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By W. F. Schwedes, S. S. Rumsey

In order to realize the enconomics which would result in operating the mine pumps at the Chapin mine with electricity generated by water power, the Oliver Iron Mining Co. recently installed a hydro-electric plant at the upper Quinnesec Falls on the Menominee river, and constructed a transmission line to the mine.

Jan 1, 1915

By J. A. Eisele

The Bureau of Mines has played an important role in the revival of precious-metal mining underway in the Western United States. During the past 30 years, many techniques used by industry to recover gold and silver were pioneered and developed by the Bureau of Mines. In 1952, technology was developed to strip gold from granular activated carbon and allow the carbon to be reused. In 1969, the heap leaching concept was applied to low-grade gold and silver ores and mine wastes. Heap leaching in conjunction with carbon adsorption-desorption permits very low value material to be economically processed. In 1970, an oxidation treatment based on hypochlorite was developed to increase the recovery of gold from carbonaceous gold ores by cyanidation. In the early 19501s, attempts were made to employ carbon-in-pulp technology to recover gold from ores, but the fixed price of gold and increasing operational costs made the process unprofitable. The Bureau of Mines and Homestake Mining Co. jointly operated a carbon-in-pulp pilot plant, and the technology was used in full-scale production at the Homestake Mine in 1972. In 1973, a pressure stripping method, which decreased the time needed for the stripping step, was developed to desorb gold and silver from carbon. An alcohol desorption method, developed in 1976, also decreased the carbon stripping time. These stripping methods are in commercial use. In 1979, an agglomeration pretreatment was developed that permitted clayey precious metal ores to be heap-leached. Agglomeration-heap leaching technology is being used by at least 30 operations, several of them major gold and silver mines. Almost all precious-metal-mining companies use at least one of the above techniques in production facilities.

Jan 1, 1984

By D. M. Urich

New plant construction for pyrolysis and agglomeration during 1969 has been relatively quiet in the North American scene. U.S. pellet capacity approximates 52 million long tons and that of Canada 25.3 million tons. The foreign scene, however, has been extremely active during 1969, and this is expected to continue for the next several years. Changes in sinter practice have not been reported, other than a few changes towards increased bed depths and the increased use of screening facilities to size the product more closely. Interest in the field of briquetting in fields other than iron ore is high with a new fluorspar briquetting plant under construction at Brownsville, Texas. Considerable research appears to be pointed towards solving the problem of reclaiming steelmill waste products (flue dust, BOF dust, mill scale) by means other than sintering.

Jan 1, 1970

By C. W. Donnelly, Louise B. Freeman, Coleman D. Hunter

It is with pride that the authors of this paper report. that during 1944 the production of petroleum in Kentucky passed its all-time peak, 9,496,985 bbl. being contributed. The delivery of natural gas, especially from eastern Kentucky, was maintained and possibly exceeded the highest deliveries of the past. To raise the production of oil and gas was not easy with inferior and worn-out equipment and the shortage of skilled labor. Reminiscent of the early days of the industry in the state, particularly in the hills of Elliott County, where mud roads often have gradients of 45º, was the replacement of worn-out trucks and tractors by oxen. Of the total 9,496,985 bbl., 17 per cent was contributed by the part of Kentucky that is east of the Cincinnati arch, as compared with the total of 7,010,776 bbl. contributed in 1943, of which 25 per cent was contributed by eastern Kentucky. This discrepancy is due to the discovery of more new fields in western Kentucky rather than to a decrease in production in the eastern fields, where the average has been maintained by reconditioning and secondary recovery of old fields and further development of new pools reported for the first time in 1943. In all, 1103 wells were known to have been drilled in the state during 1944, of which 659 were drilled in western Kentucky and 444 in eastern Kentucky. The exact number of wells drilled for any year is never known, as drilling permits are not required except 'when it is planned to drill through a workable coal seam. Of the total number of wells drilled, 459 were oil wells, 229 gas wells and 415 dry holes. The monthly production was as follows: January........................... 659,496 February.......................... 658,606 March...................... ...... 711,619 April............................. 649,926 May............................... 754,892 June.............................. 730,369 July.............................. 761,762 August............................ 878,053 September...................... 863,150 October........................... 968,732 November........................ 961,999 December........................ . 898,636 Western Kentucky In western Kentucky 352 wells were completed as oil wells with a total initial production of 47,922 bbl. of oil, the average being 136 bbl. per well. Two wells produced gas, the total initial production being 1,594,000 cu, ft. One hundred and eighteon wildcat wells were drilled, of which 107 were dry holes and 11 were oil wells. Three of the latter proved to be the discovery wells of commercial pools. Twelve new pools were discovered during 1944, none of major importance, as indicated in Table 2. The Utley pool, due to a stratigraphic trap on the flank of a closed structure, found oil in the Mcclosky at 2565 ft. in the discovery well, with initial productioil of 1000 bbl. The average daily production is now 227 bbl. from seven wells. The East Poole field, with the discovery well in the Tar Springs sandstone at 1811

Jan 1, 1945

By Paul Cook

THE ore deposit of the Buckhorn Mines Co., Buckhorn, Nev., is peculiar in being a shallow kaolinized mass of material with basalt walls, and having apparently no direct connection with any of the usual gold-bearing rocks. The average ore contains 16 per cent. waiter of hydration, and the cyaniding of this hydrous clayey material offered unusual difficulties as compared with the typical gold quartz ores of Nevada. The orebody was thoroughly developed; then the mill was built according to the latest cyanide .practice, with such changes as were thought to be demanded by the peculiar nature of this ore. Upon starting the mill, the ore proved more difficult to handle than had been anticipated. It is hoped that an account of how these difficulties were met may prove of interest to anyone having a clayey ore to handle and to the profession in general.

Jan 9, 1916

By John T. Popp, Jodi A. Rulli, Anthony T. Iannacchione

Anomalous geological features in the coal and surrounding strata of a mine in northern West Virginia have fractured and deformed an inherently weak roof rock prior to mining. Horizontal stresses, as much as six times greater than overburden related horizontal stresses, have induced cutter roof failure. This failure was distinguishable from rock deformation associated with geological anomalies because it was induced by mining. The characterization of these features has allowed for the prediction of zones of unstable roof rock and the determination of failure trends on gateroad stability. Geological anomalies included clastic dikes and a narrow zone of sandstone roof. Clastic dikes, representing intrusions of shale and claystone, were invariably accompanied by local roof rock instability, and often formed the boundaries of roof falls. Shale was the dominant roof lithology except where a small sandstone occurred in the northwest portion of the longwall mining area. The sandstone occurs in two phases: a sandstone-filled channel, 5-m- thick and 60-m-wide, which eroded and replaced the shale roof and the upper part of the coalbed; and a sheet sandstone unit which was crossbedded to interbedded with the underlying shale. Horizontal stresses are naturally relieved through the initiation of cutter roof failure. This failure may extend from a few meters to several tens of meters horizontally, and from a few centimeters to several meters vertically. Orientations of entries and crosscuts has a greater influence on the direction and total length of cutter roof failure at the rib-roof intersection than does the principal directions of the in situ horizontal stresses. Seventy-four percent of the cutter roof failures occurred along the rib-roof intersection. Orientations of cutter roof failure away from the rib- roof intersection were clustered in the north-south direction and may have been influenced by the horizontal stress field.

Jan 1, 1984

Jan 1, 1918

By Frank Ittner

In this section it is proposed to discuss operating methods considered good practice under the various field conditions commonly encountered. Efficient field direction and types of equipment needed to meet transportation problems are considered only to the extent that the desire to produce the best possible records must sometimes give way to the factor of cost. As in all engineering projects, alternative possible methods of operation must be considered in the light of relative costs as well as of the quality of results obtained, Cost may be in the background of much that is done in the field operations, but only the effect on record quality will be considered here. Record quality at a particular shot point may vary with the various factors of spread character (relative positions of geophones and shot point), shot-hole depth, formations opposite position of shot, size of charge, the effect of repeat shots, surface geology and culture in the immediate vicinity of the geophones, recorder instrument characteristics, particularly filter.

Jan 1, 1940

By Frank Ittner

In this section it is proposed to discuss operating methods considered good practice under the various field conditions commonly encountered. Efficient field direction and types of equipment needed to meet transportation problems are considered only to the extent that the desire to produce the best possible records must sometimes give way to the factor of cost. As in all engineering projects, alternative possible methods of operation must be considered in the light of relative costs as well as of the quality of results obtained, Cost may be in the background of much that is done in the field operations, but only the effect on record quality will be considered here. Record quality at a particular shot point may vary with the various factors of spread character (relative positions of geophones and shot point), shot-hole depth, formations opposite position of shot, size of charge, the effect of repeat shots, surface geology and culture in the immediate vicinity of the geophones, recorder instrument characteristics, particularly filter.

Jan 1, 1940

By D. D. Donald

C. J. Barber (U. S. Smelting Refining & Mining Co., Salt Lake City)—In his paper Donald describes how New Jersey Zinc Co. made surveys for a connection between the Ivanhoe and Van Mater shafts at Austin-ville, Va. Except to say that the two faces had to meet "accurately" on line and grade, Donald does not indicate the required precision. Assuming that there were 24 angles in the 11/2-mile traverse and 15 in the one-mile traverse, it can be shown that if the average error in plumbing each shaft was 230" and the average error in measuring each traverse angle was 210". then the average error at the point of -connection would have been about ±1.9 ft normal to the line between the shafts. This calculation assumes that any errors in the triangulation would be negligible compared with the errors in the plumbings and traverses, and it also neglects taping errors. With no constant errors or blunders, the latter would be important only in lines normal to the line between the shafts. To make the average error at the connection less than 1.9 ft would, therefore, require either reducing the error in the plumbings to less than ±30", or that in the traverse angles to less than ±l0", or fewer stations, or a combination of these. Referring briefly to the triangulation, because of the problem of fitting a new triangulation into older surveys of the district the orientation deserved some mention, even though the connection could have been made with an assumed bearing. It would be interesting to know how many triangles were required and what the average summation error was before making any adjustments and without considering the algebraic signs. Perhaps this is referred to indirectly in the statement that the maximum angular error distributed was 2". Turning to the shaft plumbings, it would be helpful to know how many men were employed and how long each shaft was in use. Donald says that the surface positions of W-2 and W-3 were carefully surveyed from the collar position of W-1, without indicating how this was done. The length of the backsight would be particularly important. There must have been some error in setting W-1 vertically below the stations in the headframes. How immovable were the headframes, especially the Van Mater, which appears higher than the Ivanhoe and subject to more vibration because of skip hoisting? Donald does not say whether the plumbing wires had been previously restraightened to minimize spinning (otherwise they behave like weak helical springs). The use of light steel weights is most surprising because there seem to be excellent reasons for using heavier, nonmagnetic weights. Did the shafts contain no steel sets, pipes, power cables, etc., which might attract steel? The plumbing method described by Donald was designed for deep shafts in South Africa but differed from the South African practice in two important respects. As described by Browne,6 in South Africa the line between the wires was made parallel to the long axis of the shaft, whereas in the Ivanhoe shaft the lines between the wires were diagonally across the shaft. The main reason given for the South African practice is to insure that the gravitational attraction between the wires and the rock walls is the same on both wires, and therefore does not affect the bearing of the line between them. It seems probable, however, that the effect of air currents might be minimized in the South African procedure, and might be serious with the wires in the diagonal position at the Ivanhoe shaft. In the South African case cited by Donald the wires were swinging freely (although the plumb bobs were sheltered from air currents) but in the Ivanhoe case they were dampened with the plumb bobs set in water. In the discussion of Browne's paper R. St. J. Rowland said:' It has been the practice for a long time to damp the oscillations by immersing the bobs in oil or water. The time per oscillation is thus increased, thereby extending the time taken to complete the work. The longer the suspended wire the less there is to recommend the practice . . . The theoretical time for one swing of a simple pendulum 1050 ft long is approximately 36 sec, which would be increased by dampening the plumb bob in water. Hence very few complete swings would be observed in the 5 min intervals used at the Ivanhoe shaft. In the two South African cases described by Browne, the length of plumb line in one shaft was 5425 ft, the calculated period of swing was 81.6 sec, the average actual period was 76.6 sec, and 94 complete swings were observed in 2 hr. In the other case the length of plumb line was 3116 ft, the calculated period of swing was 61.8 sec, the average period was 63.5 sec, and 86 complete swings were observed in 1 hr 31 min. Browne concluded that observations of more than 30 swings are not likely to result in sufficient gain in accuracy to be justified. Returning to the Ivanhoe and Van Mater plumbings, an objection to the method used is that all four azimuths were taken from fixed points instead of swinging wires, and that each pair of observations would— barring blunders— check closely, and so perhaps give a false feeling of security. In fact, it seems that only two azimuths were obtained from one plumbing, and not four as stated by Donald. Nevertheless, the tying in of each pair of wires from both sides of the shaft has much to commend it. Donald's description leaves the impression that if each shaft was plumbed only once, the engineers were fortunate indeed if the average error in the underground orientation was as little as 30". Because the survey was done over a period of three years, it seems likely that the plumbings were repeated, perhaps more than once. The underground traverse angles were measured by conventional methods, but because the number of angles in the overlapping traverses was not given, the angular closure given by Donald does not indicate the accuracy with which this was done. Donald's description of a method of taping lines of irregular length is welcome. The literature on taping is usually confined to lines of about one tape length, generally 100 ft. Such lines are rare in metal mining because the time, trouble, and cost of setting points at 100-ft distances underground are not warranted. (Nevertheless civil engineers may go to this expense

Jan 1, 1960

By M. C. Fuerstenau

Each year during the AIME Annual Meeting, the MBD Division has its Business Meeting. Because many members cannot attend, it has be- come policy for the secretary of the Division to present highlights of the business conducted at the Meeting in Fine Grind. This year the Meeting was held on March 1 in the Americana Hotel. Five major items of business were brought up for discussion. These were: (1) the proposed name change for the Division, (2) institution of the Taggart Award, (3) a name change for a Unit Committee, (4) MBD funding of scholarships, and (5) authorship of Fine Grind articles. The Matter of What We Should Call Ourselves A lively discussion was held on the issue of a name change for the Division. Two names have been proposed: (1) Mineral Processing Division, and (2) Mineral Engineering Division. A number of strong reasons for changing the name from Minerals Beneficiation Division have been pointed out. Perhaps the most important of these is that the term "beneficiation" does not describe all of the functions that engineers in our Division perform. Further, there are inherent problems associated in the term, in that beneficiation is a long word which has the twofold disadvantage of being both difficult to pronounce and difficult to spell.

Jan 1, 1971

Jan 1, 1886

By Andrew A. Blair

It is now well known that certain pig-irons give a considerably smaller percentage of sulphur when determined by evolution-methods than when determined by oxidation-methods. The most striking examplcs of such irons are those made either wholly or in large part from New Jersey magnetites containing more or less titanium. It is never safe to use an evolution-method on such iron; for it is quite common that the sulphur result by evolution is only one-half or even one-third as great as that obtained by oxidation. For this reason, evolution-methods should be discarded, except in the analysis of pig-irons known to contain the sulphur in a state of combination from which it is evolved as sulphuretted hydrogen on treatment with hydrochloric acid. A good example of an iron containing, in the residue, sulphur insoluble in hydrochloric acid having come to our attention, it was determined to try to isolate a suspected insoluble sulphide. A large piece of high-silicon gray-forge iron was accordingly selected as the most promising material to work on. This piece was dissolved slowly, through several months, in dilute hydrochloric acid, aided by the electric current, yielding a soft graphitic residue. The object of dissolving a mass of iron, instead of drillings, was to prevent the crushing, by the drill, of any insoluble crystalline compound that might be present. The first step in the preparation was to break up the graphitic material and put it through bolting-cloth of 157 meshes to the linear inch. This was done by crushing the mass under the fingers on the bolting-cloth fastened over the top of a beaker, while a stream of water from a wash-bottle washed the finer portions through the cloth. The suspended matter was allowed to settle. It was then transferred to a platinum

Jan 1, 1902

By Benjamin B. Lawrence

Arthur Launcelot Collins was born at Truro in Cornmall, England, July 8, 1868. His father, J. H. Collins, is well kuown as an engineer, and his books have been widely read in this country: Arthur was the third son. Three of his brothers are engaged, as is his father, in the profession of mining engineering. His education, gained partly at St. Austell, partly at Falmouth, and partly at Nuttall's Collegiate School in Truro, England, was supervised by his father, who was then Lecturer on the Mining Sciences to the Miners' Association of Cornwall and Devon. In 1881, J. H. Collins went to Rio Tinto, in Spain, as chief chemist and metallurgist, and it was there that Arthur began his practical work in the laboratory and continued his studies in chenlistry and mineralogy. To the latter science he was deeply attached; and he never lost an opportunity of adding to his cabinet of minerals, of which he was an ardent collector. In 1883, he became assayer and general assistant to Mr. Nicol, Manager of the Peña del Hierro copper-mines, ncar Rio Tinto. Until 1885 he was associated with his father in the study of the geology of the Rio Tinto belt. In 1885 he retuined

Jan 1, 1904

By Klaus Schonert

The elements of a mill matrix and the classifier matrix de- scribing the grinding process depend on operating conditions, especially on the feed rate. Relationships between the matrix elements and the feed rate have a great influence on the stability of a closed circuit and its optimum point. These problems have been studied by means of computer simulation and different kinds of classifier characteristics have been considered. A circuit with a cross stream classifier has only a limited range where stable operation condition can be attained. Beyond the stable limit, the recirculation ratio increases rapidly and there is no correlation between feed rate of the circuit and feed rate of the mill. In comparison, a spiral stream classifier gives a wide range of stable operation. The recirculation ratio can be greater than in the case of the cross stream classifier if the feed rate is small. The results of the simulation provide a better understanding of the real behavior of closed circuit grinding.

Jan 1, 1969

By William B. Stephenson

IN the pumping of sands, slurries and slimes, practices developed over the years are the real keystones of successful operation. These practices are necessarily based on modifications of familiar theories. Practical methods used in the solution of problems involving the pumping of materials are set forth in the following discussion. BASIC REQUIREMENTS To pump sands and slurries economically, a few basic requirements must be met by the pumping system as a whole. A pipe-line velocity must be established that will move the fluid mixture throughout the entire system without any possibility of the solids settling out. To accomplish this, the velocity of flow must be slightly in excess of the critical velocity of the mixture. The critical velocity of a mixture varies from 3 ft. per sec. to 18 ft. per sec., depending on the screen analysis, concentration, and specific gravity of the solids in the mixture. Most tailings are pumped at a minimum velocity of 4 ft. per sec. if they include slimes, whereas the pipe lines of sand and gravel dredges require velocities as high as 18 ft. per second. A number of articles have been written on the determination of the minimum velocities required to maintain solids in suspension. Studies have also been made on the friction and pumping heads developed when handling solids in suspension.1-4 Our experience so far has shown that, within the normal operating limits of a pumping system, the friction factor follows more nearly the basis described by Howard,1 who says, among his conclusions: " ... values of ƒ (friction factor) .. . will decrease with an increase in velocity." This conclusion is borne out by our actual experience. When the velocity in a pipe line is not sufficient to keep the solids in suspension, the total friction head is greater than when the velocity is increased to a point where the solids are in suspension. A slight increase in the volume of feed to the pump and a slight increase in the pump speed are usually all that is necessary to put the system in balance. MAINTAINING CONSTANT VOLUME Within reasonable limits, the volume of mixture to be handled through a pipe line should be held constant, so that the required velocity will be provided at all times. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. The commonest is to provide a sump of sufficient capacity to take care of slight surges in the volume of mixture being fed to the pumping system. This sump, however, should not be as large as a settling chamber. The use of a float-controlled, fresh-water make-up valve in a sump will guarantee a constant volume. Where variations in volume are slight,

Jan 1, 1946

Discussion of the paper of DOUGLAS BUNTING, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 97, January, 1915, pp. 1 to 21. ARTHUR HOVEY STORRS, Scranton, Pa.-I know something about accidents Nos. 4 and 8. At the Fuller mine there was no disturbance of the surface in connection with either of those accidents, there was no surface settling, nor signs of sand in the mine, and seemingly the water all came from a subterranean basin or water-bearing stratum overlying the Six Foot vein. A similar thing was shown, in an accident not referred to in Mr. Bunting's table, at the Avondale, where we had an inflow of water, as high as 12,000 gal. a minute, for a considerable period. Regarding the second accident (No. 8) at the Fuller mine: after the first inflow of water (No. 4 of the table), the mining was abandoned in the Six Foot vein. A long slope was. driven in an underlying seam, and when this had reached a point about 2,000 ft. southeast of the place where the first inflow of water occurred, and where the bore holes show there was apparently sufficient rock covering for the Six Foot vein, a rock plane was driven up to the upper vein (Six Foot) and one afternoon this exposed the coal. During the following night the inflow of the water occurred. There were absolutely no workings at this point so that no disturbance of the overlying rocks could have occurred. The result of the inflow of water was to fill up the entire lower-vein workings in about two or three clays and caused the abandonment of the mine. After several years, considerable time and money were spent in an effort to hoist the water from the shaft and mine workings, with varying, but in the main rather indifferent, success until, clue to the breaking of one hoisting rope, the engineer pulled the other hoisting tank up through the tower and down on to the engine, making a complete wreck of the whole plant. It was then decided to allow the mine to soak and it is still doing so, other portions of the property being mined from adjoining collieries.

Jan 5, 1915

By B. L. Thane

Within the past few years, the mining industry has taken a new impetus in all its branches. New mines are being opened every day, while old ones, which have been either working at a loss, or have been compelled to shut down, are now gradually being reopened and placed on a paying basis. This growth and new life is due, in a measure, to the discovery of new mining districts, but the most important cause of the progress is the wonderful advance that has been made in all branches of mine-engineering. By means of the important inventions and discoveries that have been made in mechanics, chemistry, and electricity, we are now able to work ores which, only a short time ago, would have been regarded as worthless. We find, for instance, the electrician eliminating two of our greatest difficulties, those of distance and superior elevation, while the mechanic has brought to the highest degree of perfection, not only ore-crushing and hoisting machinery, but all such devices as pertain to the mechanical handling of ores, and, at the same time, the metallurgist, with his combined chemical and mechanical skill, has helped us to extract the precious metals from the most refractory of ores. But when we turn to examine methods in actual use for

Jan 1, 1900

By D. Torrey

Considering the two great interests of to-day, in iron upon the one hand and steel upon the other, and recognizing with measurable distinctness the peculiar fitness of each for special services to which they are applied, the proposition to unite the two metals in combination, to bring into simultaneous use the peculiar advantages which each offers, has great attractions. The limited success which has been attained by trying to bring about such combinations of the two metals through the use of fluxes in welding, has led to the general adoption of the opinion that an effective union of the two metals is impracticable, or to the view that if practicable it would have but limited commercial value. Such opinions are, I think, premature and erroneous, and having gained some knowledge of the character and value of the "Wheeler process" for welding iron and steel without the use of fluxes, I submit the following observations and opinions of the matter for your information, with the hope of eliciting such a discussion of the subject as it may require. The principle of the invention is to bring the two metals simultaneously to a welding heat in one pile, and then to manipulate it.

Jan 1, 1879

Jan 1, 1898