Open-Pit Glacier Ice Excavation: Brief Review
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 27, Issue 4
Abstract
The authors have compiled information on the fundamentals of open-pit glacier ice excavation from a variety of sources. These sources primarily include U.S. Army technical and scientific studies and peer-reviewed research on glacier ice-excavation activities and the properties and mechanical behavior of ice, but also the relatively few publicly available feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments published by private mining companies. While ice is technically a non-Newtonian fluid over long timescales, the authors suggest that it may be regarded as a low-density and low-strength rock, analogous to coal, for the practical purpose of ice excavation over short timescales. Three distinct ice-excavation techniques are reviewed: blasting, melting, and mechanical excavation, providing a case study of each. The authors summarize the unique advantages and disadvantages of each technique and conclude that an optimal open-ice-pit mining operation would most likely rely primarily on mechanical excavation and secondarily on blasting.
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Acknowledgments
BGC Engineering has provided consulting services to companies associated with projects discussed in this paper and appreciates their approval in writing about those projects. W.C. has provided geoscientist services to BGC Engineering. This paper is published with the permission of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. The authors thank Iain Bruce and Henrik Thomsen for reviewing an earlier draft of this manuscript. The authors also thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and constructive criticisms on this topic.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 27 • Issue 4 • December 2013
Pages: 223 - 243
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 10, 2012
Accepted: Jan 2, 2013
Published online: Jan 4, 2013
Discussion open until: Jun 4, 2013
Published in print: Dec 1, 2013
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