussed in detail.

CONTENTS: 

• Sources of Phosphate Rock
• Beneficiation of Siliceous Sedimentary Phosphate Ores
• Beneficiation of High-MgO Sedimentary Phosphate Ores
• Beneficiation of Igneous Phosphate Ores

• Recovery of rare earths from phosphate
• Uranium recovery from phosphoric acid
• Recovery of magnesium from high-dolomite phosphate rock
• Phosphoric acid purification via byproducts production

• Environmental lawsuits have put a stop to one of the largest phosphate mines in the world.
• Other operations are closing because of the depletion of phosphate reserve.
• The increasing proportion of high organic and high dolomite ores has caused beneficiation costs to skyrocket.
• There is a growing urgency for the sustainable development and recycling of phsophate resources.
• Dozens of internationally respected experts provide insights on key breakthroughs that are on the drawing boards or being implemented today that will shape the industry in the years ahead.