Apunts d’energia i mida : processament de minerals

2013/201

Processament de minerals

2017/201

Apunts de Disseny d'excavacions de superfície 'Surface mining'

2017/201

Modelització en separació de minerals

2017/201

Safety culture maturity in several latin America mining activities

Health and safety is a crucial issue in the mining industry because of the implication of fatalities in this sector. A study of safety culture maturity in several Latin America countries has been done based on the model from Filho et al. [1]. The questionnaire includes 28 items regarding the type of activity, number of employees and safety culture characteristics of the activity: Information of accidents and misses, organizational structure to deal with the information, involvement of the company in health and safety issues, the way it communicates accidents and misses and commitment of the company towards health and safety. The questionnaire was completed by 58 mining company managers from Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Results show different behaviours depending on the type of company, cooperative or private company. When private companies are analysed, it is seen a level of maturity according to the size of the company, whereas cooperatives does not have a clear trend in terms of size apart from very small cooperatives, less than 10 employees. However, there is a remarkable difference between cooperatives that have implemented continuous improvement systems and the others. In particular, cooperatives with a continuous improvement system have been analysed, displaying much higher safety culture levels. Therefore, it can be concluded that private companies improve their level of safety culture as the size of the company increase, because procedures and control systems are implemented. When cooperative or small companies introduce similar systems they also achieve substantial gains, but their approach is different. Managers from cooperatives have to see economic reasons to implement it, such as the Fairmined certificate.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A GIS-based approach: influence of the ventilation layout to the environmental conditions in an underground mine

Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Ventilation friction factor determination and comparison: two case studies of potash mining

Friction factor is a crucial parameter in assessing and modelling ventilation systems in underground mining. However, the development of a mine along its life-cycle can complicate the airflow supply required at the working faces, creating setbacks in terms of productivity and production. Hence, it is very important to determine all the ventilation parameters, including roughness and the friction factor. In this paper we examine the data from several surveys that were carried out in two potash mines (both using the room-and-pillar method) with the aim of determining the friction factors through the Von Kármán equation, which connects the Atkinson friction factor with airway roughness. Comparison of the two mines provided consistent results, despite some differences in the mining methods, and we were able to establish standard values for this type of mining. Furthermore, a roughness variation over a year in this type of evaporitic mining has been determined, indicating that the specific climate characteristics of the zone affect the walls and roofs of the tunnels and therefore their roughness. Friction factor values have also been validated by means of several ventilation simulations and contrasted with values in the literature.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Heat flow assessment in an underground mine: An approach to improve the environmental conditions

P. 174-179The generation of heat in underground spaces due to working activities is a factor that influences production and productivity rates. This paper analyses the heat generation in an underground mine and provides a number of approaches to enhance the ventilation conditions using electrical, instead of diesel machines. This assessment has been carried out using theoretical equations and modelling software. Investigations prove that sensible and latent heat would be reduced by around 50% and 84% respectively if the change were applied in the case study. This reduction on heat input to the ventilation system would improve the workplace environment because of lower effective temperatures and gas concentrations, which would result in better safety conditions and higher employee efficiency.S

Ore processing technologies applied to industrial waste decontamination: a case study

Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables::12.2 - Per a 2030, assolir la gestió sostenible i l’ús eficient dels recursos naturalsObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum ResponsablesPostprint (published version

Utilização de jigues a ar na concentração de resíduos de construção e demolição

Resíduos de construção e demolição são um dos principais resíduos sólidos gerados em centros urbanos em todo o mundo. Normalmente, parte deles são utilizados, após cominuição e classificação granulométrica, sem nenhum processo de separação ou concentração. Eles podem ser usados como agregados em concreto de baixa resistência, em sub-bases de estradas, ou em outras utilizações com baixo valor agregado. O presente trabalho apresenta estudos de separação e concentração em jigues a ar dos diferentes materiais presentes nestes resíduos.Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i InfraestructuraPostprint (published version