Know the Different Types of Mining Processes

Mining has become a controversial industry because of its "devastating" effect to the environment and the ecosystem. However, it has contributed so much to civilization that without it, we could never be where we are today in many aspects.

There are two basic methods of mining. These are the surface and the underground mining processes:

1. Surface Mining

This involves the mining of minerals located at or near the surface of the earth. This encompasses at least six processes and these are:

• Strip Mining - this involves the stripping of the earth's surface by heavy machinery. This method is generally targeted at extracting coal or sedimentary rocks that lay near the earth's surface.

• Placer Mining - this involves the extraction of sediments in sand or gravel. It is a simple, old-fashioned way of mining. This method is generally applicable to gold and precious gems that are carried by the flow of water.

• Mountain Top Mining - this is a new method which involves blasting of a mountain top to expose coal deposits that lie underneath the mountain crest.

• Hydraulic Mining - this is an obsolete method that involves jetting the side of a mountain or hill with high pressure water to expose gold and other precious metals.

• Dredging - it involves the removal of rocks, sand and silt underneath a body of water to expose the minerals.

• Open Pit - this is the most common mining method. It involves the removal of the top layers of soil in search for gold or buried treasure. The miner digs deeper and deeper until a large, open-pit is created.

2. Underground Mining

This is the process in which a tunnel is made into the earth to find the mineral ore. The mining operation is usually performed with the use of underground mining equipment. Underground mining is done through the following methods:

• Slope Mining - it involves the creation of slopes into the ground in order to reach the ore or mineral deposit. This process is generally applied in coal mining.

• Hard rock - this method uses dynamite or giant drills to create large, deep tunnels. The miners support the tunnels with pillars to prevent them from collapsing. This is a large-scale mining process and is usually applied in the extraction of large copper, tin, lead, gold or silver deposits.

• Drift mining - this method is applicable only when the target mineral is accessible from the side of a mountain. It involves the creation of a tunnel that's slightly lower than the target mineral. The gravity makes the deposit fall to the tunnel where miners can collect them.

• Shaft method - this involves the creation of a vertical passageway that goes deep down underground where the deposit is located. Because of the depth, miners are brought in and out of the pit with elevators.

• Borehole method - this involves the use of a large drill and high pressure water to eject the target mineral.

These are the basic methods used in the extraction of common minerals. There are more complex systems, but still, they are based on these fundamental processes.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Know-the-Different-Types-of-Mining-Processes&id=7932442

Uranium Mining Revival in New Mexico through Solution Mining

"We've got to get quickly on a track to energy independence from foreign oil, and that means, among other things, going back to nuclear power," U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) recently told Fox News. U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) invited Louisiana Enrichment Services (LES) to build a gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment facility near Hobbs, New Mexico. The facility is currently undergoing the permitting process. Southwest Research and Information Center's Annette Aguayo told us the group planned to begin working on stopping that project. Some environmentalists remain behind the times.

Other environmentalists, who led before, are leading again. James Lovelock, the spiritual guru of the world's environmental movement, sometimes called the "Father of the Green Revolution," because of his research and widely embraced warnings on DDT and CFCs, wrote in Reader's Digest, (March, 2005), "The figures show that many people's fears of nuclear energy are unreasonable." Dr. Lovelock also said "the Greens are plain wrong to oppose it." In May, 2004, Lovelock wrote, "Nuclear power is the only green solution."

New Mexico is primed for a uranium revival, not with conventional mining, but with ISL operations. The in situ leaching method, also known as solution mining, is environmentally friendly. Because it is low cost and does not contaminate the environment in ways that uranium mining did in the 1950s, many uranium companies plan to use this safer method for mining uranium in New Mexico.

In a conversation, late last year, with Grants Chamber of Commerce and Mining Museum employee Barbara Hahn, a deep resentment resounded in her voice when talking about the collapse of the uranium mining business in the 1980s. Grants (NM) was a boom town, during the 1970s uranium boom, when spot uranium prices climbed, and stayed above $40/pound. "Grants replaced the lost mining jobs by opening prisons," she told us. "Now, others bring us their prisoners." Ms. Hahn believed only 35 percent of the uranium had been extracted from the Grants Mineral Belt. "Most of it is still there," she added. According to a McLemore and Chenoweth geological report, a resource of 558 million pounds (279,000 short tons) might still be extracted. The question in the 1980s as it is today revolves around the spot price of uranium.

The higher the spot price of uranium, the more economic it can be to mine. As the price of uranium rises, then the quantity of an economic resource increases. At $30/pound, the U.S. Energy Information Administrated reported the state of New Mexico held 84 million pounds of uranium oxide, grading 0.28/ton, as of Dec 31, 2003. However, at $50/pound uranium, that quantity would jump to 341 million pounds. The spread on the gross value of the uranium assets between those price levels is nearly $15 billion! As the spot price escalates, the economic reserves grow.

Said William Sheriff, Director of Corporate Development for Energy Metals (TSX: EMC), "Our long-term, big, big projects are going to be in New Mexico. Long term, we think New Mexico is going to be quite valuable to us." He explained his company's plans are to first develop production centers in Texas and Wyoming, before developing ISL operations in The Enchanted State. Sheriff added, "Nothing in New Mexico in terms of the first five years, but that's not to say we're going to sit idly by. We're going to be aggressively pursuing these. The only thing we're going to be pursuing is ISL production." Based upon the company's extensive acquisitions in Wyoming, New Mexico and elsewhere, Sheriff threw down the gauntlet at Cameco and Cogema, whose ISL operations in Wyoming contribute the largest share of U.S. uranium production, "We intend to become the largest ISL producer in the United States."

David Miller, President and Chief Operation Officer of Strathmore Minerals, (TSX: STM; Other OTC: STHJF), believes, "The ISL production method will continue to grow in the United States, but we will also see a return to conventional mining and milling in the western states." In addition to their Wyoming uranium properties, Strathmore hopes to move forward their Church Rock uranium property on the heels of Uranium Resources' (OTC BB: URRE) permitting on Section 17, held by their HRI subsidiary. Basically, all three companies are friendly neighbors in the area. There is evidence they frequently talk among themselves, comparing notes. The three uranium juniors appear to be the current major players in New Mexico for ISL uranium mining.

Ron Driscoll, one of the co-founders of Quincy Energy, which has been acquired by Energy Metals, said, "It will get interesting when the oil companies get involved again." It is probably early for the oil giants to rush back into uranium. In the last uranium boom, many of the major oil companies were leaders in the uranium exploration and mining. Kerr-McGee Nuclear was the number one private sector uranium producer in the world. Other major oil companies involved in uranium mining and exploration included Mobil, Phillips, Conoco, Exxon, Chevron, Amoco and others. Another of the recently arrived uranium juniors, Max Resources (TSX: MXR) also plans to drill at the other end of New Mexico, in Socorro County (about 100 miles south of Albuquerque). MXR's property was once drilled by OxyMin, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, during the 1980s, before the price of uranium fell off a cliff.

Perhaps, one major company will emerge in New Mexico, consolidating the others, or some of the others. "There's a huge number of small uranium plays in the North American market that need critical mass," Neal Froneman, CEO of Uranium One (TSE: SXR) recently told a South African newspaper. "Consolidation will drive our business in the US and Canada, where we think it's tactically smart to be." Uranium One was itself a consolidation between Toronto-based Southern Cross and South African-based Aflease. Froneman concluded, ""It makes sense to have a major presence in North America in order to supply the (U.S.) utilities that will need to be built."

"The geology for this area, with regards to ISL uranium operations, could help make New Mexico an important supplier to U.S. utilities, possibly before the end of this decade," Strathmore's David Miller agreed. "I would not be surprised at all if there were more uranium to be found in New Mexico than is currently estimated. That's why companies have exploration programs." From a state, which has produced over 300 million pounds of uranium, and which may have between 300 million and 600 million additional pounds of uranium, New Mexico will be a prime target for uranium companies as long as the price of uranium continues to rise. Will uranium crash and burn, as it did in the 1980s? After accurately predicting the spot price of uranium would double in a StockInterview feature in June 2004, Miller recently told StockInterview, "I wouldn't be surprised to see the price double again."

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Uranium-Mining-Revival-in-New-Mexico-through-Solution-Mining&id=179129

Data Mining in the 21st Century: Business Intelligence Solutions Extract and Visualize

When you think of the term data mining, what comes to mind? If an image of a mine shaft and miners digging for diamonds or gold comes to mind, you're on the right track. Data mining involves digging for gems or nuggets of information buried deep within data. While the miners of yesteryear used manual labor, modern data minors use business intelligence solutions to extract and make sense of data.

As businesses have become more complex and more reliant on data, the sheer volume of data has exploded. The term "big data" is used to describe the massive amounts of data enterprises must dig through in order to find those golden nuggets. For example, imagine a large retailer with numerous sales promotions, inventory, point of sale systems, and a gift registry. Each of these systems contains useful data that could be mined to make smarter decisions. However, these systems may not be interlinked, making it more difficult to glean any meaningful insights.

Data warehouses are used to extract information from various legacy systems, transform the data into a common format, and load it into a data warehouse. This process is known as ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load). Once the information is standardized and merged, it becomes possible to work with that data.

Originally, all of this behind-the-scenes consolidation took place at predetermined intervals such as once a day, once a week, or even once a month. Intervals were often needed because the databases needed to be offline during these processes. A business running 24/7 simply couldn't afford the down time required to keep the data warehouse stocked with the freshest data. Depending on how often this process took place, the data could be old and no longer relevant. While this may have been fine in the 1980s or 1990s, it's not sufficient in today's fast-paced, interconnected world.

Real-time EFL has since been developed, allowing for continuous, non-invasive data warehousing. While most business intelligence solutions today are capable of mining, extracting, transforming, and loading data continuously without service disruptions, that's not the end of the story. In fact, data mining is just the beginning.

After mining data, what are you going to do with it? You need some form of enterprise reporting in order to make sense of the massive amounts of data coming in. In the past, enterprise reporting required extensive expertise to set up and maintain. Users were typically given a selection of pre-designed reports detailing various data points or functions. While some reports may have had some customization built in, such as user-defined date ranges, customization was limited. If a user needed a special report, it required getting someone from the IT department skilled in reporting to create or modify a report based on the user's needs. This could take weeks - and it often never happened due to the hassles and politics involved.

Fortunately, modern business intelligence solutions have taken enterprise reporting down to the user level. Intuitive controls and dashboards make creating a custom report a simple matter of drag and drop while data visualization tools make the data easy to comprehend. Best of all, these tools can be used on demand, allowing for true, real-time ad hoc enterprise reporting.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Data-Mining-in-the-21st-Century:-Business-Intelligence-Solutions-Extract-and-Visualize&id=7504537

Internet Data Mining - How Does it Help Businesses?

Internet has become an indispensable medium for people to conduct different types of businesses and transactions too. This has given rise to the employment of different internet data mining tools and strategies so that they could better their main purpose of existence on the internet platform and also increase their customer base manifold.

Internet data-mining encompasses various processes of collecting and summarizing different data from various websites or webpage contents or make use of different login procedures so that they could identify various patterns. With the help of internet data-mining it becomes extremely easy to spot a potential competitor, pep up the customer support service on the website and make it more customers oriented.

There are different types of internet data_mining techniques which include content, usage and structure mining. Content mining focuses more on the subject matter that is present on a website which includes the video, audio, images and text. Usage mining focuses on a process where the servers report the aspects accessed by users through the server access logs. This data helps in creating an effective and an efficient website structure. Structure mining focuses on the nature of connection of the websites. This is effective in finding out the similarities between various websites.

Also known as web data_mining, with the aid of the tools and the techniques, one can predict the potential growth in a selective market regarding a specific product. Data gathering has never been so easy and one could make use of a variety of tools to gather data and that too in simpler methods. With the help of the data mining tools, screen scraping, web harvesting and web crawling have become very easy and requisite data can be put readily into a usable style and format. Gathering data from anywhere in the web has become as simple as saying 1-2-3. Internet data-mining tools therefore are effective predictors of the future trends that the business might take.

If you are interested to know something more on Web Data Mining and other details, you are welcome to the Screen Scraping Technology site.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Data-Mining---How-Does-it-Help-Businesses?&id=3860679

Commercial Kitchen Ventilation and Extraction - What You Need to Know

There are a number of things to consider when installing commercial kitchen ventilation and there are several different types of systems available - but all must comply with the "Standard for kitchen ventilation systems DW172". A commercial kitchen cannot operate effectively without a properly designed and functioning ventilation system. Getting the design of the correct system for YOUR premises can be complex. All systems are operation and site specific - how you move the air, where you move it to and what you have to do with it to ensure compliance not only with the relevant legislation, but also any local building and environmental constraints.

The factors that may need to be addressed include not only physically moving the air, but heat, humidity, smoke, fire, grease and odour. There are various filter and safety systems available that deal with any or all of these issues and the best system for you will depend on your site, its surroundings and your budget. You may also have to deal with noise from the fan(s) and any planning issues relating to external ducting.

In basic terms a ventilation system comprises a canopy over the production area with a fan linked by ducting to a filter bank within the kitchen extraction canopy which draws the air out to the external exhaust point. The fan is sized in direct relation to the amount of air that has to be moved, where it has to be moved to (the exhaust point) and how quickly (depending on the type of food being cooked).

In addition, mechanical provision must be made to replace 85% of the air that is being extracted. This is called "Make up Air", the other 15% is made up by natural means - general kitchen areas and windows etc.

Within the design, careful consideration must also be given to ensure adequate access for cleaning of the duct and servicing of the fans.

If the production equipment is gas, in accordance with British Standard (BS6173) you will have to fit a Gas Interlock system. This system automatically shuts off the gas supply to the cooking equipment in the event of a failure in the ventilation system.

You may also want to consider the installation of a Heat Recovery unit which reclaims the heat (and some of the fuel cost) from your kitchen that would normally be blasted straight out through from your extracton canopy.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Commercial-Kitchen-Ventilation-and-Extraction---What-You-Need-to-Know&id=6438003

Websites Can Contractually Restrict Third Party Scraping of Their Data

E-commerce service providers can contractually prevent other websites from copying factual information from their website for commercial use, such as for price comparison purposes.

On 15 January 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed in a preliminary ruling that websites not protected by a database right, are free to impose contractual restrictions on the use of their data. Interestingly, the CJEU acknowledged that the contractual restrictions could – if national law permits - be imposed through the website’s terms and conditions.

Let’s have a quick look at how this matter arose. Since the early days of online reservations, some websites discovered that they could attract a lot of visitors by comparing the online prices displayed by e-commerce websites selling competing goods and services. Originally such third party websites were called “content aggregators” and today one particular type, so-called “price comparison” websites, is widely-known.  To be able to aggregate such content and create added-value for the consumer, these websites use automated software that visits the e-commerce websites and copies the latter’s pricing information in real time. This practice is often referred to as “screen scraping” and frequently occurs in the online travel reservation business. Some of these third party websites do not only show the compared prices of airline tickets but act as an intermediary for booking travel packages, including car and hotel rental services on top of the airline ticket, often after adding a commission.

In response, low-cost airlines quickly started taking legal action against such screen scraping practices, fearing the loss of such additional, revenue-generating services to these third party websites and also through suffering reputational damage when consumers were not properly informed about issues such as flight changes and cancellations. In these circumstances there was one case between the low-cost airline, Ryanair, and the third party website owner, PR Aviation BV, in which the Dutch Supreme Court made a preliminary ruling request to the CJEU.

The CJEU, in its preliminary ruling on the scope of database protection and contractual freedom, ruled in Ryanair’s favour. It concluded that, in the absence of any database related copyright or sui generis protection on Ryanair’s website, Ryanair was expressly allowed to lay down contractual limitations on the use of its website by third parties. Ryanair would not have had such contractual freedom if its database enjoyed copyright or sui generis database protection (due to the restriction laid down in Article 15 of the Database Directive 96/9/EC). Ryanair’s terms and conditions, to which users had to visibly agree when searching for flights (but without needing to explicitly tick a box), indeed stated that the use of any automated system or software to extract data from its website for commercial purposes was prohibited. Ryanair even went as far as to explicitly state that other websites could not sell its flights and that price comparison websites had to enter into a written licence agreement with Ryanair,
to access Ryanair’s price, flight and timetable information for the sole purpose of price comparison.

As a consequence of the CJEU’s ruling, any website making available mere factual information not protected by any legal right, can still prevent others from using such information through its terms and conditions. Clearly, that website will have to demonstrate under applicable (national) law that the website visitor is contractually bound, in particular because it validly agreed to such terms and conditions. Depending on the applicable law, such agreement by the consumer could be considered as having taken place by ticking a box or merely after having been made aware of the website’s terms and conditions.

The CJEU’s ruling is likely to impact upon the business model of a number of content aggregating/price comparison websites. The ruling’s concrete relevance, however, will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Source:http://www.timelex.eu/en/blog/detail/websites-can-contractually-restrict-third-party-scraping-of-their-data

Top Tips for Data Mining Success

You may have trieTips for data mining successd data mining before but you seem to be lost in the maze of confusion, data overload, and a number of strange terms and icons. Do not fret, you are not alone. There may be a number of first timers who are in the same boat as you do. Stop, refocus and start all over again with the following tips in mind.

It is important that proper handling of the data mining procedure must be employed. Easy as it may sound, it can only bring in great results when it is placed in the expert hands and when done according to the right patterns and processes. This is not to say that data mining is only successful for a gifted and trained few. It means serious consideration, preparation, and training must be part of the groundwork before disembarking into it.

The most practical and tested tips are: know your desired outcomes; set expectations; assign the right personnel; avoid data dump; create a deployment scheme; develop a maintenance plan.

Know your desired outcomes

As the major proprietor of your business, you of all people should have a clear view in mind of what you really want for your business. Thus, before trying on new strategies and techniques that are recommended to you, you must know what your desired outcomes are. For instance, if your business is in real estate, you must be able to foresee which direction your market should go. Are you going up on skyscrapers or towards the horizons in the countryside? From great lengths, you go to the specifics and clearly spell out what you want and where it should be.

Set expectations

In connection with identifying your outcomes, you must also set realistic and attainable expectations. These are the very things that preclude possible obstacles and frustrations in the coming years. You can see where your business is going by web research or data mining. You can see the past and present of your competitors and you can also set your own future based on the experiences of others. It is often wise to set expectations that you have not attained before. It is like plowing and preparing the ground because you know rain is coming and it is the right time to plant and gain great harvest.

Assign the right personnel

When you find the right person as well as the right data mining service, you can cut short tiresome planning, devising and preparation. If you are in a small enterprise, you can spearhead the procedure but if you have enough staff at your disposal, choose one who is not only knowledgeable but also reliable and dedicated. You do not want someone who is only a good starter and one who would leave you hanging when the going gets tough.

Avoid data dump

Being sure of what you want can help you avoid unnecessary data. Data mining like real mining is being able to know where the gold is and is able to get it done in the most efficient and effective way. Being able to identify the legal sites and reliable, well researched information is the short cut to finding the right and exact data. It would be a waste of time and effort if you are aimlessly opening and clicking on unsure and ambiguous websites. There are a lot of links that lead you to more links and are simply making money out of others’ ignorance.

Create a deployment scheme

Like any other venture, you must also be able to delegate the task as well as the information that you gather. Since you are not a superhuman, learn to seek the assistance of others and be sure that you know who to trust. In addition, you must have a classification and segregation of the needed materials so that these will be easy to locate and analyze. In other words, order and proper organization is another tip in order to achieve success in data mining.

Develop a maintenance plan

Finally, along with orderliness and efficiency, you must see to it that you have an effective maintenance plan. What to do with old data and where to store the vital ones are concerns that need to be considered too. In addition, there is a need for a watchdog in the whole duration of your business venture. This will not only assure you of security of your data but also keep you on healthy and solid ground. This maintenance can be both a cleaning and healing spot for your business’ overall life and sustainability.

So much can be said about how to go about with your business using data mining but there is a factor that is uniquely your own. Above and beyond all these techniques and strategies, trust your instincts. You are the better judge of your desires and actions; thus, you must spend time alone in reflection, contemplation and retrospection. Being silent and alone can make you see things that are missed among all the movements and noise. Once in a while, leave the scene and look objectively at your work. Remember, there is wisdom in alienation and objectivity.

Source: http://www.loginworks.com/blogs/web-scraping-blogs/213-tips-for-data-mining-success/