MINING AND MINERALS PROCESSING

MINING AND MINERALS PROCESSING

Contents Geotechnical Process Technology Loading and Unloading Facility Design Tailing Basin Management Water and Wetlands Waste Remediation Environmental Compliance Reclamation Barr Can Help

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Mining and Mineral Processing

Productivity and profitability are your goalsbut international competition, new processes, and stricter environmental regulations are making it harder to meet those goals. Barr integrates engineering and environmental expertise to help our clients build a prosperous and healthy future. We have 40 years of experience solving a wide range of problems faced by the mining and mineral processing industry. Our speciality is helping you resolve issues that dont have off-the-shelf solutions. About one-fifth of our work comes from projects for the mining and mineral processing industry. Because mining projects make up a lot of what we do, we start your project knowing a lot about your work. And because mining projects arent the only thing we do, we start your project knowing a lot about what else influences your work. Of our more than 300 engineers, scientists, and technical specialists, approximately 75 have extensive Govt mining experience. The benefit of our wide experience is closely linked to the way we think about the details of Other your project. We wont waste your Forest time and money pursuing innovation for its own sakebut we will look for the little inventions that can make a big difference.

A large open-pit iron mine where Barr performed slope stability and transient seepage analyses for dewatering the pit

Mining

Manuf.

Power

Refining

For instance, something as simple as the spacing of conveyor idlers can make the difference between a compact, durable, easy-to-operate system and a system that just doesnt do the job. Most of our inventions wont ever appear on a bronzed patent plaquebut theyll put a little more gold in your pocket and a little less silver in your hair.

Geotechnical
Services Permitting Feasibility studies Site investigations Analysis Design Plans and specifications Contracting Construction observation Areas of Experience Dams Embankments Landslides Slope stability Liquefaction Groundwater seepage Retaining walls Bulkheads Foundations Underground conduits Excavations Geo-environmental Soil and Rock Mechanics Modeling Programs FLAC SIGMA/W SEEP/W SLOPE/W CLARA Geology and Hydrogeology Modeling Programs SLAEM, MLAEM MODFLOW, MT3D, PATH3D PLASM MINTEQA2 MINEQL PHRQPITZ WATEQ4F
This view of the gold mine project shows the slope failure in the upper middle of the face. Trenches were excavated below.

Our experience has helped keep mines producing. At a gold mine, the failure of a high wall was jeopardizing future operations. Our geologic evaluation identified weak beds of rock underlying an existing fault in the wall, which caused instability during mining operations. After a detailed slope stability analysis, we designed a method that stabilized the wall while allowing deeper mining to continue. In order to reach gold reserves, deep, narrow trenches were excavated. As soon as each trench had been mined, it was backfilled. As the trenches were backfilled, a buttress was constructed against the high wall to stabilize it permanently.

At a taconite processing facility, Barr conducted stateof-the-art three-dimensional stability analyses to model upstream construction over loose tailing deposits. The analyses were used to evaluate seepage conditions and 240-ton minetruck loading on the crest of the dams. Results of the analyses were used to develop appropriate construction techniques based on tailing characteristics, mine truck loading, and seepage conditions.

Aerial view of tailing basin dams

Process Technology
Designing Systems for Crushing and grinding Comminution Beneficiation Concentration Screening Quenching Drying Dust control Materials Coal Copper-nickel Fluxing agents Gravel Limestone Sand Slurries Taconite Instrumentation and Controls Motors Motor controls Graphical user interfaces Programmable logic controllers Distributed controllers SCADA and telemetry Closed-circuit television
This 150-ton-per-hour silica sand processing plant is one of three that Barr designed for Unimin.

We understand that you need processes that are easy to maintain and operate, efficient, and cost-effective. Weve designed the full range of processes, from conveying and crushing to slurrying and dust control, for more than a dozen major clients in the mining and mineral processing industry. Barr also has the regulatory experience to handle any related environmental permitting requirements.

Increasingly stringent air pollution laws have created market opportunities for mining companies that can produce cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal. As part of its study of these opportunities, Knife River Coal Mining Company retained Barr to prepare conceptual capital and operating cost estimates for a 250,000-ton-per-year demonstration plant that will produce low-sulfur coal from North Dakota lignite. The proposed plant centers around a process developed by Grand Forks Activation Technologies. Barr worked closely with Knife River and GFAT to achieve consensus on process flowsheets and on the basis for the plants design. Barr also assisted GFAT in testing the fine crushing, sulfur and ash removal, and drying processes that will be used in the plant. Based on this work, we were able to simplify the process flowsheets, which resulted in a significant reduction in estimated capital costs for the plant.

Loading and Unloading

Designing Systems for Conveying Piping and pumping Reclaim Storage Loading and unloading Weighing Dust control

Our loading and unloading systems have solved both large and small problems. Benefits from some of our projects include: Helping Northern States Power save more than $3.4 million annually by switching from barge transport of coal to rail transport at an eastern Minnesota power plant Providing savings to Basin Electric through our use of programmable logic controllers to control dust collectors on a coal-unloading system Minimizing noise at an urban NSP power plant by designing a quieter railcar shaker Resolving maintenance problems and increasing reclaim capacity at a taconite shipping facility by replacing a 5,000-long-ton-per-hour conveyor system

Materials Coal Copper-nickel Fluxing agents Gravel Limestone Sand Slurries Taconite ore Taconite pellets

Instrumentation and Controls Motors Motor controls Graphical user interfaces Programmable logic controllers Distributed controllers SCADA and telemetry Closed-circuit television
This ship-loading system at Dock 6 in Duluth, Minnesota, makes it possible to load 1,000-foot vessels.

This coal handling system allows unit trains to unload while in motionin about a quarter of the usual time.

Facility Design
Facilities Building design Dust control Wastewater treatment Audits Indoor air quality Drainage and utilities Equipment support

Barr understands the complexity of mining facilities. Our team approach and use of up-to-date software tools helps us design everything from haul roads to equipment foundations to training rooms and laboratories. We offer the full range of services needed to expand or modify your facility, from water treatment and air emission controls to structural design and site layout. We also offer support services, such as indoor air quality monitoring, that can help keep your staff productive. As well as monitoring air, our environmental quality team can sample water, surfaces, and other media; assess HVAC systems; design remedial actions; and help you explain sensitive issues to building users. If a plant has to close temporarily, an indoor air quality survey can prevent problems upon reopening.

Transportation Conveying systems Truck, train, and ship load-out Weighing systems Tunnels Roads and parking lots Marinas and docks

Power and Controls Power supply High-voltage systems Instrumentation Building lighting District heating Cogeneration
For 30 years, Barr has been providing a variety of services at this taconite processing facility in northern Minnesota.

We look for ways to keep your costs down. When the Copper Range Company was planning to add a gas plant to its Michigan facility, Barr worked directly with the equipment supplier, Lurgi Energie of Germany, to produce CADD drawings for steel support structures. By using SODA computer software as a tool in our structural analysis, we were able to save time and money while helping the client meet goals for designing a safe facility.

Tailing Basin Management

Tailing Basins Design Repairs Construction review Instrumentation Dam break analysis Permitting Groundwater interceptors Monitoring and relief wells Underground conduits Risk assessments Water balance studies Deposition modeling Operation and maintenance Management Long-range planning

Tailing basin management may be the least exciting part of your job. We can help keep tailing basin issues routine. Weve been providing comprehensive tailing basin services for more than 40 years, working with clients in the lead, silica sand, trona, and taconite mining industries. Work for one of our clients in Wyoming includes: Conducting safety evaluations and risk assessments Designing systems to control seepage along dams Performing groundwater modeling Investigating leaching from former tailing ponds

Good infrastructure is an investment in future growth. How about a tailing basin drainage system that reduces operating costs and environmental impacts? A taconite mining company was using barge pumps to transfer water from a tailing deposition basin to a clearwater basin. Generating electricity to power the system required nearly 6,000 tons of coal each year. Barr designed a gravity decant system that saves nearly $200,000 per year in energy costs and an additional $20,000 in maintenance fees. LTV estimates that energy savings from the project repaid the capital investment in just six months. The 10-year value to the company is projected at over $1.3 million. This project won a National Energy Award from the U.S. Department of Energy.

We provide ongoing engineering assistance for tailing basins at this soda ash facility in Wyoming.

Water and Wetlands

Services Water conservation and reuse Closed-loop system design Water treatment systems Piping and pumping Water supply studies Surface water quality Qquatic studies NPDES permitting Corps of Engineers permitting Wetland delineation Wetland mitigation Acid mine drainage Landscape ecology

Sometimes it seems as though environmental regulations dont take into account the size and nature of mining operations. What do you do when following the mineral would mean digging up 300 acres of protected wetland? Barr helped a mining company located in a wetland-rich area comply with no-net-loss regulations by developing the largest private wetland bank in Minnesota. A wild-rice farm of more than 500 acres is being restored to natural wetlands. The wetland bank will contain a variety of wetland types, including wooded and shrub swamps and shallow to deep emergent marshes. This win-win solution will allow the mining companys operations to continue into the next century.

This diagram shows different types of wetland areas within the boundaries of the former wild-rice farm. A series of control structures (not shown) will regulate water levels in each area.

Acid mine drainage can result in release of heavy metals to surface waters. At an open-pit mine with gabbro stockpiles, Barr used the results of our water quality and aquatic life studies to recommend a combination of reclamation, runoff rerouting, alkaline recharge, wetland treatment, and stream-flow augmentation.

Waste Remediation
Services RCRA assistance Fuel-spill investigation and remediation Investigations of tailing basin seepage Groundwater characterization Regulatory negotiations Landfill design services Pumpback systems Tanks Phase I and II assessments Geophysical investigations Water and soil sampling Quality Assurance/Quality Control programs Data management Groundwater monitoring Groundwater modeling Contaminant transport modeling Stockpile runoff services Acid mine drainage

Cleaning up and staying clean usually means jumping through a lot of regulatory hoops. Barr provides comprehensive waste management services, from preliminary assessment to remedial action design. We are your advocate with the regulatory agencies, helping you negotiate cleanup standards that are reasonable for the future uses of the property. At U.S. Steels 600-acre Duluth Works, Barr has been providing waste remediation services for demolition and cleanup since 1979. Weve handled the cleanup from remedial investigation through regulatory negotiations and remedial action to todays routine groundwater monitoring. With our assistance, U.S. Steel was able to negotiate a consent order to implement its extensive remedial action plan in phases, allowing the company to manage its investment in the project. Our work has included hazardous waste management, disposal of equipment containing PCBs, landfill permitting assistance, evaluation of a coal-tar biotreatment system, land treatment of petroleum hydrocarbons from tank leaks, and removal of coal tar. At the Doe Run Companys Buick, Missouri, resource recovery facility, weve been providing comprehensive waste management assistance. This facility is a secondary lead-processing operation, recycling batteries, lead scrap, and other sources of lead. Barr handled the facilitys fast-track permit application under RCRA Subtitle C, in addition to conducting a RCRA facility assessment of primary smelting operations. Since then, weve assisted Doe Run with documenting and reporting interim measures implemented at the facility in compliance with the RCRA permit.

Testing a transformer for PCBs at U.S. Steels Duluth Works

Environmental Compliance
Do environmental regulations represent a drain on your profits or an opportunity to find competitive advantages? When we asked this question of 400 people in the mining and mineral processing industry, we found opinion split evenly. Some companies were eagerly moving beyond compliance, while others worried about staying afloat. Barrs philosophy on environmental compliance is to help you work wisely by:
The Barr Information Technology Services (B.I.T.S.) group works with our engineers to design process control systems with real-time animated graphics and direct links to compliance-tracking databases.

Using your existing materials-tracking processes to meet compliance demonstration requirements, wherever possible Looking for emission-measurement methods other than expensive direct tests Implementing pollution prevention measures that save money in the short run as well as the long run Developing compliance strategies that cut through red tape Designing emission and effluent control systems that wont be outdated the next time regulations change

Air Operating & construction permits PSD review Dispersion modeling Ambient air monitoring BACT, LAER, and MACT Air emission controls Stack testing Environmental EAWs Environmental monitoring Regulatory analysis Indoor air quality Environmental management systems / ISO 14001 Waste reduction Facility audits Property assessments Information Technology Process controls Regulatory tracking systems Operator interfaces Graphical user interfaces Database design Instrumentation Telemetry/SCADA Websites Intranet solutions

Policies and Procedures

Top Management Support

Project and Program Reviews

Training

Regulatory Tracking and Influence

Day-to-day Compliance Management

Environmental Management System

Auditing Program

Communications

Information Management Systems

Issue-Specific Programs

Quality and Continuous Improvement Programs

Risk Assessment and Risk Management

A strong environmental management system goes beyond compliance. Integrating environmental management with your business operations is a potential source of competitive advantages.

Reclamation
Services Groundwater, surface water, and soil sampling Drainage investigations Waste characterization Reclamation plans Revegetation studies Technology evaluations Tailing stabilization studies Geochemistry Permitting Wetlands restoration

Your responsibilities dont end when the ore runs out. Neither do our services. During the 1970s enthusiasm for copper-nickel mining in northern Minnesota, a 1,728-foot exploratory shaft was sunk at Babbitt Mine. Kennecott Corporation, which most recently managed the property, decided to end the project. Barrs mine reclamation plan emphasizes minimizing long-term maintenance and environmental liability; using problems, such as contaminated runoff, as part of the solution, through incorporation into the soil stabilization mix; and protecting and restoring nearby wetlands.

Reclamation work at Kennecotts Babbitt Mine

Barr is currently assisting the Doe Run Company with reclamation activities at a lead-mine tailing disposal site in the Old Lead Belt of Missouri. The reclamation is being performed under CERCLA because of concerns about lead concentrations, and Barrs design is being coordinated with EPA Region VII and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Our design involves moving about 1.3 million cubic yards less than the amount originally required by the remedial action plan. Barrs work includes a regrading plan and design of sedimentation basins. Total earthwork for this four-year project will be approximately 1.5 million cubic yards.

Barr Can Help

Fields of Expertise Atmospheric science Biochemistry Biology CADD Civil engineering Chemical engineering Chemistry Construction observation Data QA/QC Electrical engineering Environmental engineering Environmental science Epidemiology Forestry Geochemistry Geology Geophysics Geotechnical engineering Hazardous waste management Hydraulic engineering Hydrogeology Hydrology Industrial hygiene Information management Laboratory operations Landscape ecology and architecture Mechanical engineering Metallurgical engineering Process engineering Public health Regulatory analysis Risk assessment Soil science Structural engineering Surveying Technical writing Toxicology Water resources engineering

Whether your projects are large or small, Barr can help. With over 300 engineers, scientists and technical specialists in more than 40 fields, we probably have someone who can help you now and with future projects. Barrs team is with you for the long haul. Youll typically work with the same principal, project manager, and core team members from the first day to the last day of your project. We recognize that the better we know you, the better we can serve youand the fewer handoffs, the fewer opportunities to drop the ball. When you choose Barr for a project, you can be confident that: Well work with you to develop realistic expectations and milestones at the beginning of the project Well send you regular progress reports, including budget and schedule tracking Well identify potential problems or scope changes early, so you dont receive unpleasant surprises Well manage subcontractors so that you receive a seamless project team with a consistent approach and accurate results

We look forward to demonstrating our commitment to a quality project.

For additional information about the services Barr offers, visit our website at www.barr.com