| Abstract |
The objective of this manual is to provide guidance to the mining community for control of respirable dust based on currently available equipment and techniques. The survey of dust control procedures included ores and minerals and different types of underground and open pit mining operations. Control procedures for dust in processing plants were surveyed. The types of minerals and ores included in the survey were asbestos, bentonite, copper, gold, granite, iron, lead, limestone, molybdenum, phosphate rock, potash, sand and gravel, talc, trona, and uranium. More than 300 Bureau of Mines dust inspection reports were reviewed to establish which work areas are most frequently cited as being above allowable dust concentration. The multiplicity of types of ore, mining and processing practices dictates that mine management carefully select optimum dust control measures. This requires a determination of the free silica content of the ore since this factor sets the allowable respirable dust concentration and therefore the required efficiency of the dust control techniques. |
