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By Pedone Ezio Michele, Mohamed Dahir Holad

"The 4c segment is a part of the ""Oman National Railway Project” linking the mining area in the surroundings of Thumrait and the port of Salalah. It is 90 km long and the last 40 km stretch crosses a mountainous area near the city of Salalah. The project includes the excavation of a 33 km double and single bore tunnel and 10 km of safety tunnels. This mountainous area is a holiday destination for Omanis, thanks to its beautiful landscapes, especially in summer time due to the monsoon rains. The tunnelling design had to take into account both these environmental constraints and the limestone rock formations crossed, which are affected by significant karst features. Given the context, the conventional tunnelling method has been preferred. INTRODUCTION The Oman Railway Project (Fig. 1) covers the construction of approximately 2,150 km of railway line for freight and passenger transport which will connect together Oman’s main towns and industrial sites and it will form part of the Arabian Peninsula railway system “GCC Project”. The non-electrified double-track railway line must guarantee a speed of 220 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains and must guarantee the transit of AAR (Association of American Railroad) H and D plates using clearance envelope according to AREMA (American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association) requirements. The design alignment must have maximum radiuses of curvature of 3,250m and a maximum gradient of 1.0%. The project is divided into 9 constructional and functional segments. •,Segment 4c will be constructed in the southern region of Oman, close to the border with Yemen, to connect the town of Thumrait with the Port of Salalah. •,Segment 4c will run through the Dhofar region and will be mainly used by the freight traffic which currently travels by road."

Jan 1, 2016

By Robert C. Freas

Lime, the versatile chemical is, generally speaking, a calcined or burned form of limestone commonly known as quicklime, calcium oxide or, when water is added, calcium hydroxide or slaked lime. Almost 40 different lime products are available, a fact which has contributed to the rather loose use of the term lime as well as to confusion and misunderstanding. The term is frequently, albeit erroneously, used to denote almost any kind of calcareous material or finely ground form of limestone or dolomite. Lime is made from high calcium or high magnesium limestone, generally having a minimum of 97% combined carbonate content. Normally, high calcium lime has less than 5% MgO. When the lime is produced from a high magnesium limestone, the product is referred to as dolomitic lime. Calcination/Hydration Calcination, or the production of lime, has its origins in the earliest days of alchemy, with the general reaction class having been identified in an Arabic text printed in 1000 AD. It was much later, however, in the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s before this basic reaction became understood from scientific perspective. The pro- duction of lime has been so basic and simple that its underlying scientific principles have over the years received only intermittent investigation. Rather, much of the thought and inquiry has been directed toward the development of kilns. Thus, it has only been in the last 25 to 30 years that lime has received any concentrated scientific investigation relative to the thermodynamics and kinetics of the calcination and hydration reactions. Particular emphasis has been focused upon energy consumption and fuel efficiency. Calcination refers to a broad class of reactions, of which the limeflimestone reaction is just one, wherein a substance is heated to less than its melting point, resulting is a weight gain or weight loss. In the calcination of limestone to produce lime, the basic chemical reaction is as follows: [ ] While there is nearly universal agreement bout the equilibrium conditions related to the limestone/lime reaction above, there have been numerous and varied calcination models developed for the reaction. Recent investigations have resulted in the development of the model shown in [Fig. 1]. From this model it can be seen that calcination is a function of both temperature and CO, pressure. It does not, however, provide any indication of the rate at which the reaction takes place. Calcination is strongly time variant with different limestones. In a very broad sense this relates to the fact that the calcination reaction starts on the exterior surface of the limestone and then proceeds toward the center. As the calcination reaction takes place, the CO2 released at the interface must make its way through the lime to the exterior surface. Since calcination is limited by gas diffusion to the surface of the partially calcined limestone, the natural impurities in the stone, differences in crystallinity, grain boundary chemistry, density variations, and imperfections in the atomic lattice all play a significant role in calcination rate. Therefore, the suitability of a given limestone as a source material for lime production can be determined only after completion of adequate burn tests designed to evaluate the various limiting factors. When a coal-fired kiln system is considered, the entire process of calcination is made even more complex by the introduction of additional chemical constituents into the calcination environment. The reader is referred to the references for a more detailed description of the complete calcination reaction and the differences inherent between differing kiln systems. In the foregoing discussion it was noted that CO2 is released during the reaction. This release results in a 44% weight loss during the complete calcination of a high calcium limestone, or a 48% weight loss for a highly dolomitic limestone. The trade term for this weight percent loss is loss on ignition, or LOI. This weight loss is frequently used as a measure of the completeness of calcination. Because the calcination reaction is chemically reversible, quicklime or burned lime is frequently referred to a being highly reactive, or unstable. The more stable form of lime, hydrated lime, is commonly preferred and generally specified by the user. Hydrated lime is obtained by adding water to quicklime to produce a dry, fine powder. Quicklime's affinity for moisture is then satisfied, although it still retains a strong affinity for CO2.

Jan 1, 1994

By T. K. McCranie, A. H. Tousley, A. H. Kackman, L. R. Gregory, A. Jr. McElrath, R. J. Krekel

In Roman and earlier civilizations the term cement was applied only to mixtures of lime, pozzolana, sand, water, etc., used as a mortar to bind larger stones. Today, portland cement, the subject of this section, can be briefly defined as follows: The product obtained by finely grinding clinker produced by calcining to incipient fusion (i.e., sintering) an intimate and properly proportioned mixture of argillaceous and calcareous materials. History The Egyptians were probably the first to join building stones with a mixture of sand and a cementitious material (i.e., having the property of or acting like cement). It is generally accepted that the cement used by the Egyptians on such structures as the Great Pyramid was calcined gypsum, Later the Greeks began to calcine limestone for use as a mortar with sand and water. Still later, broken brick and tile were added to the mortar to make the first concrete. The Greeks and Romans found that some sands produced mortars that were especially resistant to the action of water. Hydraulic (i.e., underwater-hardening) cements formed by combining slaked lime, water, and finely divided siliceous materials (e.g., pozzolana) possess superior strength and are capable of resisting the destructive action of water. They were used on the Pantheon, Colosseum, and other structures, some of which are still standing. In 1756 an English engineer, John Smeaton, found that an argillaceous limestone (i.e., containing an appreciable amount of clay as an impurity) produced a cement with greater resistance to the action of water. Despite Smeaton's findings, the use of the old mixture of lime and pozzolana long retained its popularity. Significant contributions in cement technology from England, Swe¬den, France, and Holland were made in the next 68 years. However, the invention of portland cement is generally credited to Joseph Aspdin, an Englishman, who in 1824 patented "portland cement." The name was selected because, on hardening, it resembled the natural building stone from the Isle of Portland, England. The patent features mixing ground limestone and argillaceous materials in appropriate proportions and calcining (i.e., expelling CO2 by roasting) the mixture. This superseded the existing practice of calcining naturally occurring argillaceous limestone. In about 1845 Isaac Johnson, also English, conducted experiments on proportioning the components and calcining them at higher tem¬peratures. His accomplishments are accepted as the beginning of the present-day portland cement industry. The U.S. cement industry originated with the demand for good hydraulic cement for building structures such as the Erie Canal, which was started in 1817. The first discovery of cement rock (i.e., naturally occurring argillaceous limestone with near-optimum ratios of calcium carbonate, alumina, and silica) near Fayetteville, N.Y., was made by C. White. In 1818, White secured a patent for the manufacture of natural cement from that deposit. Subsequently, several natural cement plants were built in 1830-1840 at Rosendale, N.Y., and in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. David Saylor, who participated in establishing a natural cement plant at Coplay, Pa., in 1850 discovered that a superior cement could be produced by calcining the rock at higher temperatures than hith¬erto. In 1871, Saylor obtained a patent and commenced the manufac¬ture of portland cement. By 1890, there were 17 portland cement plants in the United States with a combined annual output of 62,300 tons. At the end of 1970, the number of plants producing portland cement in the United States (including Puerto Rico) was 169, down from a maximum of 185 in 1967, with total annual shipments of 73.4 million tons valued at $1,298 million. (Fig. 1). In 1970, annual world production of hydraulic cement (which includes pozzolanic materials, hydraulic limes, natural cement, alumina cement, and portland cement, all of which are in current use in various parts of the world) reached 630 million tons (Table 1). Flowsheets of typical U.S. cement plants are shown in Chapter 13. Chemical Composition and Physical Properties It is generally accepted that portland cement clinker consists of a mixture of compounds or synthetic minerals. The four principal compounds are:

Jan 1, 1985

By J. M. Hans, M. F. O’Connell, G. E. Eadie

INTRODUCTION The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required, under Section 114(c) of Public Law 95-604, to provide a report to Congress identifying the location, and potential health, safety and environmental hazards of uranium mine wastes together with recommendations, if any, for a program to eliminate the hazards. The approach taken to prepare the report was to develop model active and inactive mines and locate them in a typical mining area to estimate their environmental impact. A list of uranium mines was acquired from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The inactive mines were separated from the list and sorted into surface and underground categories. A literature search was conducted to obtain and consolidate available information concerning the environmental aspects of uranium mining and shortterm field surveys and studies were conducted to augment this information base. Radioactivity emission rates were measured or estimated for each mining category and were entered into computor codes to assess population exposures and subsequent health risks. The general environmental condition of inactive uranium mines was determined by walk-through surveys in several mining areas. INACTIVE SURFACE MINES We assumed that a model inactive surface mine contains a single pit with the wastes (overburden and sub-ore) stacked into a pile adjacent to the pit area. No credit for reclamation is given to the model mine. In lieu of the availability of individual mine production statistics, the model surface mine size was established from the total ore and waste production statistics for all surface mines, divided by the number of inactive surface mines. The number of inactive mines, obtained from the DOE mine listing, are summarized by type and location (Table 1). For modeling, we assumed that there are 1,250 inactive surface mines. The total or cumulative waste and ore production for inactive surface mines from 1950 to 1978 is not fully documented. Uranium mine waste and ore production statistics, on an annual basis, were available for both surface and underground producers from 1959 to 1976 (D0159-76). Annual uranium ore production for each uranium mining type are available for 1948 to 1959 (DOE79) and for combined ore production TABLE 1. Consolidated list of inactive uranium producers by State and type of mining [State Surface Underground AL 0 9 AZ 135 189 CA 13 10 CO 263 902 ID 2 4 MT 9 9 NV 9 12 NJ 0 1 NM 34 142 ND 13 0 OK 3 0 OR 2 1 SD 111 30 TX 38 0 UT 378 698 WA 13 0 WY 223 32 Total 1246 201T] for underground and surface mining from 1932 to 1942 (DO132-42). In order to estimate waste accumulated prior to 1959, the waste-to-ore ratios from the 1959 to 1976 period were plotted vs. time and line-fitted by regression analysis (Figure 1). Unfortunately, the extrapolation of the line to years prior 1959 approached zero in 1954 although surface mining began in 1950. Therefore, a waste-to-ore ratio of 8:1 was used for the period of 1950 to 1959 based on ratios estimated by Clark (C174). The waste to-ore ratios for 1976 to 1978 were estimated using the line established in Figure 1. By using waste-to-ore ratios and ore production data, the cumulative waste and ore production for both surface and underground uranium mining is estimated to 1978 (Table 2). The estimated cumulative waste from uranium surface mining for 1950 to 1978 is 1.73 x 109 MT. A crude estimate of the waste accumulated at the model inactive surface mine can be made by dividing the total waste produced to 1978 by the number of inactive mines. This, however, overestimates the waste tonnage because some of the contemporary wastes are being produced by active mines, and the waste accumulated at newer mines has increased in recent years. To adjust for this overestimate, we assumed that all mines operating in 1970 will be inactive by 1978. This eight year period is approximately one-half the lifetime of a model

Jan 1, 1981

By C. Allen Born

There is a saying, the greater the gratitude, the shorter the speech. That puts me in a quandary, because while I am grateful for the honor you do me today, I also want to talk about a subject very important to all of us. A few months ago, when I was asked to submit a title for my talk, I chose "Quality where it counts." I did so because perhaps the most important thing we at Amax did in our restructuring was to commit to quality in all our businesses - quality people, assets, and operations. Together, they create quality performance, which produces quality growth and increased shareholder value - our prime corporate mission. We are dedicated to quality. At Amax, quality means everything. Today, I want to discuss quality in another context - the need for it in American education and what we have to do to achieve it. If we ignore this need, we will all suffer the consequences. And they will be upon us far sooner than the next century, barely a decade away. I think almost everyone in this room works for an organization that had to restructure in the 1980s. Mining companies that did not, just didn't make it. Well, we did. As an industry, we are seeing improved profits, positive cash flow, and a more competitive position in the world marketplace. But all the restructuring we have done, all the hard work, and all the pain that was part of it, will be in vain if, down the road, we do not have the educated people we need as workers. We need them to design, manufacture, and market the products that use the basic materials produced by the mining industry. Simply put, we are at a crisis point in education today. That is no new revelation. Nearly six years ago, the National Committee on Excellence in Education published its report, "A Nation At Risk." Since then, things have not gotten better. The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, US News & World Report, and Fortune have all recently published stories about the sorry state of education in the United States. The subject has become the topic of TV talk shows as well as national commissions, and for good reason. The pool of young people entering the US labor force is dwindling. In the next decade, 10 million fewer will enter the job market compared to the 1970s. But fewer of them will be qualified to do the jobs available to them. Here's why: • 20% of today's high school students drop out before they are 18 and another 20% graduate functionally illiterate; 40% of today's fourth graders think the world is flat; • 20% of today's sixth graders cannot locate the United States on a world map; • one of every three ninth graders cannot figure the change for a two-item meal - and I'm talking about a Big Mac and fries. These are not just problems of minority kids in big city ghettos. Fully 40% of all young working Americans cannot add up their lunch bill. Three out of every five college freshmen need some kind of remedial work. These statistics are frightening. Particularly so because, while the work force is becoming less qualified and our public education system is getting worse, our products and technologies are becoming more complex. We are approaching a time when we will have machines that recognize handwriting but people who cannot write. We will have technology to take voice commands, but people who do not know what they are talking about. The accelerating pace of technology is changing the nature of the job market. The fastest growing jobs now, and in the years ahead, are in professional, technical, and sales positions requiring the highest education and skill levels. Most of these jobs will require the use of a computer. Yet, 95% of today's graduating high school students have never laid a finger on a computer keyboard. While our education system is failing the students it is supposed to serve, other countries are doing far better. In a

Jan 1, 1990

By W. R. Dengler

INTRODUCTION Shaft sinking represents a relatively small proportion of the activities involved in mine development. Because of this limited utilization, shaft sinking has been one of the most difficult functions to mechanize. Although shaft machines (muckers) were introduced more than 30 years ago, the first machines were low-capacity units, and machines of this type did not gain wide acceptance by the mining industry until the late 1950s. However, the increasing depth of underground mines and the es¬calating costs of labor have increased the benefits obtain¬able from high-speed shaft sinking. The result has been a growing need for high-capacity shaft machines. Most of the machines available at the present time have been developed by modifying existing equipment to increase the payload capacity and performance. AVAILABLE SHAFT MACHINES In general, shaft machines may be classified accord¬ing to the types of digging mechanisms and the mecha¬nisms of operation. The available digging mechanisms include clamshells, cactus grabs, front-end buckets, and backhoes. The mechanisms of operation can be classified as either pneumatic or hydraulic. Selection Criteria For efficient operation, the primary consideration in selecting a shaft machine is its capacity. The minimum capacity of the machine should match the capacity of the hoisting system at the ultimate depth of the shaft. In many cases, two machines may be needed to obtain a sufficient mucking capacity. The shaft dimensions and configuration often dictate the type of machine that may be utilized; for example, an overshot loader does not work well in a circular shaft that has a diameter of less than 5.5 m (18 ft). Similarly, a single Cryderman mucker is not suitable for a large-diameter shaft, nor is it applicable where very high sinking buckets are to be used. Other factors for consideration include the degree of material fragmentation, the abrasiveness of the rock, and the amount of ground water that is inter¬sected. Machine Descriptions Riddell Mucker: The Riddell mucker, illustrated in Fig. 1, was first introduced in 1948. This is one of the most common shaft machines in the medium-capacity range. The Riddell mucker consists of a hoisting and traveling mechanism that operates a clamshell suspended on cables. The early machines operated with a 0.3 m3 (10 cu ft) clamshell and had an hourly capacity of approximately 27 t (30 st). This type of shaft machine has gained wide acceptance throughout North America. Essentially, the Riddell mucker consists of standard components, such as the pneumatic tugger hoists that operate the clamshell. The carriage is suspended on rails that also serve as the blasting set, located immediately below the shaft timbers. To effectively position the clam¬shell in the shaft, the operator controls the carriage travel by means of wheels that are driven by a pneu¬matic motor. The Riddell mucker most commonly is used in rec¬tangular timbered shafts. However, some units have been installed with circular rails, allowing them to work in circular concrete-lined shafts. A popular practice with many Riddell muckers is to increase the capacity through the use of larger clamshells, often ranging up to 0.76 m3 (1.0 cu yd), in conjunction with more powerful tugger hoists. In some large rectangular shafts, two Riddell units have been used side by side to achieve a sufficient capacity. Cryderman Mucker: The Cryderman mucker, illus¬trated in Fig. 2, is another common shaft machine in the low- to medium-capacity range. Developed in the early 1950s, it also has gained wide acceptance throughout North America. Equipped with a 0.3 m3 (10 cu ft) bucket, the Cryderman mucker has an hourly capacity of approximately 23 t (25 st). The Cryderman mucker is operated entirely by means of pneumatic cylinders and a pneumatic telescopic boom. The boom is suspended from a sectional frame¬work that is usually located at one end of the shaft. The framework or headframe can be suspended from an independent hoisting system located either on the sur¬face or in the shaft. In large shafts of either rectangular

Jan 1, 1982

By Jeffrey B. Smith

Introduction The gas shortage is going to be with us for some time to come. If we can set aside political and industry rhetoric (along with subjective personal opinions), we still are confronted by two serious "facts of life": (1) for almost a decade the U.S. has been con¬suming natural gas at a greater rate than we have been finding new reserves; and (2) there is a finite amount of natural gas present within the earth&apos;s crust. Much of the known and easily exploitable sources of gas (the so-called "conventional" sources, such as the high permeability sand reservoirs of the Tertiary sequence along the Gulf Coast) already have been developed; their production is declining rapidly. The total producible reserves from con¬ventional gas reservoirs amount to only 216 Tcf, less than an 11-year supply. However, several large potential resources of natural gas remain to be developed. These "uncon¬ventional sources" have low permeability and/or peculiar producing characteristics. The DOE program for development of these unconventional sources of gas is called the enhanced gas recovery (EGR) program. The primary goal of this program is to provide a data base of resource characterization and production technology that will lead to commercial development. DOE will encourage and support in¬dustry participation in developing and demonstrating technologies needed to reach this goal. Unconventional Resources Four major unconventional resources of gas have a high potential for commercial development. There are other unconventional sources (such as gas hydrates) that are too poorly defined to warrant a major development thrust at this time. The four unconventional sources of gas currently included in the EGR program are: 1. The carbonaceous shales of Devonian age in the Appalachian, Illinois, and Michigan sedimentary basins are the targets of the Eastern Gas Shales Project (EGSP). 2. The low permeability, low porosity so-called "tight" gas sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous/Lower Tertiary in the Rocky Mountain areas constitute the resource target for the Western Gas Sands Project (WGSP). 3. The free methane trapped in coal beds of both the eastern and western U. S. constitute the Methane from Coal Beds Project (MCBP). 4. The abnormally high pressured, high-temperature saltwater aquifers of the Texas¬Louisiana gulf coast are targets of the Geopressured Aquifer Project (GPAP). Basic implementation strategy for these EGR projects involve (1) assessing and characterizing the resource potential of the resource; (2) conducting cost-shared field testing with industry to improve, develop, and demonstrate various stimulation and production technologies; (3) coordinating EGR activities within DOE and with other federal agencies (such as the Bureau of Mines) to minimize duplication; and (4) aiming all projects toward commercial development of the gas resources. EGSP What type of "geological animal" is the EGSP dealing with? While gas undeniably is related to the occurrence of natural fracture systems within the shale, the overall producing mechanism and precise location of fractured, gas¬bearing locales within each basin is still poorly understood. By developing reliable resource characterization techniques and applying effective stimulation technologies we intend to elevate the Devonian shale from the status of a potential gas resource to that of a proven gas reserve. Once we have done this the private sector can take over the large-scale commercial development of the Devonian shale gas resource. WGSP The second largest project (both in terms of complexity and level of funding) is the WGSP. The primary targets for this project are the low permeability (< 1 md) gas sandstones of the Piceance, Uintah, and Greater Green River basins and the Northern Great Plains Province. Project success in these four primary geologic locales will permit investigating additional low permeability sandstones in 16 other sedimentary basins. It ap¬pears that the only practical means of increasing permeability and resultant flow rates from these sandstones lies in the use of massive hydraulic fracturing techniques. Unfortunately, it is still too early to design such jobs with predictable results. MCBP The MCBP is to be involved in producing and utilizing methane derived from coal beds. The coal, like portions of the Devonian shale, is impermeable, highly fractured (termed "cleat" by

Jan 1, 1980

By Jon P. Thorson, James W. Babcock

The second Belt Symposium in Missoula, MT, Oct. 9-16, 1983, was designed by its conveners as a field conference on progress in the Proterozoic Belt Supergroup rocks. The symposium was sponsored by the University of Montana with corporate support by Anaconda Minerals. Asarco Inc., Exxon Minerals Co.. Hecla Mining Co., Molycorp Inc., Noranda Exploration Co., and Utah International Inc. Introduction The Belt Supergroup is a thick middle Proterozoic sedimentary sequence deposited in a basin along the edge of the North American craton. Subsequent geological events have modified the basin so its remaining rocks outcrop in Montana, Idaho, northeast Washington, southeast British Columbia, and southwest Alberta. The Canadian equivalent of the Belt is called the Purcell Supergroup. Several similar age basins occurred along the western edge of the Proterozoic North American craton. The sedimentary sequence in the Belt basin aggregates is more than 18 km (60,000 ft) in the thickest section, where the bottom is still unexposed and the top removed by erosion. The limits of the Belt basin are poorly known because of later sedimentation and tectonic disruption. Knowledge about the Belt terrane has been difficult and tedious to obtain because the rocks are generally monotonous and fine-grained. During the last decade, new 1:250,000 scale reconnaissance maps of most of the Proterozoic Belt terrane were published, open-filed or otherwise brought close to completion. These maps provided the opportunity and challenge to consider the stratigraphy and tectonics of the Belt Supergroup as a complete basin. This broader view has contributed greatly to the solution of numerous geological problems created by previous, more focused work. Along with the availability of better geological base, there have been new exploration developments. The 1973-1983 decade saw proof of the commercial viability of the Cu-Ag mineralization at the Troy mine. The conclusion was also accepted that the Sullivan mine was a sedimentary massive sulfide. So was the conclusion that the Cu-Co mineralization at the Blackbird mine at Cobalt, ID, was the result of similar submarine exhalative processes. And there were discoveries of another Cu-Ag deposit "larger and higher grade" than the Troy mine and of two new massive sulfide districts. The Belt-Purcell terrane has long intrigued exploration and mining geologists as the host of Pb-Zn-Ag veins of Idaho&apos;s Coeur d&apos;Alene district and of the Sullivan mine at Kimberley, British Columbia, one of the largest Pb-Zn-Ag deposits in North America. In the mid-1960s, Bear Creek Mining Co.&apos;s discoveries of the stratabound copper-silver occurrences in the Revett Formation brought new interest in the basin&apos;s geology. The recognition of the Sullivan ore body as a sediment-hosted massive sulfide has also generated minerals exploration activity in the US portion of the Belt basin. This activity increased again after the Australian discovery of the world class Olympic Dam deposit at Roxby Downs, South Australia. This occurred because of some suggested similarities in the regional geologic setting of the Belt basin with the Adelaide geosyncline, the host for the Olympic Dam deposit. Technical Sessions Technical sessions topics included Lower Belt and Ravalli Group stratigraphy, Middle Belt carbonate and Missoula Group stratigraphy, Belt-Purcell stratigraphy, structure and tectonics, strata-related mineral resources, geochronology and geophysics, geochemistry and isotope geology, and a summary of significant problems. Evening poster sessions dealt with the topics and papers presented each day. Since the first Belt Symposium, mapping of the stratigraphic units and their tectonic setting has enabled geologists to progress in conducting a basin analysis. Belt Symposium II revealed no concensus on many aspects of belt geology. However, basic stratigraphic studies have reached the point that models can be constructed. The Prichard Formation is equivalent to the Aldridge Formation, but detailed correlations were not previously available. Studies were made by Finch and Baldwin (Cominco American) and by Cressman (US Geological Survey). These studies established important correlations of key markers within the Aldridge Formation to units in the Prichard Formation. This will help eliminate geologic interpretation problems at the US-Canada frontier and make Belt basin reconstruction more accurate. Also, the Sullivan ore deposit was shown to be formed in the deeper distal part of the basin. This contrasts to the more proximal depositional position of the Prichard Formation. Hamilton

Jan 6, 1984

By Jeffrey B. Smith

Introduction The gas shortage is going to be with us for some time to come. If we can set aside political and industry rhetoric (along with subjective personal opinions), we still are confronted by two serious "facts of life": (1) for almost a decade the U.S. has been consuming natural gas at a greater rate than we have been finding new reserves; and (2) there is a finite amount of natural gas present within the earth&apos;s crust. Much of the known and easily exploitable sources of gas (the so-called "conventional" sources, such as the high permeability sand reservoirs of the Tertiary sequence along the Gulf Coast) already have been developed; their production is declining rapidly. The total producible reserves from conventional gas reservoirs amount to only 216 Tcf, less than an 11-year supply. However, several large potential resources of natural gas remain to be developed. These "unconventional sources" have low permeability and/or peculiar producing characteristics. The DOE program for development of these unconventional sources of gas is called the enhanced gas recovery (EGR) program. The primary goal of this program is to provide a data base of resource characterization and production technology that will lead to commercial development. DOE will encourage and support industry participation in developing and demonstrating technologies needed to reach this goal. Unconventional Resources Four major unconventional resources of gas have a high potential for commercial development. There are other unconventional sources (such as gas hydrates) that are too poorly defined to warrant a major development thrust at this time. The four unconventional sources of gas currently included in the EGR program are: 1. The carbonaceous shales of Devonian age in the Appalachian, Illinois, and Michigan sedimentary basins are the targets of the Eastern Gas Shales Project (EGSP). 2. The low permeability, low porosity so-called "tight" gas sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous/Lower Tertiary in the Rocky Mountain areas constitute the resource target for the Western Gas Sands Project (WGSP). 3. The free methane trapped in coal beds of both the eastern and western U. S. constitute the Methane from Coal Beds Project (MCBP). 4. The abnormally high pressured, high-temperature saltwater aquifers of the Texas-Louisiana gulf coast are targets of the Geopressured Aquifer Project (GPAP). Basic implementation strategy for these EGR projects involve (1) assessing and characterizing the resource potential of the resource; (2) conducting cost-shared field testing with industry to improve, develop, and demonstrate various stimulation and production technologies; (3) coordinating EGR activities within DOE and with other federal agencies (such as the Bureau of Mines) to minimize duplication; and (4) aiming all projects toward commercial development of the gas resources. EGSP What type of "geological animal" is the EGSP dealing with? While gas undeniably is related to the occurrence of natural fracture systems within the shale, the overall producing mechanism and precise location of fractured, gas-bearing locales within each basin is still poorly understood. By developing reliable resource characterization techniques and applying effective stimulation technologies we intend to elevate the Devonian shale from the status of a potential gas resource to that of a proven gas reserve. Once we have done this the private sector can take over the large-scale commercial development of the Devonian shale gas resource. WGSP The second largest project (both in terms of complexity and level of funding) is the WGSP. The primary targets for this project are the low permeability (< 1 md) gas sandstones of the Piceance, Uintah, and Greater Green River basins and the Northern Great Plains Province. Project success in these four primary geologic locales will permit investigating additional low permeability sandstones in 16 other sedimentary basins. It appears that the only practical means of increasing permeability and resultant flow rates from these sandstones lies in the use of massive hydraulic fracturing techniques. Unfortunately, it is still too early to design such jobs with predictable results. MCBP The MCBP is to be involved in producing and utilizing methane derived from coal beds. The coal, like portions of the Devonian shale, is impermeable, highly fractured (termed "cleat" by

Jan 9, 1980

By Andrew N. Peterson

US mine operators frequently fail to investigate more cost effective and productive bulk material handling systems because surface mines seem to lend themselves to truck ore haulage. In this country, as a result, use of conveyors to move heavy loads from mine to process facilities has been minimized, if not actually neglected. In contrast, there are more than 50 conveyorized surface mines in successful operation around the world. These mine operators have learned that properly applied conveyorized systems can offer major savings in capital and operating costs, which contribute to improved profits when combined with other proven mining technologies. Growing acceptance and application of conveyorized bulk material handling in surface mines also points up how unique each mine is and how careful planning contributes to maximum mine effectiveness. Because of these differences, mining executives and technical and operating staffs need to develop an understanding of three factors in applying conveyorized bulk material handling in surface mines: • Why each mine will benefit from the type of automation permitted by conveyorized operation, •What kind of equipment is available, and • What applications most effectively demonstrate the first two factors in action - hauling either ore or waste. The conveyorized systems considered in this presentation have production rates from 0.5-2.7 kt/h (500-3,000 stph). Worldwide, these systems have been operating since the early 1960s. Advantages of Conveyors Why do you want conveyorized bulk material handling? First, it almost always provides lower operating and maintenance costs. Second, it frequently requires lower initial capital costs and almost always requires lower capital costs over the life of the surface mine. Third, it provides comparable operating availability, and finally, it frequently gives comparable operating flexibility - depending on the mine plan. Cost avoidance can be accomplished with modern production methods. These, in turn, permit increased productivity and reduced operating costs such as those for energy, maintenance, and manpower. It has been demonstrated in European surface mines and elsewhere, that conveyor systems frequently require lower initial costs than does truck haulage. Almost always such operations require lower capital costs over the mine life. Those costs include the continual addition of haulage trucks to both accommodate the increasingly difficult haulage routes and fulfill replacement requirements when trucks wear out. Conveyor systems handling ore in numerous large crushing and port facilities, which have operated since the early 1950s, have clearly demonstrated a useful conveyor life of more than 25 years. In contrast, off-highway trucks have life spans of six to eight years. The following examples illustrate comparative capital costs to purchase conveyor systems and comparable truck haulage units. Example 1 The ore haulage route from point A to point B is level and 610m (2,000 ft) long. The material weighs 1.8 t/m3 (110 lbs per cu ft) and must be transported at a rate of 1.8 kt/h (2,000 stph). The installed capital costs to provide a properly designed conveyor that will transport the described material from point A to B is about $450,000. The capital cost to purchase three 77-t (85-st) off-highway trucks and one spare truck - which would provide equivalent capacity - would be about $1.2 million. The truck cost estimate is based on a 6 min. or 771 kt/h (850 stph) truck cycle time. Truck efficiency is estimated at 0.8. Each 77-t (85-st) truck would have an actual haulage rate of 617 kt/h (680 stph). Therefore, three trucks would be necessary to transport the designated tonnage of 1.8 kt/h (2,000 stph). A movable crushing plant would be located at point A for the conveyors and a permanent crushing plant at point B for the truck haulage system. Capital costs for these primary crushing plants were not included in the calculations for either system because the capital costs are frequently comparable. Example 2 The transport route from point A to point B is 610 m (2,000 ft) horizontally and 122 m (400 ft) vertically - on a 20% grade (Fig. 1). The material weighs 1.8 t/m3 (110 lbs per cu ft) and must be moved at a rate of 1.8 kt/h (2,000 stph).

Jan 6, 1983

By Jessica Elzea, Haydn Murray

The term bentonite was first proposed in 1898 by Knight, a year after he had named this clay taylorite, because taylorite had been previously used for another mineral. The name taylorite was after the Taylor ranch, the site of the first mine, near Rock River, WY, and the name bentonite is from the Benton Shale in which the clay was thought at that time to occur. The Benton Shale was, in turn, named after Fort Benton, MT, located more than 640 km miles north of Rock River. Early in the 20th century, several geologists recognized that bentonite, mainly in beds in Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks, originated from transported volcanic materials. This recognition led to definitions based on origin, the one most widely quoted and generally accepted by geologists is the following definition by Ross and Shannon (1926): "Bentonite is a rock composed essentially of a crystalline clay-like mineral formed by devitrification and the accompanying chemical alteration of a glassy igneous material, usually a tuff or volcanic ash; and it often contains variable proportions of accessory crystal grains that were originally phenocrysts in the volcanic glass. These are feldspar (commonly orthoclase and oligoclase), biotite, quartz, pyroxenes, zircon, and various other minerals typical of volcanic rocks. The characteristic clay-like mineral has a micaceous habit and facile cleavage, high birefringence and a texture inherited from volcanic tuff or ash, and it is usually the mineral montmorillonite, but less often beidellite." The difficulty in applying the foregoing definition to bentonite as an industrial mineral commodity is that it is based on origin and is restricted to an ash, tuff, or volcanic glass parent material. Therefore, deposits consisting of the clay minerals required by this definition, but having uncertain origin or parent materials, cannot properly be called bentonite. Furthermore, many deposits in the western United States and in other countries that have formed from rocks other than the types required by the definition are being mined and sold as bentonite. Perhaps the best definition of bentonite as an industrial mineral is one given by R.E. Grim in a plenary lecture at the International Clay Conference (AIPEA) at Madrid, Spain, June 27, 1972. According to this redefinition, which will be used in this chapter, bentonite is a clay consisting essentially of smectite minerals (montmorillonite group of some usages), regardless of origin or occurrence. This definition solves the problem of the difference between the geologic and industrial usages of the term and overcomes the difficulty in assigning a name to smectite clay that formed from igneous rock other than ash, tuff, or glass, or those of sedimentary or uncertain origin. However, bentonite, when used with this meaning is still a rock term (consisting of more than one mineral), and it will not be possible to distinguish it from fuller&apos;s earth in many instances. One way of classifying bentonite is based on its swelling capacities when wet or added to water. Bentonite having sodium (Na+) as either the dominant or as an abundant exchangeable ion typically has very high swelling capacities and forms gel-like masses when added to water. Bentonite in which exchangeable calcium (Ca++) is more abundant than other ions has much lower swelling capacities than sodium varieties. Some calcium types swell little more than common clay, and most crumble into granular masses in water. Intermediate calcium-sodium bentonites, the so called mixed types, tend to swell moderately and to form gels of lesser volumes than equal masses of the sodium type bentonite. Because of the general relationship of swelling and exchangeable ion characteristics bentonite is commonly divided into the high swelling or sodium, low swelling or calcium, and moderate swelling or intermediate types. The term sub-bentonite (Davis et a]., 1940) is used inconsistently in industry for the low or moderate swelling varieties. The authors believe the use of this term should be discouraged because of its implication of low quality or low value and the lack of a mineralogical or use basis for it. In the United States bentonite is also classified by geographic location and the uses for which it is sold. Inasmuch as most of the low swelling calcium type occurs in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, this variety is commonly called Southern bentonite. The largest high swelling sodium bentonite deposits and the major producing districts are in Wyoming and adjacent states. Therefore, this bentonite is commonly called the Wyoming or Western type. Such terms as drilling mud bentonite, foundry bond bentonite, and taconite bond bentonite relating directly to use are applied in marketing. Other terms including high and low yield bentonite, high and low gel bentonite, and high and low strength bentonite are also used to distinguish different grades. The varied classifications notwithstanding, bentonite occurs in so many different varieties that some cannot logically be classified according to any of the foregoing groupings. One of these types is hectorite, which is a high swelling lithium-bearing variety of smectite occurring mainly in California and adjacent states. It is, therefore, not a Wyoming type, and it occurs even farther west than the so called western bentonites. Others are bentonites having magnesium (Mg++) or hydrogen (H+) as the most abundant or dominant exchangeable ion. These types are neither sodium nor calcium varieties, and apparently some are low swelling, whereas others have rather high swelling capacities. Still another type of bentonite, the so-called potassium type, K-bentonite, or metabentonite, occurs in Ordovician and other Pa-

Jan 1, 1994

By T. J. Crebs

The latest estimates compiled by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists again indicate a moderate increase in mining geophysical activity in 1980 over the 1979 level. While North American activity remained at above the 1979 level, a considerable increase in mining geophysics was reported in South America, Australia, and the Far East. The total worldwide expenditures for mining geophysics were reported to be $53.7 million in 1980, compared to $44.4 million in 1979, and $31.6 million in 1978. During 1980, approximately 2% of all dollars spent on geophysics were attributed to mining geophysical activities; this percentage has remained relatively constant in recent years. Airborne surveys accounted for 51% of the total worldwide mining geophysical expenditure, 43% was spent for land surveys, and 6% for borehole surveys. Within the US, the breakdown of expenditures for land surveys was 60% for elec¬trical methods, 23% for gravity and magnetic methods, and 17% for seismic techniques. Electrical techniques remain the primary exploration tool for US mining geophysicists. Electrical Methods With inductive or electromagnetic (EM) techniques, significant developments were achieved in both frequency-domain and time-domain systems. Work continued on increasing the signal level on most time-domain (TEM) methods, to increase the exploration depth. The Crone group increased the power of its Pulse ElectroMagnetic system (PEM) to a 20-amp transmitter-loop capability. The GEOEX group is modifying the SIROTEM II system to obtain larger transmitter amperage from a portable motor generator. Geonics developed a new digital recording system (data logger) for its EM-37 system. This development should increase the productivity of EM-37 crews. A new ground, frequency-domain EM system was developed by the Scintrex group. This novel Genie system does not require a wire link between the receiver and transmitter. Because an amplitude-ratio is measured, the Genie data are reported to be relatively insensitive to coil orientation and distance errors. This new technique does not need extensive line-cutting or accurate station-chaining and would appear to be a good reconnaissance instrument. Scintrex also began marketing the new IPR-11 induced polarization spectral receiver. This receiver is microprocessor controlled, and can output to a cassette tape and record 10 windows of secondary voltage decay simultaneously from up to six receiver dipoles. The Phoenix group&apos;s new 100 kW induced polarization/resistivity (IP/R) transmitter began tests using their IPV-3 multifrequency, multichannel receiver. While this unit was primarily developed for "oilfield" IP exploration research, it has obvious application to "deep" mineral exploration. The Phoenix group also developed a new remote-reference, real-time magneto-telluric (MT) device in 1981. This five-component MT sys¬tem has a frequency range from 0.0005-384 Hz. Helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) developments also continued in 1981. The mining in¬dustry increased its use of the new Geonics EM-33-3 multifrequency, multicoil instrument. In 1981, the Dighem group developed software for estimating magnetite as a mapping parameter from its HEM system. Dighem&apos;s work is said to complement airborne magnetic intensity surveys, since the HEM estimate is independent of remanent magnetism and magnetic latitude effects. Gravity and Magnetic Methods Probably one of the most innovative techniques in geophysics in 1981 was the use of airborne gravity surveys for both mining and petroleum exploration. The Carson group is using a modified, shipborne LaCoste-Romberg platform in helicopters. Data accuracies to 0.5 milligal have been achieved by flying gridded surveys. Although this airborne method is expensive-up to $186/ km ($300/line-mile)-the geophysical community has been excited by initial results. On the ground, the portable proton-precession magnetometers are becoming sophisticated. Both GeoMetrics and EDA recently introduced field magnetometers having data storage and processing capabilities. This development should greatly increase the productivity of ground-magnetic surveys. Seismic Methods Development of high-resolution seismic techniques continued in 1981. These techniques have primarily been directed toward coal studies for fault detection. OYO Instruments introduced their McSEIS-1500 seismic data acquisition system in 1981. This device contains a 24-channel recording capability, with digital output to 256-kbyte floppy disks. The high-speed data transfer using the disk media is considered a desirable feature. Borehole Methods The general decrease in uranium exploration, where borehole logging is extensively used, probbly led to the overall decline of geophysical logging activity in the minerals industry. However, a number of new sondes and logging systems were introduced in 1981: • Mount Sopris recently introduced their Series III logging system. This microprocessor-controlled unit records up to four channels of data on nine-track or cassette magnetic tape. The logging package is relatively light-weight, so helicopter transport to mountainous or roadless exploration sites is possible. (Both the Edcon and Woodware-Clyde consulting groups offer "slinging" capabilities for their Mount Sopris units.) Mount Sopris is continuing work on their 500-mm-diam (2¬in-diam) spectral gamma-ray sonde. This tool is expected to be available soon. • Owl Technical "slim-downed" its successful digital deviation probe to 380-mm (1.5-in) outside diameter. This new sonde will also measure inclinations up to 80° from the vertical, as compared with its older instrument that could measure inclinations to 30°. • A magnetic susceptibility sonde was introduced in the US by the OYO Instruments group. This Kappalog sonde contains two aircored coils for measurements slightly affected by thermal changes within the borehole. The increased activity in massive-sulfide exploration and the need to "look" deeper no

Jan 5, 1982

By Immo H. Redeker

Tile Asheville Minerals Research Laboratory is a member of the Engineering Research Department of North Carolina State University. The Laboratory is engaged mainly in applied nonmetallic mineral processing research to assist the North Carolina mining industry. A few out of state projects are handled at times. The Laboratory helped to bring the flotation process to North Carolina feldspar, spodumene, mica and phosphate producers and maintains versatile batch and pilot plant facilities at Asheville. It is of interest that North Carolina has now one of the newest and largest flotation plants at Lee Creek where Texas Gulf Sulphur Company produces 10,000 tons of phosphate concentrate per day, and one of the smallest flotation plants at Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company&apos;s fiberglass plant in Shelby, North Carolina where $50,000 per year of platinum-rhodium metal is reclaimed from wasted fiberglass furnace refractories in a tiny flotation operation of pilot plant size. The conservation of mineral resources through improved processing methods has been the object of most of the Laboratory&apos;s projects. This work has been extremely interesting and rewarding in many instances. Or, the example of projects for Kings Mountain Mica Company it will be demonstrated how waste could be reduced step by step from 20 tons of waste per ton of product to LO tons of product per ton of waste by improved processing methods. Brick, high grade potash feldspar, and silica sand are now produced from formerly wasted materials. AL this time Laboratory work sponsored by three feldspar companies, the State of North Carolina, and the U. S. Bureau of Mines, is aimed at reducing the amounts of feldspar tailings in the Spruce Pine area. Mineral dressing techniques are applied to reclaim saleable mineral products such as feldspar, mica quartz, and to make more uniform material for possible ceramic and other applications. Processes to produce new products such as sand-lime brick, and lightweight foamed autoclaved calcium silicate building products will be tested.

Jan 1, 1969

By Clarence Hardy Long

In January of 1969 the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, through the National Air Pollution Control Administration, published a series of Air Quality Criteria (4&apos;S) and Control Techniques (6,7) for air pollutants in compliance with the 1967 Clean Air Act which will affect the operation of all fuel burning equipment in the very near future. The design of equipment for the future which will use fossil fuels will also be affected. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the modifications which might be anticipated in the future for fuel burning equipment. One class of the several air pollutants looked at first by the USDHEW was the sulfur oxides. Other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, will be studied and controls for these will supposedly be written in due time. The obvious use of low-sulfur fuels, coal, oil and natural gas is suggested by the Control Technique(6). Conversion to other sources of power, such as nuclear energy and hydropower, is also suggested. The statement is made that since possible hydroelectric sources are limited and nuclear plants are not yet available on a large scale, the changeover to these sources of power will not be overnight. The bulletin (6) suggests that one possible solution in some areas may be the use of low sulfur coals for short periods of time during periods of severe air pollution. A curve showing the effect of this was given in the 1969 April issue of the Power magazine, where A. E. Boyer and F. B. Kaylor of Stone and Webster also described a computer program called DOSAGE which might be used to check weather, temperature, humidity, wind direction and velocity, and sound an alarm when that 0.1% of the time per season is here that requires the use of low-sulfur fuel. Inversion is eminent! Once this has passed operation on regular fuel may be resumed. This would mean a separate storage

Jan 1, 1970

By David L. Daniels

The U.S. Geological Survey has for many years been flying and compiling aeromagnetic surveys. The aim is complete coverage of the United States, about half of which is presently done. Colored aeromagnetic maps at a scale of 1:1,000,000 are published as the states are completed; Minnesota and Colorado have been published. Michigan, Iowa, Nevada, Utah, Maryland and Virginia are presently being processed. Some of the most spectacular data collected to date is from the Piedmont of the Eastern United States. I am going to discuss a preliminary aeromagnetic map of the Piedmont region between New York and North Carolina, where coverage is nearly complete. This map has been compiled from many surveys. Flight spacing over Piedmont rocks is 1/4 to 1 mile with flight elevation of 500 feet above ground. The spacing over the Virginia Coastal Plain and Valley and Ridge regions is wider at 2 - 3 miles. Much of the data in Virginia has been produced by the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources. The map is colored on a spectral color scheme with red for the higher intensities and violet the low intensities. Each color represents a 100 gamma interval. Some of the highest intensities are beyond the range of the 13 colors - these are left white. It is necessary, of course, to remove first, the Earth&apos;s main magnetic field. The Geological Survey uses the International Geomagnetic Reference Field or IGRF (Fabiano and Peddie, 1969). The use of color in aeromagnetic maps is not new, but then not common. We have found that colored aeromagnetic contour maps are more useful by far than the uncolored versions because they allow the user to instantly compare intensities in widely separated areas and visualize long wavelength anomalies even when numerous short wavelength anomalies&apos; are superimposed. One tends to see only steep gradients on uncolored aeromagnetic maps, the broad anomalies being quite invisible. We feel that colored maps take the place of various mathematically derived maps such as second derivative or averaged maps.

Jan 1, 1973

By J. R. Knudson

A major contribution to the art of blasting was made at the Cleveland- Cliffs Iron Company?s Hawkins Mine in Cashwauk, Minnesota during April of 1956. It was here that the first experiments with fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate were conducted-experiments which led to the development of the ammonium nitrate and fuel oil method of blasting which has been eagerly adopted by open pit and quarry operators throughout the United States. While this new blasting agent was a more or less natural outgrowth of the Akremite Process devised by Maumee Colleries of Terre Haute, Indiana; no one, to our knowledge, had used this particular combination of ingredients prior to this time. Certainly this was a "break-through" as far as the Lake Superior District was concerned. Akremite consists of a mechanical mixture of grained ammonium nitrate and a solid carbonaceous material packed in a plastic bag. At the time of its introduction to the Mesaba Range, Akremite sold for 10.5 cents a pound as compared to the 18 cent powder previously used in both wet and dry large hole blasting. The discovery of this agent was indeed a remarkable achievement, one that afforded a substantial reduction in blasting costs. However, Akremite proved to be only an intermediate step in the evolution of our present low cost explosives. Cleveland-Cliffs utilized prilled ammonium nitrate and fuel oil and then eliminated the mixing and packaging plant entirely by combining the two raw materials in the field at the drill hole collar or in the hole itself. Thus we have approached the ultimate in simplicity, for the blaster and his helper now manufacture their own explosives not only as they are needed but where they are needed, and at a cost of under 4 cents a pound. This two-man crew may charge and explode as much as 8 tons of ammonium nitrate in an eight-hour shift and in so doing break some 65,000 tons of ore.

Jan 1, 1959

By Thomas E. Shufflebarger

Glass is one of man&apos;s most versatile creations. ---The earliest glaze known---is about 12,000 B.C. ---The oldest pure glass is a moulded amulet of about 7,000 B.C.---. Indicative of a knowledge of properly-proportioned, quality raw-material, means were found for producing the first relatively clear, transparent glass at about the beginning of the Christian era. The fundamentals of almost all the modern, technical processes of manufacture were established during the 3rd Century. (1) Glassmaking, practiced in Colonial America, was moved toward the Ohio Valley in response to increasing demands for fuel. This move, beginning in the 1860&apos;s resulted in the use of the glass sands contained in the Oriskany (and St. Peter) sandstone. (2) Glass sand,(3) virtually pure, fine-to-medium-grained quartz sand(4) is the principal raw material used in the manufacture of glass; it constitutes proportions which range to a maximum of about 72% and seldom is glass made without it. However, acceptable glass sands are, invariably, those which most nearly fit the glass-producer&apos;s economic needs and any method used to evaluate a raw material&apos;s potential must finally prove equatable with such needs. As used in the United States, source-rocks of glass sand include sandstone, unconsolidated silica sands, quartzites and vein-quartz. Admixtures of silica sand and other (principally clay and feldspar), readily separable components have been proven viable. However, the silica sand, refined by nature to a high degree of purity, is the desirable product of exploration. If the term, standard, is justified by long-continued use, the Oriskany - and St. Peter sandstones are, together, the nonesuch of the glass sand industry they provide the principal tonnage of melting sand. According to Grimsley,(5) Ottawa, Illinois, glass-sand is considered the standard glass-sand of the West and the analyses of Berkeley Springs sand (Oriskany) compare most favorably with this sand.

Jan 1, 1974

By Håkan Stille, Jalaeddin Y. Rafi, Fredrik Johansson

"INTRODUCTIONIn tunneling projects, pre-grouting is performed with the purpose of establishing an impervious zone around the tunnel periphery. This is obtained by reducing the penetrability of the most conductive fractures in the rock mass. The main attention, besides economy of the project, is given to limiting the ingress of water into the tunnel to a certain amount during construction s well as operation period. Failure in pre-grouting process may, according to Bruce (2007), significantly affect the project in terms of safety, performance, cost and time. In this respect, determination of design parameters (pumping pressure, properties of the mix and stop criteria) affects these projects significantly. In current practices, depends on the geological conditions and requirements of the project these parameters differ widely. Weaver (1991) recommends selection of design parameters, specifically grout injection pressures, based on site specific factors and the conditions at each specific hole into which grout is to be injected (grout hole logging and water pressure test data). Houlsby (1990) correlated the allowable grouting pressure to the quality of the rock mass and the rock cover above the grouted fracture. In his methodology, grouting should be continued until the maximum pressure was attained. Later, Lombardi and Deere (1993) introduced the Grout Intensity Number (GIN), which limits the combination of injection pressure and injected grout volume in order to control the energy induced in the fracture i.e. avoid fracture jacking. Even though the GIN method was a step forward in understanding of the mechanism of the fracture deformation, there are ambiguities connected to this methodology, thus determination of the intensity number is challenging (see e.g., Rafi and Stille 2015)a.A main problem when no theoretical solution is practiced is that effects from the chosen injection pressure, such as possible increases of transmissivity and changes in total grouting time, remains hidden in the overall grouting process. The question is if a high or a low pressure should be used to fulfil the requirements of the projects at the lowest possible cost."

Jan 1, 2016

By R. A. Speirer, T. C. Bettinger, L. P. Richardson

INTRODUCTION The Bureau of Mines (The Bureau) remote sensing researchers at the Denver (CO) Research Center, have been investigating computerized methods to detect and map surface linear features called "lineaments" for ground hazard assessment in mines. Many of these lineaments at the test mine site were found to correlate to subsurface geologic discontinuities such as faults, fractures, and joints that intersect coal seams at depth. These features adverse1 y affect the roof and rib integrity in underground mines, thus contributing to rock failures that may result in injuries to mine workers and loss of production. Advance knowledge of the existence of such hazardous geologic features can aid in mine planning and development. Lineaments may be observed in a variety of images of the earth&apos;s surface. Linear features that can be observed using Landsat mu1ti spectral scanner data (MSS) images range from regional (greater than 3 miles in length) to an intermediate length of from 1 to 3 miles. These images are recorded in discrete radiation bands in the green, red, and near-infrared portions of the el ectromaynetic spectrum. These data are acquired from the EROS Data Center of the U.S Geological Survey, Sioux Falls, SD, in digital format on magnetic tapes that are suitable for processing on certain minicomputers. Shorter lineaments length (less than 1 mile) can be observed in high- to low-a1titude aerial photography, radar, and infrared images with image scale ratios of 1:1,000,000 or less. These linear features can correlate to smaller dimensioned faults, and to fracture and joint sets at the local geologic scale. Other informational sources can help substantiate 1ineament analyses, such as well logs, mine naps, topographic data, and geophysical data acquired over the study site. These data must be in a digital format to process on the "DEC PDP 11/23 minicomputer system1". Data can be acquired in

Jan 1, 1986

By J. F. Strunk Jr., K. M. Maestas, Y. Chai, R. Legrand, R. L. Henry

"Groundwater with elevated sulfate and metals was treated using a sulfate-reducing pilot PRB consisting of a series of six 55-gallon drums filled with ZVI (Fe0), wood chips, brewer’s grain, limestone, and emulsified vegetable oil (EVO). Sulfate was reduced from >3000 to <250 mg/L and Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn concentrations declined up to 3 orders of magnitude in 2 months. After 6 months of operation at a 7.5-day retention time, sulfate broke through. The system was then rejuvenated by injecting EVO in each drum and operated for 5 more months at a 9-day retention time. Sulfate-reducing bacteria in the pilot system grew by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude in 2 months. Some cementation of the PRB media was observed in the first 2 drums after processing 25 pore volumes of water, due to preferential upstream precipitation of sulfides; this can be avoided through operational modifications. Resulting permeability losses were estimated at 0.1% to 1% per year. Absorption/desorption was tested at bench scale to evaluate the use of various oil-soaked sorbents as a slow-release source of dissolved carbon. The tests show that oil sorbents can increase the useful life of a PRB between oil refills to over 100 pore volumes. INTRODUCTION High sulfate concentrations, low pH, and dissolved metal exceedances are common characteristics of mining-influenced water (MIW). Above-ground such MIW is commonly treated using biochemical reactors (BCR). In a BCR, water generally flows vertically downward through a layer of biomass, such as wood chips, manure, etc. The dissolved organics resulting from the decay of this material are oxidized first by microbes using oxygen; when oxygen is exhausted, other bacteria can use nitrate, and then sulfate to oxidize organics. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) reduce sulfate to sulfide, which quickly reacts with metals to form largely insoluble and stable metal sulfides. These reactions can be summarized as follows:"

Jan 1, 2016