The Need to Regularise Activities of Illegal Small-Scale Mining in Ghana: A Focus on the Tarkwa-Dunkwa Highway

Southwest Ghana is a major gold producing region. The current high gold price has attracted hundreds of unemployed youth to undertake small-scale mining (SSM). Most of these miners operate illegally even though the SSM law (PNDCL) 218 of 1989 and Act 703 of 2006 define the procedures required for their operation. Some miners have brought their activities to a segment of the western highway that links southwest to central Ghana with serious environmental consequences envisaged. This paper argues that the laws that regulate SSM do not consider the fundamental set-up and concerns of the small-scale miner, hence its inability to be effective. It is therefore proposed that the present requirement that a minimum of 21 hectares is necessary before land can be registered needs re-examination. Secondly, government needs to explore parcels of land and designate the workable areas to miners under a well structured scheme that will also educate these miners about safe and healthy mining methods.

Safe production model for small mines

Presented a 'safe production model' that can be adopted by small mine opera- tors to achieve their production targets safely and efficiently.The model consists of eight elements ranging from management commitment and leadership to safety account-ability and communication.The model is developed considering the mine operators' resource limitations and the workers' training needs.The study concludes with a summary of a sample survey that is conducted to validate the model and estimate a parameter for each mine and determine its position in the safe production scale.

Mercury-Free Gold Extraction Using Borax for Small-Scale Gold Miners

Small-scale gold mining is the largest anthropogenic contributor of mercury pollution on planet Earth. The miners grind gold ore together with mercury in order to recover the fine gold grains. The gold amalgam is burned whereby the mercury evaporates and gold is left behind. This processing extracts only a fraction of the gold in the ore and the released mercury causes serious global health and environmental problems. However, a mercury-free method described below has proved to extract up to twice as much gold without need of investment in new processing equipment and without longer processing time. The method has successfully been tested in the Philippines, Indonesia, Tanzania, Bolivia and Zimbabwe.

The Ban on Illegal Mining in Ghana: Environmental and Socio-Economic Effect on Local Communities

The study was conducted to assess the effects of small-scale (artisanal) gold mining and its social and economic implications on the people in Amansie West District of Ghana. The artisanal gold mining communities were studied using secondary data from scholarly articles and journals, books, conference papers, research reports, policy documents, working papers, and briefs. Descriptive and systematic analyses were conducted. The result indicated that youth aged between 21 - 30 were most likely to engage in illegal mining operations in the selected study areas. The study revealed that farmland had been destroyed, making farming difficult for the inhabitants. It is evident from the review that dug-out pits from mining serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and death traps for humans. The study, therefore, accentuates the need for illegal small-scale gold mining to be formalised and strategic interventions and policies proposed for the protection of Ghana’s Natural resources. Furthermore, community members should be involved in policy-making and environmental protection issues to help control the menace of landscape destruction. Although the ban on illegal gold mining activity by the government has caused more people to lose their jobs leading to livelihood challenges in mining communities, it is a step in the right direction, as the ban seeks to halt and check the illegal small-scale mining sector. The study recommended alternative livelihood and income-generating projects such as beekeeping, mushroom culture, grasscutter rearing, and agroforestry technologies including the growth of economic fruit trees as alternative livelihood ventures.

Heavy Metal Pollution in Soil and Water in Some Selected Towns in Dunkwa-on-Offin District in the Central Region of Ghana as a Result of Small Scale Gold Mining

Illegal small scale gold mining popularly called “Galamsey” in our local communities is on the increase. This has led to concerns about the level of environmental pollution resulting from these mining activities. This work was conducted to determine the level of heavy metal contamination in the environment due to the activities of the small scale miners. This paper discusses the concentrations of some selected heavy metals—Hg, Pb, and Cu which were measured in 14 sampling sites in Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region of Ghana, known for these activities. The heavy metal concentrations have been investigated for soil and water samples in the selected towns and compared with the relevant guidelines of the Environmental Protection Agency. The concentration of heavy metals was measured by using AAS. In most locations, the concentration for the investigated heavy metals far exceeded the concentration admitted by the guidelines. The mean concentration of Lead was 95.13 mg/Kg for soil and 190.27 mg/L in water;Copper was 63.26 mg/Kg in soil and 75.92 mg/L in water while Mercury was 140.87 ug/Kg in soil and 211.31 mg/L in water. The mean recorded concentrations in the sensitive areas exceeded greatly. Hence the levels of heavy metal contamination have spread beyond control.

Small Scale Mining in Tanzania Toward Sustainable Use(Prospects,Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental Management)

Although small scale mining management is a complex task,many countries in the world have managed to develop mining management regimes that can improve the economic and environmental efficiency of the small scale mining sector.This paper attempts to explore the mental picture of opportunities and challenges of the environmental management in small scale mining in Tanzania focusing on

Data Mining for Small and Medium Enterprises: A Conceptual Model for Adaptation

The following paper explored data mining issues in Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs), firstly exploring the relationship between data mining and economic development. With SME’s contributing most employment prospects and output within any emerging economy such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Adopting technology will improve SME’s potential for effective decision making and efficient operations. Hence, it is important that SMEs have access to data mining techniques and implement the most suited into their business to improve their business intelligence (BI). The paper is aimed to critically review the existing literature on data mining in the field of SME to provide a theoretical underpinning for any future work. It has been found data mining to be complicated and fragmented with a multitude of options available for businesses from quite basic systems implemented within Excel or Access to more sophisticated cloud-based systems. For any business, data mining is trade-off between the need for data analysis, and intelligence against the cost and resource-use of the system put in place. Multiple challenges have been identified to data mining, most notably the resource-intensive nature of systems (both in terms of labor and capital) and the security issues of data collection, analysis and storage;with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) a key focus for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia businesses. With these challenges the paper suggests that any SME starts small with an internal data mining exercise to digitalize and analyze their customer data, scaling up over time as the business grows and acquires the resources needed to properly manage any system.

Regeneration and anti-migration of sand waves associated with sand mining in the Taiwan Shoal

Sand waves in the Taiwan Shoal are characterized by two distinct spatial scales. Giant sand waves have a length of2 kilometers with height between 5 m and 25 m, whilst small sand waves is less than 100-m long with height less than 5 m between giant sand wave peaks(crests). A series of five high-resolution multi-beam echo-sounding surveys between 2012 and 2020 in the middle of Taiwan Shoal indicated that artificial dredging on the giant sand waves had caused sand wave reform and evolution. Overall, the removal of giant sand waves significantly affected the migration of small sand waves adjacent to the dredging site, with the latter on both sides of the former appear to migrate towards the dredging pit. Moreover, in the dredging area, new sand waves emerged with wavelength much smaller than the original giant sand waves, while the convergent pattern of the small sand waves tends to store and form the giant sand waves, which might spread far beyond the survey period.

基于双曲嵌入的露天矿区暗光环境下道路多目标检测模型

露天矿环境特殊,道路场景复杂多变,在光照不足时会导致矿区道路多目标识别不清、定位不准,进而影响检测效果,给矿区无人矿用卡车的安全行驶带来严重安全隐患。目前的道路障碍物检测模型不能有效解决矿区暗光环境对模型检测效果的影响,同时对矿区小目标障碍物的识别也有较大误差,不适用于矿区特殊环境下障碍物的检测与识别。针对上述问题,提出了一种基于双曲嵌入的露天矿区暗光环境下多目标检测模型。首先,在模型的图像预处理阶段引入卷积神经网路Retinex-Net对暗图像进行增强,提高图像清晰度;然后,针对数据集中特征过多而无重点偏好的问题,在加强特征提取部分添加全局注意力机制,聚集3个维度上更关键的特征信息;最后,在检测模型预测阶段引入双曲全连接层,以减少特征丢失,并防止过拟合现象。实验结果表明:(1)基于双曲嵌入的露天矿区暗光环境下道路多目标检测模型不仅对露天矿区暗光环境下的大尺度目标具有较高的分类与定位精度,对矿用卡车及较远距离的小尺度目标即行人也可准确检测与定位,能够满足无人矿用卡车在矿区特殊环境下驾驶的安全需求。(2)模型的检测准确率达98.6%,检测速度为51.52帧/s,较SSD、YOLOv4、YOLOv5、YOLOx、YOLOv7分别提高20.31%,18.51%,10.53%,8.39%,13.24%,对于矿区道路上的行人、矿用卡车及挖机的检测精度达97%以上。

STUDY ON THE SMALL CRACKS OF COVER STRATA AFTER THE COMBINED MINING IN THE THIN SEAMS

By using the continuous exploration system with multi-pipeline in the borehole, the failure cracks of cover strata (specially, the small cracks developing) after the combined mining of 16, 17 thin seams of the 4th mining block in Zhaopo Mine is explored. After that, the researching result is considered as the output and the testing result of rock mechanics parameters is considered as the verifying data, the back analysis is made with the conception of the point safety degree. The relative height of the crack developing is obtaied. So, the evaluating of the safety of 16, 17 seams combined mining under the gob water with extreme distance is made and the mining has been safety. The scientific basis is provided for the evaluating of the mining safety with the similar conditions.

多层坚硬顶板特厚煤层综放工作面小煤柱护巷技术

为研究小煤柱护巷巷道的稳定性及其阻隔同层位邻近采空区灾害的特征,以大同矿区石炭系坚硬顶板特厚煤层开采为工程背景,采用理论分析、实验研究、数值模拟等研究方法,从小煤柱护巷巷道的稳定性和其是否具有阻隔同层位邻近采空区有害气体能力2个角度,综合分析小煤柱的合理尺寸及其在不同采动阶段渗透率的演化特征。针对同忻煤矿石炭系煤层8210工作面沿空掘巷小煤柱开采具体的开采条件,建立了双关键层采场内外应力场叠加的力学模型,推导出双关键层条件下沿空掘巷小煤柱合理尺寸的计算关系式,理论确定8210工作面小煤柱合理尺寸为6.0 m;应用DJG–Ⅱ型煤岩渗流测试装备,研究不同采动阶段小煤柱渗透率演化特征,试验确定在第3采动阶段小煤柱渗透率较初始渗透率增大了23倍,该阶段小煤柱基本失去了阻隔邻近采空区有害气体的能力。根据理论研究结果,现场选取6 m小煤柱进行工业性试验;根据试验研究结果,开采试验过程中对小煤柱进行了改性降透措施,在小煤柱表面及顶板距煤柱帮1500 mm范围内喷射厚层混凝土(100 mm)。实践表明:工作面回采过程中小煤柱护巷的回采巷道发生了一定的变形量,但是巷道变形在安全可控范围之内,巷道稳定,可实现安全回采;开采过程中8210工作面上隅角CH4气体浓度远低于邻近8305工作面采空区CH4气体浓度,表明小煤柱经过改性降透后具备了阻隔同层位邻近采空区有害气体的能力;开采实践也进一步验证了理论和试验研究成果的合理性和科学性。研究成果可以为类似条件下小煤柱护巷技术的推广应用提供参考。

Predictive Study of Trace Metal Pollution of Gold Panning Sites in Birimian Formations: Case of the Yaouré Furrow (Côte d’Ivoire)

The present study was carried out on small-scale gold mining sites in the Yaouré region of Côte d’Ivoire. This region is geologically representative of the Birimian formations (2.1 Ga) of West Africa. The aim is to determine the potentially toxic trace metals (TMEs) generated by these sites, with a view to preventing possible contamination and/or metal pollution of the waters that provide fish products for local populations. To this end, a sampling campaign was carried out, resulting in the collection of 20 mining waste samples analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and 10 by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The XRF analysis detected 06 predominant TMEs: arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc and vanadium. Statistical analysis was carried out to determine the distributions and correlations between these ETMs. To assess contamination and/or pollution levels, the following indices were calculated on the basis of reference concentrations of upper continental crust MTEs: Enrichment Factor, Geo-accumulation Index, Concentration Factor, Degree of contamination and those related to ecological risks. The results of statistical analyses and indices have shown that arsenic and chromium are the most predominant and can be, depending on the chemical form, potentially more toxic. The results of the DRX analysis show the occurrence of several minerals carrying these two MTEs, especially that of a rare mineral, Stenhuggarite, an arsenic oxide linked to hydrothermal veins. The majority of gold mining operations in West Africa are located in the birimian zone, hence the need for environmental monitoring by the relevant authorities, to prevent potential ecological risks to water and possibly health risks via the food chain.

SBAS-InSAR技术融合CNN-LSTM模型的矿区开采沉陷监测与预测

针对传统矿区开采沉陷监测方法耗费人力财力和预测预警模型较少的问题,研究提出一种基于短基线集合成孔径雷达干涉测量(Small Baseline Subset-Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar,SBAS-InSAR)技术和卷积神经网络(Convolutional Neural Networks,CNN)与长短期记忆网络(Long Short-Term Memory,LSTM)相结合的矿区开采沉陷监测预测方法。首先,利用SBAS-InSAR技术对建新煤矿进行矿区开采沉陷监测,获取了该矿区的年平均沉降速率和累计沉降值。用GNSS监测数据与SBAS-InSAR结果进行对比验证,其拟合效果较好。其次,在此基础上利用CNN-LSTM模型预测后6期沉降数据,其结果与CNN和LSTM预测结果进行对比。研究显示,CNN-LSTM模型的平均绝对误差(S_(MAE))和均方根误差(S_(RMSE))比单一的CNN和LSTM分别至少降低了44.8%和40.6%,其决定系数均高于98%。最后,进一步预测前6期和中6期沉降数据,验证了CNN-LSTM预测模型在时间上的一致性。因此,SBAS-InSAR融合CNN-LSTM模型在类似矿山开采沉陷监测和预测中有较好的应用前景。

基于YOLOv7−SE的煤矿井下场景小目标检测方法

目前的小目标检测方法虽然提高了小目标检测效果,但针对的多为常规场景,而煤矿井下环境恶劣,在井下小目标检测过程中存在小目标特征信息提取困难的问题。针对上述问题,提出了一种基于YOLOv7−SE的煤矿井下场景小目标检测方法。首先,将模拟退火(SA)算法与k−means++聚类算法融合,通过优化YOLOv7模型中初始锚框值的估计,准确捕捉井下小目标;然后,在YOLOv7骨干网络中增加新的检测层得到井下小目标高分辨率特征图,减少大量煤尘对井下小目标特征表示的干扰;最后,在骨干网络中的聚合网络模块后引入双层注意力机制,强化井下小目标的特征表示。实验结果表明:①YOLOv7−SE网络模型训练后的损失函数值稳定在0.05附近,说明YOLOv7−SE网络模型参数设置合理。②基于YOLOv7−SE网络模型的安全帽检测平均精度(AP)较Faster R−CNN,RetinaNet,CenterNet,FCOS,SSD,YOLOv5,YOLOv7分别提升了13.86%,25.3%,16.13%,12.71%,15.53%,11.59%,12.20%。基于YOLOv7−SE网络模型的自救器检测AP较Faster R−CNN,RetinaNet,CenterNet,FCOS,SSD,YOLOv5,YOLOv7分别提升了12.37%,20.16%,15.22%,8.35%,19.42%,9.64%,7.38%。YOLOv7−SE网络模型的每秒传输帧数(FPS)较Faster R−CNN,RetinaNe,CenterNet,FCOS,SSD,YOLOv5分别提升了42.56,44.43,31.74,39.84,22.74,23.34帧/s,较YOLOv7下降了9.36帧/s。说明YOLOv7−SE网络模型保证检测速度的同时,有效强化了YOLOv7−SE网络模型对井下小目标的特征提取能力。③在对安全帽和自救器的检测中,YOLOv7−SE网络模型有效改善了漏检和误检问题,提高了检测精度。

山区采动地表异常形变识别与损害原因

现有开采损害鉴定的研究成果主要针对平原区域,缺少对高强度开采条件下山区地表建(构)筑物损坏的研究。以山西省冶头村建筑的异常损害为例,首先基于短基线集差分干涉测量技术(small baselines subset interferometric synthetic aperture radar,SBAS-InSAR),利用20景Sentinel-1A雷达影像,反演了目标区2016-11-14至2017-07-12期间地表形变的空间分布形态和时间演变过程。然后,结合现场调查的房屋损坏特征及地表裂缝数据,从开采沉陷理论和坡体稳定性分析两个角度进行开采损害鉴定的研究工作。研究表明:SBAS技术能够实现对采动地表异常形变的有效识别和提取,可为异常损害规律研究和原因揭示提供数据支撑;开采引起边坡稳定性降低,导致坡体蠕变滑移是地表建筑异常损害的原因。相关结论对于沉陷控制理论的发展完善,对开展山区井工开采房屋损害鉴定工作具有借鉴意义。

面向不确定性决策分析的数据获取模型与方法综述

不确定性决策是指在存在未知或难以准确预测结果情况下做出决策的过程。该文旨在研究在不确定性决策中,用4种数据获取方法来应对不确定性。这些方法包括:①使用小数据集;②利用开放数据集;③采用数据挖掘视角下的情感分析和遥感分析;④通过互联网问卷调查收集数据。该文首先回顾4种数据获取方法,并阐述各自的主要特点及发展历程。其次,阐述这4种数据获取方法在不确定性决策中的应用,并附有说明性示例。然后,讨论4种数据获取方法的局限性,并提出了未来研究的潜在趋势。最后,对全文进行总结。总体来说,该文为不确定性决策问题的研究提供了理论探讨和实践指导,以推动人工智能和决策科学领域的发展和创新,为决策者提供有效的数据支持,从而提高决策的科学性和准确性。

针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌有效处方的选穴规律分析

【目的】分析针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌的选穴规律,为临床应用提供参考依据。【方法】检索针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌的临床研究、医家经验和学术思想以获取现代医家治疗非小细胞肺癌的针刺处方,基于穴位频次、组方规律、穴位聚类和核心组合等统计方法,剖析现代医家使用针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌的核心理论体系以及选穴规律。【结果】根据纳排标准最终纳入94个针刺处方。使用频次>20次的穴位有8个,分别是足三里、内关、肺俞、三阴交、气海、关元、合谷和中脘。高频穴位组合排前3位的分别为足三里-内关,足三里-三阴交和气海-足三里;关联分析显示,足三里-内关的关联强度最高,其次为足三里-三阴交、足三里-合谷。聚类分析显示:频次>10次的穴位可以分为三类。类别一包括:足三里、内关、三阴交、合谷;类别二包括关元、气海、中脘、血海、太冲;类别三由两大部分组成,其一是膻中、天突、丰隆、太渊,其二是肺俞、列缺、尺泽、中府、心俞、膏肓、风门。【结论】针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌的核心选穴包括4类:(1)健脾益气:足三里、三阴交、中脘和丰隆;(2)补益元气:关元、气海和膏肓;(3)理气宽胸:膻中、内关、天突和风门;(4)宣肺透气:肺俞、合谷、尺泽和列缺。补气、调气和透邪三大治法是晚期非小细胞肺癌针刺治疗的基础,以补为主,以疏为辅,疏补并用,是针刺治疗非小细胞肺癌的核心思路。

两次采动影响下小煤柱巷道切顶卸压围岩控制技术

为解决多次采动影响下留小煤柱巷道矿压显现剧烈、围岩变形量大的问题,提出了“切顶卸压+顶、帮锚索补强”联合控制技术。以贾家沟煤矿10115运输巷为工程背景,分析了切顶卸压位置、高度与巷道围岩垂直应力分布的关系,给出切顶卸压关键参数,并研究了留小煤柱巷道在切顶卸压后受两次采动影响下的矿压显现规律。结果表明:切顶卸压后,煤柱上的应力峰值随切顶深度的增加呈指数降低;10115运输巷在邻近工作面一次采动过程中巷道围岩变形依次呈现出无变形、缓慢变形、快速变形和围岩稳定的变化规律,本工作面二次采动过程中巷道围岩变形依次呈现出明显变形和剧烈变形的规律;巷道围岩在受二次采动影响时变形更加剧烈,巷道变形量为一次采动时的3.0~7.5倍。

基于改进YOLOv8n的采掘工作面小目标检测方法

为有效检测和识别煤矿井下采掘工作面人员是否佩戴安全防护装置,针对井下光照条件差、安全防护装备目标尺寸小且颜色与背景相似等情况,提出了一种基于改进YOLOv8n的采掘工作面小目标检测方法。在YOLOv8n骨干网络C2f模块中融合动态蛇形卷积(DSConv),构建C2f−DSConv模块,以提高模型提取多尺度特征的能力;在Neck层引入极化自注意力(PSA)机制,以减少信息损失,提高特征表达能力;在Head层增设1个专门针对小目标的检测头,形成4检测头结构,以扩大模型检测范围。实验结果表明,改进YOLOv8n模型对井下人员及其所佩戴安全帽、矿灯、口罩、自救器检测的平均精度分别为98.3%,95.8%,89.9%,87.2%,90.8%,平均精度均值为92.4%,优于Faster R−CNN,YOLOv5s,YOLOv7,YOLOv8n模型,且检测速度达208帧/s,满足煤矿井下目标检测精度和实时性要求。