Mine valuation can be defined as the process of determining the worth of a specific mineral deposit and capability of making a return by a prospective investment (SME, 2005). Although the definition is very brief and compact, actually, it has a very wide content. Determination of worth of an underground asset requires a plenty of works to explain physical, structural and economical properties o...

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 massive sulphide deposit at Kantienpan Cu-Zn mine is hosted by volcano sedimentary succession known as the Areachap Group, in the eastern part of Namaqua Metamorphic Province, South Africa. The deposits were affected by a complex deformation and metamorphic history and represent examples of upper amphibolite to granulite grade metamorphosed volcanic-hosted m...

The three-dimensional geological model of Cangshang Gold Mine, including the geological database, ore body model and block model, was established by mining software Surpac, which simplified the complicated hand-drawing and reserve calculation. The three-Dimensional development system visualization was also studied on the basis of conducting the vectorization of the whole development system desi...

A native microorganism, Penicillium citrinum was isolated from the top soil of a manganese mine. Based on its efficiency for manganese solubilisation, it was utilized for the leaching of a low-grade manganese ore. The effects of various parameters such as pulp density, particle size, sucrose concentration, inoculum size and bioleaching duration on manganese ore were studied. The optimised condi...

The process of developing an iron ore mine from exploration data through to informed mining decisions provides an example of a Complex Adaptive System. The detailed composition of an ore body (expressed as a “block model” of regularly spaced rectangular blocks) has to be estimated from initially sparse exploration data, based upon a limited number of drill holes. As planning proceeds, the data ...

Cut-off grade is one of the very important technical and economic parameters, which affects the economic and social efficiency in a mine enterprise. It is also the basis of the deposits technical economy evaluation, feasibility study, mining planning and design and the foundation of the decision-making in mining investment. Thereby, cut-off grade optimization is one of the core contents and the...

The chemical and physical composition of the feldsparquartz sand-ore differ from location to location in a given open pit mine mine and the utilisation of the raw-ore, as well as its resale value will depend on these properties. Thus. a very important aspect of the operation is to determine quickly and accurately the properties of the sand at a given location. Laboratory methods are accurate bu...