Academic literature on the topic 'Diamond mines and mining – Fiction'

Diamond mining is a rapidly developing industry, with an immensely large presence in Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) with two currently functioning mines. Since the opening of the first mine in NWT in 1998, the Canadian federal government has viewed diamond production as 'essential' to both the territorial and national economies, frequently highlighting the benefits of diamond production. Entrenched in colonial language, the very existence of diamond mines in operation within NWT violate teachings, values, and the time honoured reciprocal relationships with the land held by Indigenous peoples across the territory. In problematizing this relationship, this paper employs the theories of Glen Coulthard's work For the Land: The Dene Nation's Struggle for Self- Determination, and examines the ways in which the operation of diamond mines exist as strongholds of settler-colonialism while simultaneously seeking to 'modernise' Canada's North. This is achieved through an exploration of Indigenous land relationships, the false beneficiary nature of diamond mine corporations, and finally the homeland vs. colonial frontier dichotomy.

Traditional diamond mines is a hereditary in Cempaka Subdistricts. An increasing demand of diamond makes more mining activities, the majority of people around Cempaka Subdistricts think flood incidents in some areas are caused by diamond mining in Pumpung Village, because the mining is the oldest. This research aims to analyze the effects of hydrological characteristics on the potential for flooding due to the presence of a diamond mines at Pumpung Village, Cempaka Subdistricts. Methods in this study is analytical descriptive. Sampling and observations in Cempaka Subdistricts, Banjarbaru City, during normal conditions and rainy conditions. The intensity of rain in the research has the potential for flood, and rainfall in the research has potential for flooding or landslides. Rainy conditions, the presence of sedimentation causes the direction of the dominant water flow to change. The recovery qualification is categorized as very high in the middle and downstream of the river, which has the potential to trigger flooding. Changes in land cover for 8 years have the potential to cause flooding. The existence of a diamond mine in Pumpung Village, Cempaka Subdistricts is concluded to have the potential to cause flooding.

In this article, Dr. Newbury focuses on the technical and financial reasons for amalgamation at the Kimberley mines in South Africa, drawing on primary records to account for the rise of De Beers as the world's major diamond mining company in the 1880s. He finds that prior experience in local government and on the mining boards prepared company directors for competition in joint stock enterprise, while differences in production policies and performance influenced the pattern of mergers within and among the four Kimberley mines. De Beers's close relationship with diamond merchants and private banks in London, particularly N. M. Rothschild & Sons, was central to its position as a prime mover toward consolidation. Dr. Newbury views De Beers as a firm that relied for its success less on its renowned chairman, Cecil J. Rhodes, than on a combined managerial expertise that reflected the interests of both mining producers and merchant buyers.

Preventive maintenance practices have been proven to reduce maintenance costs in many industries. In the mining industry, preventive maintenance is the main form of maintenance, especially for mobile equipment. With the increase of sensor data and the installation of wireless infrastructure within underground mines, predictive maintenance practices are beginning to be applied to the mining equipment maintenance process. However, for the transition from preventive to predictive maintenance to succeed, researchers must first understand the maintenance process implemented in mines. In this paper, we conducted interviews with 15 maintenance experts from 7 mining sites (6 gold, 1 diamond) across East-Canada to investigate the maintenance planning process currently implemented in Canadian mines. We documented experts’ feedback on the process, their expectations regarding the introduction of predictive maintenance in mining, and the usability of existing computerized maintenance management software (CMMS). From our results, we compiled a summary of actual maintenance practices and showed how they differ from theoretical practices. Finally, we list the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relevant for maintenance planning and user requirements to improve the usability of CMMS.

AbstractIn 1957, the security force of Angola's colonial diamond mining company recruited African diviners to help them solve a case of diamond theft in Lunda. This event reveals a peculiar convergence of divinatory practices with techniques of corporate surveillance in Lunda's political economy of security. In their overlapping features of secrecy and control, divination and corporate security can be understood as historically aligned evidentiary practices, or what I call “corporate divination.” By examining divinatory rituals in tandem with the “occult” apparatus of corporate surveillance, and the figure of a colonial sorcerer-detective renowned for his “divinatory” prowess, I ask how such seemingly opposed modes of knowledge production eroded or shored up colonial rule. The cultural significance of divination within the context of a mining company, I suggest, exposes the conditions under which a colonial corporation appropriates the social world in which it intervenes, and conversely, the cultural resources that potentially shape or undermine corporate life in a colonial context.

Caustic Magnesia is also known as reactive magnesia. In the present study, process has been developed for recovery of caustic magnesia from kimberlite waste of Panna Mine. Panna Diamond Mining Project is the only mine in the country producing diamond. This is an open cast mine producing about 84000 carats diamonds per annum. About 100 tones of kimberlite have to be processed to get 10 carats (2 grams) of diamonds. Thus, about 0.9 million tons of kimberlite waste is being generated annually. Around 6-7 million tons of kimberlite waste is already available at Panna Mines, accumulated over the years waste during mining. Therefore, there is a need to look for development of bulk usage from the kimberlite. Technological option for Eco- friendly & Economically Efficient has to develop. In view of their wide application, and bulk usage, the caustic magnesia was identified to be developed from Kimberlite. Recovery of caustic magnesia from kimberlite tailing of Panna Diamond Mine is a novel chemical process, to prepare caustic magnesia from waste material. The process comprises i) Leaching, ii) filtration of leach liquor, iii) Precipitation of filtrate to get R2O3 and filtrate, iv) Precipitation of magnesium hydroxide, v) Washing and drying of magnesium hydroxide precipitate to remove sodium ions and surface moisture, vi) Calcinations of dried Magnesium hydroxide to get caustic magnesia which can be used in pharmaceutical industries, as animal feed, Mg metal etc.

Despite its contributions to the development of the country, the mining sector in Sierra Leone, has been attributed to a multitude of impacts on the environment. This article focuses on assessing the environmental impacts of mining in mining edge communities in Sierra Leone. A survey of 360 people from three mining edge communities (Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL), Bonthe district; Octea Mining Company (OMC), Kono district and Sierra Leone Mining Company (SLM), Port Loko district) was conducted. Key informant interviews, focus groups, and secondary data sources - Government policies and regulatory documents, government’s Mines Department annual reports-provided data for this article. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System with a mean separation done at α = 0.05 (SAS version 9.4). As a result of mining operations, the rates of deforestation, land degradation and destruction of farmlands, inadequate availability of clean water, poor air quality and noise pollution were the main impacts exacerbated by rutile, iron ore and diamond mining. Strategies as recommended by the local communities to be put in place, to restore ecological function in the mining edge communities include, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Mines and Mineral Agency, and other responsible authorities addressing weakness in mining and environmental policies, thereby strengthening enforcement and monitoring regulations relating to mining operations; and companies embarking on rehabilitation, reclamation, and restoration measures to ensure environmental sustainability.

ABSTRACTMuch of the literature on Sierra Leonean diamonds focuses on the role that this mineral resource played in the recent civil conflict (1991–2002). However, the political-economic perspective that is common to these analyses has lost sight of the main actors in this social reality. What do miners think of diamonds? Like their Malagasy colleagues engaged in the search for sapphires, the Sierra Leonean diamond miners often maintain that they do not know what diamonds could possibly be used for. What is specific to the diamond mining areas in this West African country is that suspicions and fantasies about the uses of diamonds go hand in hand with the idea that these precious stones belong to invisible spiritual entities known locally as djinns ordεbul dεn. Although this article aims to analyse the occult imaginary of diamond miners, it takes a different stand from the occult economies approach. By combining a historical-imaginative perspective with a historical and ecological one, this article intends to highlight the indissoluble interweaving of material and imaginative processes of artisanal diamond production in the context of Sierra Leone's mines.

This study focusses on the marine diamond placers within Exclusive Prospecting Licence 1950 and Mining Licence 103a, located northwest of the north-facing Hottentot Bay which is 60 km north of Lüderitz, along the central Namibian coastline. The thesis follows the natural geological evolution of the marine placer deposit from primary source, through alluvial and/or glacial transportation, concentration along the coastline by wave, aeolian and alluvial/sheet-wash processes and finally marine diamond placer preservation. All of these processes are reviewed as they are important in understanding of the evolution marine placer deposits. The poly-cyclic role of coastal aeolian, alluvial, and marine processes, in marine placer enrichment is shown to be particularly important in considered target identification and prioritisation. A detailed bathymetric, sonographic and seismic interpretation, is an integral part of diamond placer exploration, and was used to examine and describe surficial and sub-bottom characteristics within the study area. Marine placers are formed along palaeo-strandlines during periods of marine transgression and regression and are therefore fundamental in marine placer exploration. A detailed bathymetry map, compiled for this study, of the area between Lüderitz Bay and Clara Hill, provides the foundation for a detailed terrace level investigation. Regionally, twelve well-developed stillstand levels are identified, nine of which fall into the study area. These interpretations are compared with global eustatic as well as terrace and resource/reserve levels in the Lüderitz area and are found to correlate well. Sediment dynamic studies involve the use of accredited application software for wave refraction modelling, to determine the wave angle and orbital wave velocity at the seabed. Bedload velocities, required to move diamonds of specific sizes, can be empirically determined and therefore areas of diamond entrainment and deposition can be modelled and target features delineated and prioritised. These detailed interpretations provide a sound platform for evaluating diamond placer process models in the study area. By integrating both previously published and newly formulated ideas, a revised, holistic model for the formation of marine diamond placer deposits in central Namibian is postulated. The proposed model is tested by comparing it to the lateral distribution of presently defined resource/reserve areas in the Lüderitz area and shows a close correlation with most of these enriched deposits. Based on this model, a matrix for the delineation and prioritisation of marine placer deposits is developed and the best target features within the study area are identified.
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Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, Division of Environmental and Life Sciences, Department of Human Geography, 2007.
"November 2006".
Bibliography: p. 352-398.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
xvi, 399 p. ill., maps

The first diamond mine in North America was discovered in 1906 when John W. Huddleston found two diamonds on his farm just south of Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas. Experts soon confirmed that the diamond-bearing formation on which Huddleston made his discovery was the second largest of its kind and represented 25 percent of all known diamond-bearing areas in the world. Discovery of the field generated nearly a half century of speculative activity by men trying to demonstrate and exploit its commercial viability. The field, however, lacked the necessary richness for successful commercial ventures, and mining was eventually replaced in the early 1950s by tourist attractions that operated successfully until 1972. At that time the State of Arkansas purchased the field and converted it to a state park. Thus this work tell the rich and complicated story of America'a once and only diamond field, analyzes the reasons for the repeated failures of efforts to make it commercially viable, and explains how it eventually succeeded as a tourist venture.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Diamond mining started in Kimberley in the early 1870s following the discovery of the various diamond bearing kimberlite pipes. Initial open pit mining was replaced by underground mining as the pits went deeper and the last underground mining eventually ceased in 2005 as a result of economic reasons. The mining of these primary resources created a number of tailing resources (previously called dumps) that are scattered all over Kimberley. These resources still contain diamonds as a result of historical inefficient processing technologies. However, each of these resources have unique geological and metallurgical properties because of the differences in the original kimberlites and the different treatment technologies that were used when the tailing resources were deposited. The tailing resources are mined by a fleet of earthmoving equipment and delivered to one of Kimberley Mines‟ five treatment plants for diamond recovery. Each plant is different in terms of treatment capacity, technologies utilised and overall efficiencies. These differences, combined with the geo-metallurgical properties of each individual resource and the hauling distance from the resource to the plant, determine if the specific resource can be treated profitably through that plant. With this array of resources available, Kimberley Mines is in the fortunate position of having flexibility to maximise the Net Present Value (NPV) of the operation. Unfortunately this flexibility also increases the complexity of finding the optimal solution. Mine Planning is currently conducted with a spreadsheet based input – output model but this model is not able to match the resource properties with the plant parameters and this method results in a plan that may be neither practical nor optimal. The model is also very time-consuming and scenario analyses are therefore very limited. This report presents the development of a mixed integer linear programming model to assist with the development of a practical, optimal mine plan. The model is roughly based on a generic model that addresses facility location and processing plant problems as developed by Barbaro & Ramani (1986); however, the model presented in this report includes a more detailed mass balance within the plant and models how the metallurgical properties of the resources affect the mass balances and overall throughputs. The results of the project indicate that the current spreadsheet based Mine Plan is not practical since it violates two mass balance constraints within the Combined Treatment Plant. The newly developed system is used to generate a mining schedule that does not violate any constraints while still delivering the same net present value and overall throughput. The system also illustrates that the plant can improve the annual throughput by 18.2% by changing one screen size. The system also illustrates that only two of the five plants add value and supports management‟s recent decision that the production through the other plants should cease. In summary: The newly developed system generates an optimal, practical mine plan in less than a tenth of the time required for the old spreadsheet based model. The new system can also do various what-if scenarios which the previous model could not answer.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ontginning van diamante in Kimberley het in die vroeë 1870s begin na die ontdekking van verskeie diamanthoudende kimberlietpype. Aanvanklike oopgroefmynbou is later vervang deur ondergrondse metodes soos die myne dieper geword het. Die laaste ondergrondse myne het in 2005 produksie gestaak as gevolg van ekonomiese redes. Die ontginning van hierdie primêre reserwes het gelei tot die ontstaan van verskeie uitskotreserwes (voorheen genoem afvalhope) verspreid oor Kimberley. Hierdie reserwes bevat steeds diamante as gevolg van die historiese oneffektiewe aanlegte. Die reserwes het elkeen egter verskillende geologiese en metallurgiese eienskappe as gevolg van die verskille in die oorspronklike kimberliete en die verskillende herwinningstegnologieë wat in gebruik was toe die uitskotreserwes gegenereer is. Die uitskotreserwes word gemyn deur ‟n vloot grondverskuiwingstoerusting en word afgelewer by een van Kimberley Myne se vyf aanlegte vir diamantherwinning. Elke aanleg is uniek in terme van kapasiteit, tegnologieë in gebruik en algehele effektiwiteit. Hierdie verskille, tesame met die geo-metallurgiese eienskappe van elke reserwe en die vervoerafstand van die reserwe na die aanleg bepaal of die spesifieke reserwe winsgewend deur daardie aanleg geprosesseer kan word. Bogenoemde verskeidenheid van hulpbronne gee aan Kimberley Myne die voordeel van buigsaamheid om die Netto Huidige Waarde (NHW) van die myn te maksimeer. Hierdie buigsaamheid vergroot egter die kompleksiteit om die optimale antwoord te vind. Beplanning word tans met ‟n sigblad gebasseerde invoer – uitvoer model gedoen, maar hierdie model is nie in staat om die reserwes se eienskappe by die aanlegte se parameters aan te pas nie. Hierdie metode genereer dus ‟n plan wat moontlik nie prakties of optimaal is nie. Die model is ook tydrowend en scenario analises is dus baie beperk. Hierdie verslag beskryf die ontwikkeling van ‟n gemengde heeltallige lineêre programmeringsmodel vir die ontwikkeling van ‟n praktiese, optimale produksieplan. Die model is losweg gegrond op ‟n generiese model van Barbaro & Ramani (1986) wat fasiliteit posisionering en aanlegprobleme aanspreek. Die model in hierdie verslag bevat egter ‟n meer gedetailleerde massabalans binne die aanleg en modelleer hoe die metallurgiese eienskappe van die reserwes die massabalanse en die algehele kapasiteite beïnvloed. Die resultate van die projek dui daarop dat die huidige sigblad produksieplan nie prakties is nie aangesien dit twee massabalansbeperkings in die Combined Treatment Plant oorskry. Die nuwe stelsel is gebruik om ‟n produksieskedule te genereer wat nie enige beperkings verbreek nie en wat terselfdertyd die aanvanklike netto huidige waarde en totale produksie ewenaar. Die stelsel wys ook dat die jaarlikse kapasiteit met 18.2% verhoog kan word deur een van die sif-groottes te verander. Die stelsel demonstreer ook dat slegs twee van die vyf aanlegte waarde toevoeg en ondersteun bestuur se onlangse besluit dat die produksie deur die ander aanlegte gestaak behoort te word. Ter samevatting: Die nuwe stelsel genereer ‟n optimale, praktiese produksieplan in minder as ‟n tiende van die tyd benodig vir die ou sigblad model. Die nuwe stelsel kan ook verskeie “Wat sal gebeur indien…” scenario‟s hanteer wat die vorige model nie kon beantwoord nie.

Sewage effluents disposed into the marine environment from De Beers Marine Namibia diamond mining vessels have the potential to cause endocrine disruptive effects in marine organisms. Endocrine disruption refers to the alteration of the normal functioning of the endocrine system and various chemicals have the ability to mimic hormones, effecting endogenous hormone synthesis, transport, receptor interaction and intracellular signaling. The potential endocrine disruptive effects, caused by the release of different types of sewage effluents into the ocean, on fish species is a concern due to the commercial importance of fish species found in the mining area e.g. hake, sole, horse mackerel. Increased awareness of marine environmental degradation due to the presence of chemical contaminants has resulted in research being done on early warning systems, in the form of biomarkers. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase 1A (CYP1A) and vitellogenin (vtg) are important proteins found in fish liver and blood, that have been used as biomarkers for the detection of pollutants in fish. CYP1A is a subfamily of the P450 superfamily of enzymes and catalyzes the oxidation, hydrolysis and reduction of exogenous and endogenous compounds (phase I reactions) and thus has the capacity to regulate the metabolism of several organic contaminants. CYP1A expression is altered by exposure to planar xenobiotic compounds e.g. polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Vtg is an important precursor for egg yolk proteins and plays a role in the growth and development of an oocyte. Expression of this protein is altered upon exposure to estrogenic compounds. The aim of this project was to isolate CYP1A from fish liver by differential centrifugation and optimize conditions for the CYP1A-mediated ethoxyresorufin-Odeethylase (EROD) assay and western blot analysis (to assess CYP1A expression). Another aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effects of biologically disruptive chemicals from sewage effluents, discharged into the marine environment, on the expression of CYP1A in two species of hake, Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus (Cape hake). CYP1A in Cape hake is approximately a 60 kDa protein and the highest EROD activity was detected in the microsomal fraction after differential centrifugation. Optimal EROD assay conditions were observed at pH 7.5, a temperature of 25 °C, 10 μl of sample and a reaction time of 30 seconds. Enzyme stability assays indicated a drastic decrease in enzyme activity after 30 seconds. The EROD assay was not NADPH dependent but was limited by NADPH supply, with an increase of 300% in EROD activity being observed with the addition of 0.1 M exogenous NADPH. The addition of dicumarol (40 μM), a phase II enzyme inhibitor, showed a 232% increase in EROD activity. This is because dicumarol inhibited enzymes with the capacity to metabolize the product (resorufin) of the EROD reaction. With regard to western blot analysis, the optimal primary (rabbit antifish CYP1A peptide) and secondary (anti-mouse/rabbit antibody-horseradish peroxidase conjugate (POD)) antibody dilutions were determined to be 1:1000 and 1:5000, respectively. The comparison of CYP1A expression in Cape hake samples from De Beers Marine mining area and reference sites showed higher EROD activity (16.29 ± 0.91 pmol/min) in fish samples from the mining area in comparison to the reference site (10.42 ± 2.65 pmol/min). Western blot analysis was in agreement with the EROD assay results and a higher CYP1A expression was observed in fish from the mining sites. The increased CYP1A expression observed in fish from the mining area is not definitively an indication of a pollutant effect in the environment, as several environmental and biological factors (e.g. photoperiod and age) must also be considered before reaching this conclusion. Another aim of this study was to purify vtg from Cape hake blood samples. Cape hake vtg was purified from fish plasma by selective precipitation with MgCl2 and EDTA. Precipitated sample was subjected to anion exchange chromatography using fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). Vtg eluted as two broad peaks and had a molecular weight above 200 kDa. SDS-PAGE analysis also resolved smaller molecular weight proteins below 70 kDa, which were thought to be vitellogenin cleavage proteins, lipovitellin and phosphovitins. Western blot analysis was performed; however, it did not produce any conclusive results. The purification of vtg enables further studies in characterizing this protein and developing assay aimed at detecting estrogenic pollutants in the marine environment

Bibliography: pages 168-176.
The discovery of diamonds in the Kimberley area was to have far reaching consequences, not only for the region but the entire sub-continent. In addition to the hundreds of individual diggers, mainly white, who converged on this arid corner of southern Africa, there appeared also, in a remarkably short time, a complete infrastructure of urban facilities to serve their needs. Perhaps the most unique component of the otherwise colonial population was the massive influx of migrant Africans in response to the insatiable labour demands of the diamond mines. We examine the interplay of racial attitudes and conflicts and the ambiguous position of the black elites in the diverse groups of 'colonial' or 'civilised' Africans, 'Cape Coloureds', Muslims and Indians who came to Kimberley to seek their fortune. It is our contention that it was this ambiguity which was to provide a spur to black political activity. We closely consult contemporary accounts, official documentation and local newspapers, all of which faithfully record the ebb and flow of the state of racial relations. Never a typical microcosm of colonial urban society because of the extraneous factor of economic competition for limited employment and resources, social relationships in Kimberley gradually changed until the essential confrontation was not between colonials and the rest, but rather more specifically between blacks and whites. While the early history of Kimberley was marked by the virulent racism of white· diggers resisting black competition, the ensuing years were to witness a more tranquil period of racial co-existence. This tranquillity proved to be only the calm before the storm. We show how a series of crises strained relations between blacks and whites to breaking point. The failed rebellion by indigenous blacks, the smallpox epidemic during which the Muslim community incurred the wrath of white public opinion by failing to adopt western preventative measures, a revolt - the Black Flag Revolt- by militant white diggers and the effects of the new recruitment policies of the mining companies in the 1880s, which opened jobs to cheap black workers, all resulted in an increasing polarisation of race relations in Kimberley. We argue that where before official documents and newspapers had shown a class discrimination directed against migrant African labourers, this changed over time to become a negative portrayal of blacks in general. The effect of the emergence of this negative stereotype was to separate whites and blacks in many facets of life in the mining centre.

This chapter discusses Lee Smith's fiction, which consistently probes the crises of identity that plague so many contemporary Americans, particularly women. Born on November 1, 1944, in the southwestern Virginia coal-mining town of Grundy, Lee Smith was an only child and a voracious reader. Smith recalls that growing up in Grundy, she consciously tried to conform to the image of an aspiring southern “lady.” Initially Smith wrote about romantic and foreign subjects, but after encountering Eudora Welty's work in a southern literature course, she realized the importance of writing from one's experience. Like other members of her generation of southern writers, Smith creates a full, complex world of characters who confirm some stereotypes and transcend others. Her novels include The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed (1968), The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed— Something in the Wind (1971), Fancy Strut (1973), Black Mountain Breakdown (1980), Family Linen (1985), Fair and Tender Ladies (1988), Saving Grace (1995), and On Agate Hill (2006).