Journal of Mining and Environement
Volume:14 Issue: 3, Summer 2023

Due to fast urbanization, there is a shortage of above-ground surfaces. Thus to reduce this shortage of above-ground surface, underground tunnels are constructed beneath the structure for transportation purposes. As a result, it is critical to understand how earthquakes affect underground tunnels, so that people's lives can be saved and service levels can be maintained. Underground constructions cannot be considered entirely immune to the impacts of ground shaking, as evidenced by the Kobe earthquake (1995), the Chi-Chi earthquake (1999), and the Niigata earthquake (2004), when some underground structures were severely damaged. A typical section at Chandani Chowk of DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) tunnels, New Delhi, India, has been analyzed by using the finite element method. Response of the soil tunnel system for the Uttarkashi earthquake (1991) has been found out in the form of maximum forces induced in the RC liner of the tunnel, displacement, induced acceleration and stresses. The results have been compared with the available closed-form solutions. Parametric studies by considering different parameters such as effect of contraction (volume loss), influence of boundary conditions and damping, effect of interface condition between soil and tunnel, effect of displacement time history and effect of a nearby building have also been conducted. Forces in RC liners and stress concentration obtained in the present study are well-matched to those obtained by available closed formed solutions. The vertical stress concentration and volume loss depend upon the soil medium's constitutive behavior. The section under consideration was safe against the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake. It can also be observed that, due to the presence of the building, the axial force and bending moment increased in tunnel’s liner, and the value of all three forces reduced as the position of the building was away from the tunnel. Shear force and bending moment were maximum for full slip condition between soil and tunnel lining however the effect of the interface condition on the displacement was negligible after a certain value of the interface condition.

The rate of penetration plays a key role in maximizing drilling efficiency, so it is essential for the drilling process optimization and management. Traditional mathematical models have been used with some success to predict the rate of penetration in drilling. Due to the high complexity and non-linear behavior of drilling parameters with the rate of penetration, these mathematical models cannot accurately and comprehensively predict the rate of penetration. Machine learning (ML) seems to be an attractive alternative to model this complicated physical process. This research paper introduces new data-driven models used to predict ROP using different parameters such as (depth, weight on bit (WOB), revolution per minute (RPM), Torque (T), standpipe pressure (SPP), flow in pump (pumping flow rate(Q), mud weight, hours on bit (HOB), revolutions on bit, bit diameter, total flow area (TFA), pore pressure, overburden pressure, and pit volume). Data-driven models are built using two different machine learning techniques, using 1771 raw real field data. The coding is built using the python programming language. The k-nearest neighbors (KNN) model predicting ROP for the training dataset show a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.94. The multi-layer perceptron (MLP) model predicting ROP for the training dataset show a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.98. We can conclude that MLP has a better accuracy, and removing outliers enhances model performance.

The present study is based on data collection from some of the WWTPs (wastewater treatment plants) of the Himachal Pradesh region, and to investigate the range of physico-chemical characteristics of conventional WWTPs, which receive wastewater from different zones in different cities in Himachal Pradesh. Five parameters are measured and analyzed in this research work. They are pH, suspended solids (mg/L), biological oxygen demand (mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (mg/L), and oil and grease (mg/L). The parameters are compared seasonally to help improve the performance, and operational conditions of WWTPs are with the standard parameters range according to APHA (American Public Health Association), standard examination methods of water, and wastewater seasonal in parameters. Seasonal variations in physico-chemical properties are noticeable. The study analyzes the physico-chemical parameters of wastewater from various Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) across six districts in Himachal Pradesh, India, revealing variations in water quality across different seasons and locations. The study highlights the need for proper treatment and management of wastewater to prevent environmental pollution and protect public health. The findings could be useful for the policy-makers and authorities responsible for wastewater management in the region.

Due to disposal concerns, an enormous quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE) waste from the COVID-19 pandemic constituted a severe health and environmental risk. During the pandemic, the usage of protective suits increased dramatically raising concerns about how to dispose of them to safeguard the environment. This research work uses shredded face masks (SFM) to stabilise clayey soil for sub-grade usage. Shredded face masks are added to clayey soil to investigate consistency limits, compaction characteristics, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and California bearing ratio (CBR). Laboratory experiments demonstrate that clayey soil geo-technical characteristics such differential free swell, consistency limits, UCS, and CBR values have improved. Based on the CBR results, the IITPAVE software is used to design flexible pavement thickness, which was reduced for various commercial vehicles per day for all combinations. Cost analysis is also done to determine the total cost for a 1000-meter stretch. The results show that addition of SFM to clayey soils strengthen the geo-technical properties of clayey soil as the UCS values increase for all curing periods of 3, 7, and 28 days with a maximum improvement of 64% for 28 days curing for 1% SFM content. Also, the CBR value is found to be increased from 1.96% to 6.72%.

This study highlights the results from a series of analytical model experiments that investigate the behaviour of a strip footing supported by hollow steel piles installed to stabilize a clay slope. The effects of changing the pile diameter, pile length, spacing between piles, slope angle, the position of the pile row from the top of slope, and the footing placement are all examined. After determining the load-carrying capacity of unstabilized slopes, it is compared with the load-carrying capacity of stabilized slopes. The results are then analysed to see how each parameter affects the load carrying capacity of strip footing. The results of unstabilized cases reveal that the load carrying capacity of a footing decreases as the slope angle increases and increases when the footing is positioned away from the slope. In addition, the findings imply that by reinforcing clay slope with a sequence of hollow steel piles significantly enhances the load carrying capacity of strip footing. As the distance between piles is decreased and their length is increased, the bearing capacity of the footing increases, and this improvement is enhanced by increasing the diameter of the piles. When the row of pile is positioned away from the top of the slope, the footing’s load carrying capacity decreases. Also positioning the footing a quite distance apart from the crest slope shows reduction in bearing capacity ratio.

An experimental study is carried out to improve the bearing capacity of soils by using geotextile. In the present study geotextile (tire reinforcement) is used as geotextile, whereas sand is used as a soil medium. This research work presents the results of laboratory load tests on model square footings supported on reinforced sand beds. A total of twenty-seven load tests are conducted to evaluate the effects of single layer reinforcement placed below square model footings. The parameters of the testing program of the research work are the depth of reinforcement, the plan area of reinforcement, and the number of reinforcements. From the experimental data, it is indicated that there is an optimum reinforcement depth at which the bearing capacity is the highest. Also, the optimum size of reinforcement is found to be 1.5 B×1.5 B irrespective of the type of reinforcing materials used. The bearing capacity of reinforced sand is also found to increase with the number of reinforcement layer and reinforcement size when the reinforcement is placed within a certain effective zone with high relative density. The optimum placement position of geotextile is found to be 0.5B to 0.75B from the base of the footing .The tests are done at two different relative densities, i.e., 40% and 60%. The bulk unit weight of sandy soil is 14.81 KN/m³. Maximum gain in load carrying capacity is obtained when depth of reinforcement/width of footing (Dr/B) is 0.5 at relative density of 40% and 0.75 at a relative density of 60%.In addition, the data indicate that increasing reinforcement beyond a certain value would not bring about further increase in the bearing capacity of the soil.

Roads are said to be the backbone of the development of any nation. In the developing nations like India, it is the primary mode of transportation, which makes its significance much higher. Highway geometric alignment is an important aspect for maintaining road safety and the effective movement of traffic on any road. Highway geometry features are meant to be picked, sized, and placed in order to achieve various design goals including sight distance, car stability, driver convenience, drainage, economic growth, and aesthetic qualities. Due to the rapid increase in the growth of traffic in the past few years, it has become important to ensure safe design alignment to serve the future needs efficiently and economically. A case study of NH-05 is used in the present work to design the existing highway to improve its geometric features by considering future forecasted traffic and covering all safety measures given by the Indian Road Congress (IRC) recommendations. The OpenRoads software was used as a designing tool, and all designs were made keeping the design speed at 50 kmph. The roadway width has been decided to be 13.0 m, with the carriageway width set at 7.5 m and the width of the shoulder at 2.4 m. The cross-slope or camber has been determined to be 2.4% for bituminous surfaces and 3.6% for earthen surfaces, with a maximum super-elevation of 7%. Thus the results obtained can be used to solve the traffic congestion problems, particularly due to the high traffic volume, and enhance road safety.

Excessive amounts of fluoride present in underground water sources are a major health concern worldwide. This study presents a new way to address the global health issue of high fluoride concentrations in groundwater using the abundantly available and cost-effective adsorbent material activated kaolinite clay “WR@KN”. The physical and chemical activation methods are employed to enhance its adsorption capacity. The optimum conditions for fluoride removal are determined through batch adsorption experiments, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.745 mg/g at pH 6, a particle size of 10 µm, a mixing speed of 210 rpm, a temperature of 24 °C, an initial fluoride concentration of 5.5 mg/L, a dose of 0.7 g activated WR@KN, and a contact period of 240 minutes. WR@KN successfully removes fluoride ions from 5.5 to 0.28 mg/L. The Langmuir isotherm model is found to be the most suitable for describing the adsorption behavior of fluoride on the WR@KN surface with an R2 of 0.99984. The adsorption kinetic modeling shows that the pseudo-second-order model is the best fit with 0.754 mg/g, indicating that the fluoride adsorption process is chemisorption. The exothermic nature of the fluoride adsorption process is confirmed by a negative value of ΔH° (-77.08). The regenerated WR@KN adsorbent could remove fluoride effectively for the first four cycles but its performance deteriorated in the subsequent cycles. Increasing the ionic strength enhances the fluoride removal efficiency. Overall, the results suggest that the WR@KN adsorbent can be a promising material for cost-effective fluoride removal from groundwater.

The efficiency of geo-polymer mortar is analyzed by replacing fine aggregates with different ratios of copper slag and crumb rubber. Properties such as flow value, setting time, strengthening properties, density, and water absorption are studied for different factors, i.e. molarities of sodium hydroxide (8, 10, and 12 M), various ratios of alkali-activator solution (1, 2, and 3), and the effect of pre-treating rubber. The results indicate that the increase in molarity increases the compressive strength, setting time, and flow value of mortar. It is observed that NaOH of 12 M and an alkali activator ratio of 2 show high compressive strength, which is 71.79 N/mm2. The rubber treated with alkali improves the bonding between the binder and the rubber, which leads to an increase in the material's strength by 7% for 1 hour and 10% for 24 hours, and density by about 1.5%. It is suggested that the optimum mix with 50% copper slag, 10% rubber with pre-treatment for a period of 1 hour, 12 M NaOH, and alkali activator ratio 2 provide excellent results among all mixes. In conclusion, the findings indicate that the produced mortar contributes to economic and ecological improvement.

Although mine closure problems have been researched in the past, little to no research has been dedicated to the post-reclamation impacts of abandoned mine closure. Even though reclamation has been an age-old identified technique, stakeholders’ perception has played an important role in defining the implementation procedure. Therefore, this study intends to identify the various implementation procedures through a rigorous literature assessment of 112 publications, identified from various sources. Theoretical and practical complications have been identified in the fields of environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of mine closure. The study unveiled that the most implemented reclamation strategy was intensive and non-intensive recreation/tourism-based reclamation techniques. Thus the study paves the way for the incorporation of an interdisciplinary strategy through cooperation between various stakeholders and research fields for the long-term viability of a mining site restoration.

The expansion and contraction properties of black cotton soil make it a challenging task to construct structures on it. Hence, modifying its expansion and contraction behavior is imperative to make black cotton soil appropriate for construction purposes. This study aims to assess the geo-technical properties of black cotton soil through laboratory testing, incorporating waste foundry sand (WFS) and sodium chloride (NaCl) to utilize the combination as sub-grade material. Differential free swell, consistency limits, the standard Proctor test, and California bearing ratio (CBR) tests are conducted with varying amounts of both materials. The laboratory testing reveals that the addition of the appropriate amount of waste foundry sand, sodium chloride, or both, improve the geo-technical properties of black cotton soil (BCS). Furthermore, using the CBR values obtained, the thickness of flexible pavement is designed with the IITPAVE software and evaluated against the IRC: 37-2018 recommendations. The software analysis demonstrates a reduction in pavement thickness for varying levels of commercial vehicles per day such as 1000, 2000, and 5000 CVPD across all combinations. This mixture not only addresses the issues related to black cotton soil but also provides an economical solution for soil stabilization and proves to be sustainable as it involves the utilization of waste materials such as waste foundry sand.

The presence of any underground cavity in the soil stratum can seriously harm the structural performance of the overlying facility. These may develop because of mining, tunneling, water, and gas networks or outdated channels. In the present investigation, a circular void is considered, and its effect on the surface strip footing (in the form of ultimate load (UL), ultimate settlement (US), footing tilting, and footing horizontal displacement (HD)) is studied using numerical simulation. The variable parameters are load eccentricity (e), load inclination (α), and geogrid reinforcement location (u). It is observed that as the load inclination and eccentricity increases, the UL decreases. For instance, in the unreinforced soil, u/B = 0, at load inclination of α = 0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°, the UL is 249, 200, 142, and 97 kN/m, respectively. Moreover, as the geo-grid location is changed, the UL first increases when placed near the footing (u/B = 0.10), and thereafter, starts to decrease as the distance between footing and geo-grid increases. For instance, the UL is 249, 278, 267, 260, 259, and 256 kN/m when e/B = 0.0, α = 0°, and u/B varies from 0 to 0.5 with an increment of 0.1. The tilting increases as the eccentricity is increased; for example, u/B = 0.0 for α = 0°; the tilting values are 0°, 0.12°, 0.31°, and 0.61°. Moreover, as the load eccentricity increases, the HD decreases (for u/B = 0.1 and α = 10°, the HD is 4.20, 3.5, 3.00, and 2.60 mm, respectively.

Due to anthropogenic activities of arsenic, its contamination has been widely recognized as one of the most consequential environmental pollutants. This study aims to investigate the possible controlling factors in the amount of arsenic in copper concentrate of the Sungun processing plant – located in northwestern Iran. For this purpose, via utilization of process mineralogy approach, an attempt is made to provide a mineralogical-based approach to reduce or remove As from copper concentrate. Chemical analysis of flotation circuit products shows changes of 0.13-1.00% for As in concentrate, and up to 0.003% for tailings. Arsenic is recovered to concentrate in the form of sulfosalt minerals including tennantite and enargite, along with copper sulfides. In order to reduce the arsenic in copper concentrate, flotation tests are performed in Eh values of +300, +200, +100, 0, -100, -200, and -300 mV. Based on the results, a re-flotation step on copper concentrate with a pulp potential range of -300 to +300 mV is conducted as an effective and optimal solution to reduce the amount of As. At a potential of -100 mV, Cu-As minerals (tennantite and enargite) tend to be depressed, and at +300 mV, these minerals tend to float. During the processing circuit, via flotation of particles with a size of -25 μm and adjusting the pulp potential to +300 mV, it is possible to produce two copper concentrates with low arsenic content (< 0.2%) and high arsenic content (> 0.2%). The first concentrate, which is flotation tailings, can be sold in the same way. The second one can be sold after complete removal of arsenic by leaching and then collection of harmful gases.

Engineers use various methods to evaluate the performance of concrete structures under dynamic loads, including numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, and field tests. By combining the results of these methods, the engineers can develop a comprehensive understanding of the behavior of concrete structures under dynamic loads and use this information to design more resilient structures capable of withstanding these loads. In this work, four models of the concrete lining of the circular tunnel are simulated to investigate the effect of the pre-cracked in the tunnel's concrete lining under an internal explosion loading. A crack in three different locations at angles of 0, 45, and 90 on the horizontal axis of the tunnel is investigated and analyzed. The coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian method and the constitutive behavior, such as concrete damage plasticity for concrete and Drucker-Prager for soil, allows a more accurate simulation of the internal explosion loading scenario. The selection of Trinitrotoluene and the Jones-Wilkins-Lee equation of state for the explosive provides a realistic representation of the behavior of the explosive material. The modeling results show that in an internal explosion, by examining three different locations of a crack in the concrete, the occurrence of a crack in the crown of the tunnel is more critical than two crack locations. Hence, the existence of a crack with a length of 100 cm and a depth of 15 cm in the crown of the tunnel increases the tensile damage zone by 16.59% compared to the case where there is no crack.

Non-persistent joints are geologic occurrences in rocks that weaken pillars because they are present within them. Using practical tests and numerical models, it has been determined how edge notches affect the way pillars break. Gypsum samples that are notched and have dimensions of 70 mm by 70 mm by 50 mm are created. Gypsum's Young modulus, Poisson ratio, compressive strength, and tensile strength are 5.5 GPa, 0.27, 8 MPa, and 1.1 MPa, respectively. 10-, 20-, and 30-degree notch angles are used. The model receives an axial stress at a rate of 0.05 mm/min. On a rock pillar, numerical simulation is carried out concurrently with an experimental test. The findings indicate that the joint angle is mostly responsible for the failure process. The fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the pillars are connected to the compressive strengths of the specimens. At the notch points, two significant splitting tensile fractures spread vertically until coalescing with the top and lower boundaries of the models. On the left and right sides of the pillar, two rock columns are also taken out. The overall number of cracks rises as sample loading increases. The model's deformation at the start of loading reflect a linear elastic behavior, and the number of fractures steadily grows. When the number of cracks increases, the curve becomes non-linear, and the force being applied peaks. When the sample can no longer tolerate the applied force, a dramatic stress decrease occurs. The macro-failure over the whole model is what leads to the greater stress decrease following the peak load. In actuality, the reduced stress reduction is accompanied by more overall fractures. Similar findings are shown in both the experimental testing and numerical modeling.

In this research work, the fractal modeling of Au anomalies in the Chaapaan 1:100,000 sheet (NW Iran) is conducted through an investigation of the concentration-distance to lineament (C-DL) relationship. The classification of Au anomalies is based on their proximity to major lineaments. Stream sediment data is utilized to identify Au anomalies, and the C-DL model demonstrates a strong correlation between the main gold anomalies and their distance from remote sensing lineaments. The findings indicate that gold anomaly values exceeding 12 ppb are found within a distance of less than 1 km from the remote sensing lineaments, establishing a significant association between fault structures and mineralization. Moreover, the average distances to remote sensing lineaments are found to be less than 1.3 km, underscoring the suitability of the C-DL fractal modeling for identifying hydrothermal gold deposits.

The Sonajil area is located in the east Azerbaijan province of Iran. According to studies on the geological structure, the region has experienced intrusive, subvolcanic, and extrusive magmatic activities, as well as subduction processes. As a result, the region is recognized for its high potential for mineralization, particularly for Cu-Au porphyry types. The main objective of this research work is to utilize the fuzzy gamma operator integration approach to identify the areas with high potential for porphyry deposits. To carry out this exploratory approach, it is necessary to investigate several indicator layers including geological, remote sensing, geochemical, and geo-physical data. The analysis reveals that the northeastern and southwestern parts of the Sonajil region exhibit a greater potential for porphyry deposits. The accuracy of the resulting Mineral Potential Map (MPM) in the Sonajil region was evaluated based on data from 20 drilled boreholes, which showed an agreement percentage of 83.33%. Due to the high level of agreement, certain locations identified in the generated MPM were recommended for further exploration studies and drilling.

The presence of copper bearing minerals in cyanidation of gold ores may lead to several challenges in the CIP/CIL circuits. Many solutions have been proposed to address these problems, one being the use of glycine in the cyanidation process. Here, the experimental as well as molecular modelling studies using Density Functional Theory (DFT) have been conducted to investigate the glycine role in cyanidation of copper bearing gold ores. The results show that in the presence of glycine in the solution containing copper-cyanide species and in very low or zero free cyanide content, the dissolution rate of gold is significantly improved (3.02 vs. 0.23 ppm), while no improvement is observed in copper free or cyanide enriched solutions. Molecular modeling has been performed to interpret the laboratory results as well as to identify the mechanisms. The modeling results demonstrate that in cyanide deficient solutions, cyanide complex of copper complexes (E = -319 kCal.mol-1) is replaced by glycine, and the free cyanide produced results in higher gold cyanidation as well as lower copper cyanide formation.

In this paper, we discuss the concepts behind dispersion patterns of geochemical anomalies when applied for prospecting mineral deposits in different exploration scales. The patterns vary from regional to local scale geochemical surveys, which is due to the differences in the corresponding underlying processes. Thus the ways for modelling the dispersion patterns and driving significant geochemical signatures should consider the variety when the area under study are delimited from regional to deposit scales exploration. Subsequently, this paper faces with two questions, namely (1) should various geochemical indicators be integrated in different exploration scales aiming at introducing stronger signatures of mineral deposits? and (2) how does the exploration scale affect dispersion patterns of geochemical indicator elements? We demonstrate that the exploration scale plays an important role on the reliability and usefulness of geochemical anomaly models. In this regard, although fusion may achieve reputable outcomes at regional scale exploration, we demonstrate that integration doesn’t gain accurate results for exploration at local scale, which is due to the diversities of the elemental distributions in the two different scales. This achievement is approved by comparing two geochemical signatures, one obtained by integration of two different indicator factors and the other one that used a single factor. The former produces almost the whole studied area as prospective, while the later recognizes ~10% of the area for further exploration, which is closely related to the porphyry Cu mineralization and is verified by drilling results.

The primary purpose of this investigation is contamination mapping in surrounding areas of Irankuh Pb–Zn mine, located in central Iran, using an integrated approach of principal component analysis (PCA) with the Concentration-Area (C-A) and Power Spectrum-Area (S-A) fractal models. PCA categorized the 45 elements into eight principal components. Component 2, containing the toxic elements of Pb, Zn, As, Mn, Cd, and Ba, was identified as the contamination factor. This multivariate contamination factor was modeled using the C-A and S-A fractal methods (in spatial and frequency domains) to delineate pollution areas. Modeling of PCA data using the C-A fractal method showed four main populations for the contamination factors. Two populations with higher fractal dimensions are associated with contamination from mining activities or anthropogenic effects. Low fractal dimensions are considered the background population, which has not been affected or is less affected by these activities. Five geo-chemical populations were obtained for contamination factors using the S-A fractal modeling of PCA in the frequency domain. Therefore, various geo-chemical populations were achieved using geo-chemical filtering and two-dimensional inverse Fourier transformation. The geo-chemical populations related to classes 2, 3, and 4 containing intermediate frequency signals showed the pollution anomaly. The spatial distribution of pollutant geo-chemical signals exhibits excellent conformity with the mining operation limit and tailing dam location as pollutant sources. The results indicate that the elements Pb, Zn, Cd, and As have significant values in the surrounding soils rather than their concentrations in the earth’s crust. The results demonstrate that the S-A fractal models can more precisely delineate the environmental anomaly than the C-A fractal model, especially in intermediate frequency populations.