Mining methods

In the data mining process, one uses the combination of methods and tools from three areas Statistics, machine 

Multilinear regression analysis (MLRA) Principal component analysis (PCA) Partial least squares regression (PLS) Principal component regression (PCR). 

The learning algorithm can be performed in supervised or unsupervised mode. In order to avoid bias, it is advisable to start data mining investigations of datasets with unsupervised learning methods. 

Essentially, the similarity between compounds is estimated in terms of a distance measure between two different objects, described by vectors. Scaling of the variables is advisable if they do not have comparable magnitude. The most prominent distance measures are the Euclidean distance, the average Euclidian distance, and the Manhattan distance. A comprehensive overview of methods for chemical similarity searching has been published by Wfilet et alF Except for similarity searches among compounds in databases, such similarity measures are frequently applied in the design and analysis of combinatorial libraries.  

CHAPTER 10 In Silica Screening Hit Finding from Database Mining 

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Handling of complex data sets Visual data mining methods especially show huge advantages over classical approaches if only Httle information about the data is known or if the expected patterns and relationships are not clearly defined. Furthermore, very inhomogeneous data sets or data with a high noise level can still be analyzed by these methods. 

An assessment of world potash resources (108) is shown in Table 15. Of the 67 x 10 t of total estimated reserves and resources in Canada, nearly 5 X 10 t is recoverable by conventional mining methods and the remainder by solution mining. As of 1974, Canada had about half of the known world reserves and about 90% of known world resources of potassium. 

Fluid deposits are defined as those which can be recovered in fluid form by pumping, in solution, or as particles in a slurry. Petroleum products and Frasch process sulfur are special cases. At this time no vaUd distinction is made between resources on the continental shelf and in the deep oceans. However, deep seabed deposits of minerals which can be separated by differential solution are expected to be amenable to fluid mining methods in either environment. 

Because the ore quaUty is variable, large open-pit mining areas are first identified by general exploration specific mining strips are later identified by further exploration and testing. Surface mining methods are used. The overburden is drilled, blasted, and removed, and the waste from a given strip is dumped into a previously worked-out strip. After removal of the overburden, the exposed caUche is drilled, blasted, and loaded into 80-metric ton tmcks that dehver the ore to a transfer rail station for transportation to the plants. 

Sulfur can be produced direcdy via Frasch mining or conventional mining methods, or it can be recovered as a by-product from sulfur removal and recovery processes. Production of recovered sulfur has become more significant as increasingly sour feedstocks are utilized and environmental regulations concerning emissions and waste streams have continued to tighten worldwide. Whereas recovered sulfur represented only 5% of the total sulfur production ia 1950, as of 1996 recovered sulfur represented approximately two-thirds of total sulfur production (1). Recovered sulfur could completely replace native sulfur production ia the twenty-first century (2). 

Recovery methods are based either on mining combined with some further processing or operation on the oil sands m situ (Fig. 6). The mining methods are appHcable to shallow deposits, characterized by an overburden ratio (ie, overburden depth-to-thickness of tar sand deposit) of ca 1.0. Because Athabasca tar sands have a maximum thickness of ca 90 m and average ca 45 m, there are indications that no more than 10% of the in-place deposit is mineable within 1990s concepts of the economics and technology of open-pit mining. 

Open-pit zinc mining is not common, since most mines ate below the surface. The Kidd Creek Mine in Ontario, Canada, is a combination open-pit—underground mine. It is one of the richest deposits in the world with an estimated 62.5 x 10 t grading 7.08% zinc, 1.33% copper, and 151 g silver (14). Underground mining methods include room-and-pdlar, shrinkage, cut-and-fill, and square set. In the United States, ca 20 mines account for more than 98% of zinc production. 

The choice of a particular mining method depends on a number of parameters, typically the physical properties of the host matrix, the fiber content of the ore, the amount of sterile materials, the presence of contaminants, and the extent of potential fiber degradation during the various mining operations (33). However, most of the asbestos mining operations are of the open pit type, using bench drilling techniques. 

The use of underground mining methods requires integration of transportation, ventilation, ground control, and mining methods to form a system that provides the highest possible degree of safety, the lowest cost per ton of product, the most suitable quality of final product, the maximum possible recovery of coal, and the minimum disturbance of... 

Both conventional and continuous mining methods use a room-and-pillar system in which the coal is mined by extracting a scries of rooms into the coalbed, and leaving pillars, or columns, of coal to help support the mine roof (Figure 1). Depending on the location, the rooms are generally 20 to 30 ft. wide... 

The described computational tools provide interactive, fast, and flexible data visualizations of chemical data that help and even enhance the human thought processes. However, visualization alone is often inadequate when multiple data points must be considered. A number of data mining methods that seek to identify significant relationships in large multidimensional databases are now being used for library design. 

Levine JG, Tonning JM, Szarfman A. Reply The evaluation of data mining methods for the simultaneous and systematic detection of safety signals in large databases lessons to be learned. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2006 61 105-13. 

O. Hamrin, Choosing an Underground Mining Method, In Underground Mining Methods Handbook,... 

It is estimated that the total oil sands and carbonates may contain in the order of two and a half trillion barrels of in-place oil. Not all of this is recoverable. Less than 57. of the Athabasca deposit is recoverable by the mining methods using today s technology and perhaps less than 307. of the remaining oil in all the oil sands deposits is recoverable by in-situ techniques. This means however, that a total of about 300 billion barrels is potentially recoverable. This compares very favourably with the 8 billion barrels estimated in our Canadian conventional oil reserves. In years of supply it equates to 400 to 500 years of reserves - a very attractive prize. 

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