M.Sc. (Geography) / Severe Aeolian deposition of windblown dust from mine tailings storage facilities (TSFs) is a common phenomenon on the Witwatersrand, especially during the spring windy season. For communities around tailings storage facilities, this poses health and environmental challenges. This dissertation estimates the risk of adverse health effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous elements in particulate matter (sub 20 μm diameter) for selected tailings storage facilities: East Rand Gold and Uranium Company (ERGO); East Rand Proprietary Mine (ERPM); Crown Gold Recoveries (CGR) and Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD). Samples of surface material from these TSFs were analysed for heavy metal content using the ICP-MS method. Other than the expected gold, five heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and uranium) exhibited enrichments in the tailings material significantly above average (greater than a factor of 2) crustal composition. These elements were selected for comprehensive risk assessment through airborne exposure routes. The mean ambient particulate concentration in air of 540 μg m-3 (used in the risk calculations) was based on a conservative worst-case exposure scenario. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) risk assessment methods were used to determine the inhalation and ingestion hazard quotient and hazard indices for adults and children. The sum of the hazard indices was below the non-cancer benchmark (hazard indices 1.0) considered to be acceptable for a lifetime exposure. The risk cancer included the excess life cancer risk for the inhalation and the ingestion risk. The total risk for both exposures was within the range of 1 in 1 000 000 to 100 in 1 000 000 - taken as “acceptable risk” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for adults and children.

This research examined the factors contributing to the performance of online grocers prior to, and following, the 2000 dot.com collapse. The primary goals were to assess the relationship between a company’s business model(s) and its performance in the online grocery channel and to determine if there were other company and/or market related factors that could account for company performance. To assess the primary goals, a case based theory building process was utilized. A three-way cross-case analysis comprising Peapod, GroceryWorks, and Tesco examined the common profit components, the structural category (e.g., pure-play, partnership, and hybrid) profit components, and the idiosyncratic profit components related to each specific company. Based on the analysis, it was determined that online grocery store business models could be represented at three distinct, but hierarchically, related levels. The first level was termed the core model and represented the basic profit structure that all online grocers needed in order to conduct operations. The next model level was termed the structural model and represented the profit structure associated with the specific business model configuration (i.e., pure-play, partnership, hybrid). The last model level was termed the augmented model and represented the company’s business model when idiosyncratic profit components were included. In relation to the five company related factors, scalability, rate of expansion, and the automation level were potential candidates for helping to explain online grocer performance. In addition, all the market structure related factors were deemed possible candidates for helping to explain online grocer performance. The study concluded by positing an alternative hypothesis concerning the performance of online grocers. Prior to this study, the prevailing wisdom was that the business models were the primary cause of online grocer performance. However, based on the core model analysis, it was hypothesized that the customer relationship activities (i.e., advertising, promotions, and loyalty program tie-ins) were the real drivers of online grocer performance.

[pt] A disposição de rejeitos tem sido uma preocupação muito importante nas empresas de mineração de todo o mundo, tendo como principal motivo a proteção do meio ambiente. Diariamente geram-se grandes quantidades de rejeitos nas plantas de beneficiamento de minérios, sendo necessário dispor de estruturas de armazenamento adequadas (barragem de rejeito) que, dependendo da produção industrial, devem ser alteadas para aumentar a capacidade de armazenamento destas estruturas. Três métodos de alteamento de barragens podem ser utilizados: o método à montante, o método à jusante e o método da linha de centro. O método à montante, discutido nesta dissertação, começa com a construção de um dique de partida. Terminada esta etapa, os rejeitos são depositados à montante, formando uma praia que adensará com o tempo, aumentando gradualmente a resistência ao cisalhamento do rejeito e servindo de fundação para futuros diques de alteamento. Este procedimento continua sucessivamente, até atingir a cota prevista de projeto. É um método de construção simples e de baixo custo, mas sua principal desvantagem é que velocidades de alteamento excessivas podem induzir a liquefação estática, causa principal do colapso de várias barragens de rejeito construídas no mundo. Neste trabalho é investigado o potencial de liquefação de uma barragem de rejeito de cobre, situada no Peru, com auxílio do método empírico de Olson, baseado em correlações com resultados de ensaios de campo SPT, e do método de elementos finitos, com utilização do modelo constitutivo elastoplástico UBCSand para previsão de liquefação. / [en] The disposal of tailings has been a very important concern in mining companies around the world, with the main objective to protect the environment. Large quantities of tailings are generated daily in the ore processing plants, being necessary the availability of specific storage structures (tailings dam) which, depending on the industrial production, must be successively raised in their lifetime to provide higher storage capacity. Three methods of dam raising can be used: the upstream method, the downstream method and the centerline method. The upstream method, discussed in this thesis, begins with the construction of a starting dyke. After this step, the tailings are deposited upstream, forming a beach which will consolidate over time, gradually increasing the shear resistance of the waste and serving as a foundation for future raising dikes. This procedure continues until the final dam elevation is reached. This method is of simple construction and low cost, but its main disadvantage is that the raising speeds can be excessive and they may induce static liquefaction, a major cause of failure of tailing dams around the world. This dissertation investigates the liquefaction potential of a copper tailing dam, situated in Peru, making use of the empirical method proposed by Olson, based on correlations with data from SPT field tests, and the finite element method, considering the elastoplastic constitutive model UBCSand.

With recent developments in the internet and the rise of e-commerce, the concept of e-loyalty has gained more traction as a result of its growing importance. Due to this, there is a continuous shift away from brick and mortar fashion retailing towards online fashion retailers.As a result, it is evident that future and current fashion retailers must have some form of online presence in order to succeed in today’s landscape. The purpose of this paper was to explain the effect of e-trust, e-satisfaction and e-service quality on e-loyalty in the context of online fashion retailers. In order to fulfil this purpose, a deductive explanatory approach was taken. Firstly, the authors conducted research on the subject of e-loyalty and what factors influence it. Furthermore, a conceptual model applicable to the context of online fashion retailers was developed. Moreover, an operationalization was created which was the basis of a self-completion questionnaire that was designed in order to collect primary data. After the primary data was collected through convenience sampling and partly through expert sampling, it was cleaned and then placed into SPSS in order to be analyzed. Multiple statistical tests were conducted in order to examine the significance of the data and the relationship between the independent variables (e-trust, e-satisfaction and e-service quality) and the dependent variable (e-loyalty). The results from the analysis showed that all the aforementioned independent variables have a positive effect on e-loyalty in the context of online fashion retailers which meant that the hypotheses from this study were found to be accepted. As a result, e-trust, e-satisfaction and e-service quality were all found to have a positive relationship with e-loyalty.

In the early years of the 20th century the first tailing dams were constructed, the upstream tailing dam being the first type. Before this the tailings were disposed in the nearest stream or river. This caused legal issues between farmers and the mining companies, which ended the random discharge of the tailings. During the 20th century many tailing dams collapsed raising questions whether the technology is sufficient and safe. The known failures are just a fraction of the actual number since not all failures are documented. If a tailing dam were to break the consequenses could be fatal not only on impact but longterm, affecting many generations to come. This paper analyses an active tailing dam in China using the software COMSOL 3.4. The main aspects are the seepage, stability and pollution transport of the unsaturated upstream tailing dam. The results indicate that the dam at this point in time is stable, based on the aspects studied, the inputdata and models that were created.

[pt] A pesquisa apresenta uma análise do comportamento dinâmico da barragem de rejeitos Alpamarca localizada em região sismicamente ativa no centro do Peru. Estudos de ameaça sísmica constituem um aspecto fundamental no projeto de barragens de rejeito tendo em vista os grandes prejuízos ambientais, econômicos e sociais que a ruptura da estrutura, por carregamento dinâmico, possa produzir. Nesta pesquisa foram feitos estudos probabilísticos de ameaça sísmica utilizando o software de código aberto Openquake, que inclui leis de atenuação específicas para as condições geológicas do Peru. A simulação do comportamento dinâmico da barragem demandou a geração de terremotos de projeto com base no espectro de acelerações uniformemente provável determinado na investigação de ameaça sísmica e em função da classificação da barragem em relação a níveis de risco. No trabalho também são discutidas técnicas de tratamento dos acelerogramas, com o objetivo de diminuir o esforço computacional dos cálculos no domínio do tempo, porém sem perder precisão requerida para os resultados estimados. / [en] The research presents an analysis of the dynamic behavior of the Alpamarca tailings dam located in Junín, central Peru, because of the catastrophic effects of earthquakes that frequently occur on the western coast of South America. Dam from the 4670 m elevation. Up to the elevation 4703 m. Under the sea level, with the purpose of supplying the demand for tailings generation in the mining area. The tailings dams are important structures due to the storage of contaminant residues that would shave the environment in the event of a collapse or rupture, which is indispensable to carry out studies to characterize their seismic behavior. In this research, probabilistic seismic threat studies were performed using the OpenQuake software, working with the regional seismicity and soil attenuation law of Peru. Dynamic behavior analysis was performed using the FLAC 2D software, based on the finite difference method. The simulation of the seismic behavior of the dam is made by discussing several important aspects that should be considered for a correct analysis such as the selection of the project earthquake, the filtering of high frequencies to minimize the number of elements of the mesh, the introduction of Quiet conditions, the choice of constituent models including the incorporation of hysteretic damping, among other points.

[pt] O monitoramento de barragens de rejeito, essencial para prevenir acidentes, se baseia em inspeções visuais e instrumentação geotécnica. Devido a recentes incidentes, o aprimoramento tornou-se crucial, levando à incorporação da geofísica neste estudo. Assim, com o objetivo de aprimorar o monitoramento convencional durante e após a descaracterização de duas barragens localizadas em Catalão – Goiás, foi executada uma campanha para aquisição de seis perfis de eletrorresistividade com a finalidade de verificar as condições de saturação em subsuperfície. Além disso foi implantado um sistema de monitoramento microssísmico contando com quinze estações sismográficas. A partir das anomalias identificadas pela campanha realizada em maio de 2022 e das seções geológicas, foi possível estabelecer pontos de atenção que indicam materiais com umidade elevada em locais onde tal ocorrência não era de se esperar. O monitoramento a partir da microssísmica convencional permitiu identificar que a as detonações realizadas, em sua maioria não fizeram o maciço vibrar de forma preocupante e o responsável pelo disparo dos alertas gerados foi a atividade humana e movimentação de maquinário. Já no caso da microssísmica passiva, devido ao pouco tempo de monitoramento, não foram registradas variações significativas no percentual de velocidade que possibilite uma análise assertiva do comportamento do maciço. / [en] The monitoring of tailings dams, crucial to prevent accidents, is based on visual inspections and geotechnical instrumentation. Due to recent incidents, enhancement has become crucial, leading to the inclusion of geophysics in this study. Therefore, aiming to improve conventional monitoring during and after the alteration of two dams located in Catalão, Goiás, a campaign was conducted to obtain six electrical resistivity profiles to assess subsurface saturation conditions. Additionally, a microseismic monitoring system was implemented, involving fifteen seismic stations. By analyzing anomalies identified during the campaign in May 2022 and geological sections, it was possible to identify areas with unexpectedly high moisture content in places where such occurrences were not expected. Conventional microseismic monitoring revealed that most detonations did not significantly cause the mass to vibrate worryingly, with alerts primarily triggered by human activity and machinery movement. However, in the case of passive microseismic monitoring, due to the short monitoring period, no significant variations in the velocity percentage were recorded to enable a conclusive analysis of the mass s behavior.

[pt] Sismos são considerados um dos desastres naturais mais catastróficos devido ao seu imenso potencial destrutivo, à extensão dos seus efeitos e pela sua súbita e inesperada ocorrência, podendo desencadear sérias consequencias como deslizamentos de encostas, liquefação de solos, corrida de detritos, etc. O estudo da estimativa da ameaça sísmica é de grande importância na engenharia geotécnica, principalmente em obras especiais como barragens, dos pontos de vista sócio econômico, ambiental e de segurança. Análises sísmicas destas geoestruturas mesmo em zonas de baixa sismicidade, como no Brasil, devem ser consideradas como consequência natural de uma boa prática de projeto, pois tais instalações precisam manter-se seguras e em funcionamento durante a sua vida útil, visando à segurança e bem estar da população em geral. A motivação principal da presente dissertação é reunir informações e apresentar métodos de estudo de ameaça sísmica e da resposta dinâmica de obras de terra. Um sistema de contenção de rejeitos de bauxita localizado na Jamaica, em zona de alta atividade sísmica, é analisado procurando-se estabelecer as características fundamentais do terremoto de projeto a partir de uma análise probabilística de ameaça sísmica regional. A estabilidade dos taludes do dique de contenção, bem como os deslocamentos permanentes provocados pelo sismo, são estimados por metodologias simples (método de estabilidade pseudo-estático, método de Newmark) e soluções mais complexas baseadas no método dos elementos finitos. / [en] Earthquakes are considered one of the most catastrophic natural disasters due to its immense destructive potential, the extent of its effects and its sudden and unexpected occurrence, which can trigger serious consequences such as landslides, soil liquefaction, debris flow, etc. The study of seismic hazard is of great importance in geotechnical engineering, especially in cases involving special structures such as earth dams, under the socio-economic, environmental and security points of view. Seismic analysis of such special structures, even in areas of low seismicity as in Brazil, should be considered as a natural consequence of good design practice, since these facilities do need to remain safe and operational during their entire lifetime. The main motivation of this dissertation is to gather information and to present and discuss methods for the estimate of the seismic hazard and evaluation of the dynamic response of earth works. A tailings dam system located in Jamaica, within an area of high seismic activity, is analyzed in this dissertation, with the objective to establish the fundamental characteristics of the earthquake design from a probabilistic analysis of the regional seismic hazard. The slope stability of the dike and the permanent displacements caused by the earthquake are estimated by simple methods (pseudo-static stability method, Newmark method) and more complex solutions based on the finite element method.

For fashion online stores loyal customers are as important as they are for traditional retail stores. Through a high amount of loyal customers a company can reduce operational costs and increase its overall profitability. Finally a company can gain more benefits from retaining existing customers instead of acquiring new ones. Therefore it has become more important to win customer share than market share. To figure out how loyalty can be created a company needs to occupy itself intensively with the concept of Customer Relationship Management. There exist different types of loyalty and not every customer can be turned into a loyal customer. The company has to enter into a relationship with its customers that has to grow like the courtship. At best case the bond will end up in a satisfied win-win relationship that contains benefits for both the customer and the company. The longer the relationship will last, the higher the customer value will get and the more the company can profit from it. The same rules and principles also count for the online business. Because of higher costs for attracting new customers, high competition in the market and highly demanding customers treating your existing customers well and turning them into loyal customers is the key to success. E-Loyalty drivers give the company an indicator about what generates e-loyalty for company’s website. Why does a customer return to a website and why does he stick to a certain online shop? One of the most crucial factors to create loyalty in an online business is trust. Only when a customer trusts the vendor he will hand out his personal data, will return to the vendor and will recommend the online shop to others. When it was taken a further look at how online shops tackle the question of loyalty it became clear that the customer is put in the centre. The online shops heavily attempt to keep up with the latest ecommerce trends in order to win over customers. Through Social Commerce the companies have totally new possibilities to interact with the customers and to gain customer insight. In this way it has become much easier to understand the customer and to respond to his individual needs and preferences in order to build up a relationship with him. / Program: Magisterutbildning i fashion management med inriktning modemarknadsföring

O presente trabalho propõe a concentração da bauxita presente em um rejeito fino gerado na usina de beneficiamento da Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), agora denominada Votorantim Metais Alumínio, em Itamarati de Minas (MG), através da flotação reversa da sílica, sob a forma de quartzo. Como os minerais de ferro e titânio acompanham a bauxita, é necessário fazer separação magnética para eliminá-los do concentrado final. O concentrado de ferro e titânio pode ser utilizado como aditivo para fabricação de cimento portland. O rejeito de sílica pode ser utilizado como areia para construção civil ou na própria mina em manutenção de vias de acesso. Os experimentos sistemáticos em bancada foram realizados em célula de flotação mecânica, primeiramente, com minério de uma amostragem realizada em 2004. Determinadas as dosagens ótimas dos reagentes (coletor e depressor), partiu-se para a flotação com etapas cleaner e scavenger para definir o balanço de massas e verificar o comportamento do processo. Para validar as conclusões do trabalho experimental, foi feita nova amostragem na usina de beneficiamento de Itamarati de Minas, em julho de 2005, e, com este minério, o experimento de flotação com recirculação de produtos em um circuito em bancada composto por cinco etapas rougher, cleaner e scavenger. Partindo-se de uma alimentação nova com 11,6% de alumina aproveitável, chegou-se a um concentrado com teor de 52,6% no final do circuito, após a separação magnética, com recuperação em massa de 13,3% e recuperação de alumina aproveitável de 60,4%. / The present work proposes bauxite concentration using quartz flotation from a product so far considered a tailing, from the ore processing plant of Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), now called Votorantim Metais Alumínio, at Itamarati de Minas (MG). A magnetic separation operation is also necessary to eliminate iron and titanium contaminants. Both products from this beneficiation process can have an industrial destination: iron and titanium concentrate can be used as a portland cement charge and the quartz can be used as construction sand in mine or in road maintenance. Systematic experiments were performed on bench cell froth flotation using the remaining ore sample taken in a 2004 campaign. The optimum collector and depressant dosages were found, followed by a flotation test with cleaner and scavenger that determined the mass balance and confirmed the process behavior. To validate these conclusions a fresh ore sample was taken in July 2005. A new simulation of the flotation circuit by locked cycle with five steps rougher, cleaner and scavenger in bench scale was done with this sample. From an 11,6% alumina feed, a 52% Al2O3 alumina concentrate was achieved, after magnetic separation. The mass recovery was 13,3% and the available alumina recovery was 60,4%