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By D. I. Bleiwas

The Bureau of Mines determined the costs associated with lithium production (in various products) from demonstrated resources in seven market economy countries (MEC's). This analysis evaluated the relative economic and resource position of 16 mines or deposits, including 6 producers and 1 (Bernic Lake) operating at pilot scale. The demonstrated resource of recoverable lithium within the deposits studied is approximately 2.2 million metric tons (mt). Virtually all known MEC resources and production were covered, including resources in Chile (59 pct of the total), the United States (13 pct), Australia (11 pct), Canada (10 pct), and Bolivia, Zaire, and Zimbabwe (combined 7 pct). In addition, the large potential of lithium-enriched brines is assessed, especially those in the Atacama Basin, Chile, where production began in 1984. The lithium resource consists of lithium in spodumene, brines, and to a small extent lepidolite and petalite. Most MEC lithium trade originates from the United States, though development of brine deposits in Chile, and potential development in Bolivia, could threaten the U.S. position. Economic analysis indicated that all lithium being recovered from producing properties could be produced at less than the published market price, and that MEC resources from these properties are adequate to supply any foreseeable demand.

Jan 1, 1986

By Yataro Shimomura

La alza de precios, salarios y las restricciones impuestas por los controles de la contaminación ambiental produjo un aumento en los costos de minado, generando que las operaciones nacionales mineras sean cada más difíciles. Sin embargo, la industria minera logró superarlos, mejorando la tecnología del minado, mecanización y racionalización de sus operaciones. De otro lado, el uso de métodos de minado por cuartos y pilares ha disminuído, mientras que los de corte y relleno y de subniveles se han incrementado. A esto se suma que la utilización de brocas "TC" y del "AN-FO", mejoraron la eficiencia del minado y redujeron los costos. En este sentido, el presente texto señala los últimos avances en tecnología minera a partir de los métodos de extracción, perforación, así como el empleo de relleno de tajeos con relaves de flotación, logrando un desarrollo en la seguridad y eficiencia de la minería subterránea.

Nov 20, 1972

By Elmer R. Kaiser

Industry Adopts Research: Seventy-Ave years ago Thomas A. Edison began in a modest way and with limited funds to gather about him men of various talents to form the first industrial research laboratory. His laboratory at Menlo Park, N. J., became famous for many discoveries and inventions, but possibly the most important of all may yet be the industrial research laboratory itself. Today, private industry operates 2500 research laboratories in which 135,000 persons' are directly and indirectly creating new processes and products and improving old ones, as well as developing new information to help keep the fountain of knowledge from running dry. In this change-making function, the scientific personnel comprises 41 pct; the technical personnel 26 pct; and the balance, 33 pct, nontechnical. The term "industrial research" has become so broad as to include almost everything beginning with the search for and discovery of the laws governing the properties of matter and energy to the development and testing of processes, methods, and equipment. These classes of investigation commonly merge so that no sharp boundary can be traced between them. The National Research Council therefore defines industrial research as "the endeavor to learn how to apply scientific facts to the service of mankind."' Currently, expenditures for research by industry are variously estimated at between $450,000,000 to $700,000,000 a year,' or about twice the expenditure for 1940. The President's Scientific Research Board" estimated that the national research and development for 1947 (excluding atomic energy) was as follows: A few companies spend as much as 5 pct of their gross receipts for research, but 1% to 2 pct is considered a good proportion by many." Shortages: Commendable as is the record of growth and accomplishment of science in industry, it is only a beginning. America and the rest of the world have merely sampled the fruits of industrial research; most industries have yet to make research the key to their future. A top research consultant, T. A. Boyd, of General Motors, states ". . . perhaps 90 per cent of all companies still have no research laboratories."Y or example, of more than 17,000 manufacturing concerns whose gross sales exceed $500,000 a year, less than 2500 have research laboratories. A still smaller proportion of the 184,230 manufacturing establishments in 161 industriese have or could afford their own research facilities. Yet, the small and mediurn-sized com,panies with less than 250 employees each, produce one half of the dollar volume of manufactured products.' How are these companies to participate in and share the benefits of research? Boyd gives two reasons for the inadequate number of laboratories in industry: Many people still do not appreciate the importance of research, nor understand its tremendous potentiali-

Jan 1, 1951

By Elmer R. Kaiser

Industry Adopts Research: Seventy-Ave years ago Thomas A. Edison began in a modest way and with limited funds to gather about him men of various talents to form the first industrial research laboratory. His laboratory at Menlo Park, N. J., became famous for many discoveries and inventions, but possibly the most important of all may yet be the industrial research laboratory itself. Today, private industry operates 2500 research laboratories in which 135,000 persons' are directly and indirectly creating new processes and products and improving old ones, as well as developing new information to help keep the fountain of knowledge from running dry. In this change-making function, the scientific personnel comprises 41 pct; the technical personnel 26 pct; and the balance, 33 pct, nontechnical. The term "industrial research" has become so broad as to include almost everything beginning with the search for and discovery of the laws governing the properties of matter and energy to the development and testing of processes, methods, and equipment. These classes of investigation commonly merge so that no sharp boundary can be traced between them. The National Research Council therefore defines industrial research as "the endeavor to learn how to apply scientific facts to the service of mankind."' Currently, expenditures for research by industry are variously estimated at between $450,000,000 to $700,000,000 a year,' or about twice the expenditure for 1940. The President's Scientific Research Board" estimated that the national research and development for 1947 (excluding atomic energy) was as follows: A few companies spend as much as 5 pct of their gross receipts for research, but 1% to 2 pct is considered a good proportion by many." Shortages: Commendable as is the record of growth and accomplishment of science in industry, it is only a beginning. America and the rest of the world have merely sampled the fruits of industrial research; most industries have yet to make research the key to their future. A top research consultant, T. A. Boyd, of General Motors, states ". . . perhaps 90 per cent of all companies still have no research laboratories."Y or example, of more than 17,000 manufacturing concerns whose gross sales exceed $500,000 a year, less than 2500 have research laboratories. A still smaller proportion of the 184,230 manufacturing establishments in 161 industriese have or could afford their own research facilities. Yet, the small and mediurn-sized com,panies with less than 250 employees each, produce one half of the dollar volume of manufactured products.' How are these companies to participate in and share the benefits of research? Boyd gives two reasons for the inadequate number of laboratories in industry: Many people still do not appreciate the importance of research, nor understand its tremendous potentiali-

Jan 1, 1951

By H. B. Pulsifier

The following report on the structure of copper is the result of work done in the laboratory of the Rome Wire Co. early in 1925. Previous work had indicated to the author that excellent results might be expected if a suitable technique in surfacing and etching could be developed. The resources of the Rome Wire Co. enabled this metal to be studied more intensively than previously, although none of the materials were investigated exhaustively. The material presented is hardly more than a preliminary summary of the most obvious character of the metal; a much longer research would have been necessary to solve many of the pressing problems connected with the casting and working of copper. The Rome Wire Co. has generously released the paper; to Dr. E. H. Darby, technical supervisor of the company, are due particular thanks for his appreciation of the importance of metallographic study of copper and for his effective support in the prosecution of the work and in making its publication possible. Dendrites, Cells and Granules The microscope reveals at least three orders of structural units in copper, as in other metals. The largest structural units are the dendrites —spine-shaped crystals building up the masses of metal when it solidifies from a melt or is crystallized from solutions by chemicals or electricity. The nucleus cells, commonly called "grains," are the largest and most conspicuous units of recrystallized solid metal; the limitations of their growth usually confine their sizes to microscopic proportions, although in "single crystals" they may become as large as the piece of metal itself. The granules are the microscopic fine-structural blocks or laminations that build up the nucleus cells; they are revealed when metal is etched with suitable chemicals. The granules are commonly visible at 500 diameters magnification and are plainly visible at 1000 diameters; magnification of the granular surfaces up to 6000 to 9000 diameters shows no finer units, not because of lack of optical resolution but because the chemical attack has left an unfeatured smooth surface.

Jan 1, 1926

By AIME AIME

THE climax of the various programs and entertainments in connection with the holding of the World Engineering Congress* in Tokyo in October was the complimentary dinner given by the visiting members of the Institute to our members in Japan. At the same time President Bradley conferred an honorary membership on Baron Takuma Dan, the vice-president of the World Engineering Congress.

Jan 1, 1930

By P. Fu, Y. Ma

Residual collectors and their byproducts (e.g., CS2) in flotation effluents can cause water contamination and even result in serious health hazards to humans and animals, Therefore, residual flotation reagents should be removed properly before discharge or recirculation into flotation circuits. In this work, four thiol collectors (potassium ethyl xanthate (EX), sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate (SN- 9), O-isopropyl-N-ethyl thionocarbamate (Z-200), dianilino dithiophoshoric acid (DDA)) were chosen as model pollutants. The collector removal, mineralisation and byproduct formation were compared by sole O3 and O3/UV185+254nm. The degradation rate constants of thiol collectors by O3/UV185+254nm were 2~6 times higher than those by sole O3. The mineralisation of collectors was also remarkably enhanced by O3/UV185+254nm. The degradation efficiency by O3/UV185+254nm had the order: EX>SN-9>>Z- 200>DDA. The Z-200 and DDA were refractory flotation reagents. The degradation of thiol collectors caused the reduction of solution pH and the increase of ORP and conductivity. However, the O3/UV185+254nm achieved more evident changes of these parameters than sole O3. During the degradation of thiol collectors, less than 4% of total sulfur in collectors was emitted into air as CS2 and H2S. Compared to sole O3, the O3/UV185+254nm had additionally included UV185+254nm photolysis and O3/UV254nm, resulting in higher efficiency in removing collectors. The O3/UV185+254nm was an effective process in treating mineral flotation wastewaters containing organic reagents. Keywords: Thiol collectors; flotation effluents; ozone; vacuum-UV; degradation, mineralisation

Jan 1, 2020

By James Westfield

This report covers the calendar year 1953 and has been prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 106(a) and Sec. 212(c) of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act (66 Stat. 692; 30 U.S.C. Secs. 451-483). During this first full calendar year of operations under the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act, the coal-mining industry of the United States attained the best injury records in its history - improving the former best records (made in 1952) by 91 fatal and 10,020 nonfatal injuries. Whereas, the mandatory provisions of the act were intended and designed to prevent major mine disasters, apparently the effects have reached beyond the scope thereof in reducing mine accidents generally.

Jan 1, 1954

By A. G. Gilbert

Paradoxical is the word. The coal industry, despite reach- ing a 22-year high in production (590 million tons), has been tagged as having its back to the wall vis-a-vis its valiant attempts to quench the nation's still unabated craving for coal. What must be even more reassuring to the industry, infected once with rumors of a uranium takeover, is a nation's almost insatiable appetite for electricity. Between 1967 and the summer of 1970, utility stockpiles were being gobbled up, diminishing to 79% of the January 1968 level.

Jan 1, 1971

Contents

Jan 1, 1985

By R. T. Jones

The largest known platinum group metal (PGM) deposit in the world is the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, with the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe also being one of the biggest. It is therefore not surprising that the majority (just over 5 million troy ounces or 156 metric tons per annum) of the world's platinum is produced in Southern Africa. Primary smelting of ore concentrates is carried out in that region by five companies, namely Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum, Lonmin Platinum, Northam Platinum, all of South Africa, and Makwiro Platinum in Zimbabwe. The only other primary smelter of platinum group metals is Stillwater Mining of Montana, USA, although very significant quantities of PGMs are produced as co-products by Norilsk Nickel of Russia. Smaller (but still significant) quantities of PGMs are produced by Falconbridge and Inco of Canada, also as co-products from nickel sulphide smelting. There are many similarities between PGM smelting and nickel sulphide smelting, and the range of technologies in use includes six-in-line rectangular electric furnaces, three-electrode circular AC furnaces, Peirce-Smith converters, and Anglo's ACP (based on Ausmelt technology). PGMs are also recovered from residue materials using DC arc furnace technology.

Jan 1, 2005

By C. Hendricks

This paper is based upon field studies conducted in a western Canadian open pit coal mine. This work has involved the adaptation of microprocessor-based instrumentation to monitor various operating parameters on-board blasthole drills and mining shovels. A review of instrumentation and monitoring methodology will first be presented. Based upon experience from field-based studies, the paper will subsequently focus on the application of monitoring technology within the framework of an integrated Equipment Monitoring System. Such a system will permit the real-time performance evaluation of key equipment involved in surface mille production.

Jan 1, 1991

By Thomas V. Falkie

The new international fact of life that has emerged in the 70's is that foreign energy sources can no longer be considered either reliable or low in price. As a result, the United States is turning its full attention to its domestic energy resources. The figures about proved domestic reserves are often used to reassure us about the Nation's energy future: assuming a 50 percent recovery factor, there are at least 219 billion tons of recoverable bituminous coal and lignite, of which 31 percent is available by surface methods; proved reserves of crude petroleum and natural gas liquids total 34.3 billion barrels and 6.4 billion barrels, respectively. There is also about 4 billion tons of recoverable anthracite coal, a premium low-sulfur fuel of high heating value, which is all but priced out of the market because of the high costs of producing it. Total fossil fuel resources are even larger, although there are no guarantees concerning how much might become usable, and when, and at what cost. The figures, however, are impressive. They include the equivalent of about 200 billion barrels of oil potentially recoverable from high grade oil shale; 100 billion barrels in "heavy oil" deposits; and the equivalent of 25 to 35 billion barrels of oil in domestic deposits of "tar sands," and substantial quantities of conventional oil and gas resources. There is also the prospect of a significant increase in electric power generation

Jan 1, 1975

By Oliver Bowles

The manufacture of lime is one of the oldest industries. Plants are distributed widely and furnish an essential raw material for numerous industries. The use of lime by the building trades, in agriculture, and in hundreds of manufacturing and chemical processes has created demands for a large production and has necessitated exhaustive research on methods of manufacture and uses. The bibliography of lime is an extensive one, but for the most part each publication has dealt with only certain operations. The purpose of this paper is to present a general picture of the industry as a whole. The abundant literature has been abstracted and quoted freely, and the National Lime Association has rendered valuable assistance in furnishing data for certain sections. Publications containing more detailed information on the various branches of the industry are referred to in the footnotes and in the bibliography.

Jan 1, 1936

By B. Seegmiller, W. A. Hustrulid, O. Stephansson

Introduction The concept of in-the-wall haulage was formally introduced to the mining community in the early 1970s. The basic concept is simple. Rather than the traditional in-the-pit haulage/access ramp, single or twin ramps driven in the pit wall are used with crosscut connections on the working levels. The in-the-wall pit haulage system could be considered as part of the opening of a new mine, a way of completing to final depth an existing pit, or part of the transition from open-pit to underground mining with the ramp remaining as part of the access. This paper is intended to acquaint the reader, particularly mine planning engineers, with some of the possibilities presented by the concept. Nordstrom (1983) said, "In many countries, mining engineers are either open-pit or underground specialists and, hence, often don't consider the possibilities for combining the best aspects of each into a hybrid mining system." This is believed to be true. There are few "hybrid mines" employing, for example, open-pit methods with underground haulage systems. One reason is the variance with the experience of the mining company and the engineers involved. However, with today's low metal prices, innovative and unconventional thinking may be just what a property requires to remain in production. All the possible situations where an in-the-wall ramp might be considered cannot be presented here. Rather, a few examples will be discussed for illustration purposes. Potential savings in stripping costs A major cost in open-pit mining is associated with the removal of overburden and waste rock. Although much of this stripping cannot be avoided, the volume (V) associated with the presence of an in-pit haul road can be quite large, V 100 (pit depth) a (road width) 2 x road grade (%) As an example, consider a vertical ore body 400 m (1312 ft) long, 60 m (197 ft) thick, extending to a depth of 160 m (525 ft). Cross sections are shown in Fig. 1. Other data are: ore tonnage = 11 Mt (12 million st), ore density = 2.9 t/m3 (0.09 st per cu ft), waste rock density = 2.7 t/m3 (0.08 st per cu ft), road width = 20 m (66 ft), road gradient = 10%, and level interval = 10 m (33 ft). The evaluation has been made assuming that the pit slope (0) is constant around the pit except on the side with the haul road. On this side, the slope is decreased to allow for the road. Slope angles of 30° to 60° have been selected to indicate the dependence of stripping volume (V) on slope angle. The stripping at the ends have been calculated assuming representation by cones. The volume associated with the haul road is 2.6 Mm3 (92.8 million cu ft). A comparison of the strip volumes involved is shown in Table 1. As can be seen, the percent savings in strip volume varies from about 4% to 17% and depends greatly on the slope angle. It is perhaps more interesting to examine the savings in stripping costs that could then be used to cover the cost of the access ramp and the crosscuts for stripping costs of $3/m3 ($0.08 per cu ft). The cost with the road volume is 2.6 million x 3 = $7.8 million.

Jan 1, 1988

By A. J. Kraemer

[The Bureau of Minas for a number of years has been studying the properties of crude petroleum from producing fields in the United States and Western Hemisphere and has published a series of reports on these fields, including oil fields of Texas.5]

Jan 1, 1927

By Byron A. Baker

The Bureau of Mines used a windowed cell to measure the phase-boundary pressures of two related series of gas-condensate fluid mixtures. Normal butane was added to the mixtures incrementally to determine its effectiveness for lowering phase-boundary pressure. All the experimental data were correlated, so that the pressure required to maintain light oils mixed with natural gas in the single phase may be computed for secondary recovery applications. The heavy hydrocarbon parts of the mixtures were distillation fractions of a Gulf Coast condensate. Intermediate normal hydrocarbons in the butane-heptane range and natural gas were added to the fractions in selected proportions, so that phase-diagram pressures of 26 fluids were actually studied. The experimental range of temperatures was 50° to 280° F. Two correlations were developed to represent phase-boundary pressures by means of a polynomial. Independent variables represent natural gas content, disparity of properties of components comprising the mixtures, and temperature. A fourth variable, for one correlation only, was the quantity of normal butane added to the original mixtures. The latter correlation with four independent variables contains 15 coefficients and is estimated to be accurate to 135 psi.

Jan 1, 1973

By Patrick Linzer, Lindsay Linzer

By its nature, seismology has been a data intensive field since the first digital computers were introduced in the 1950s. The first empirical models were developed in the same period and are still widely used today, for instance, the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relationship (Gutenberg and Richter, 1956). Machine learning (ML) methods make it possible to redefine these empirical models using large datasets and examining considerably more parameters, where their significance to the problem being addressed is methodically and repeatably evaluated using robust statistical methods. In this paper we develop a simple logistic model for the short-term prediction of seismic events above a threshold magnitude from a mine’s event catalogue comprising more than a million events with 14 basic parameters from which a pool of over 830 derived parameters was developed, covering a series of 11 precursory time windows. The logistic model was fitted stepwise using SAS with α = 0.025 for both entry and acceptance. 25 variables from the pool met the acceptance criterion. The findings were surprising in that parameters a rock engineer or seismologist might have expected to be the most significant in the logistic model were not; instead, it was an increase in standard deviation of the immediately-prior seismic magnitudes that carried the most weight, followed by the average maximum source displacement and median apparent volume change. These findings make intuitive sense because the increasing scatter of the magnitude shows an increasing number of large events being recorded that could be indicative of instability in the system that could lead to large events. The model is rudimentary and enormous scope exists for more exploration in terms of data pre-processing, model types, and response variable definitions.

Apr 26, 2022

By A. Brown

"The mining industry is no exception to the general rule that continuing research is essential to good management; in fact, because of the imperfect state of knowledge in regard to many important factors associated with a mineral extraction, mining research assumes a position of unusual importance. On the basis of a recent visit to mining research centres in a number of European countries, the author describes their organization and their role in the mining industries of these countries. Some observations are made on Canadian mining research efforts, with a view to indicating a more systematic basis of procedure."

Jan 1, 1960

By Hoskings R

Conceptual studies of the run of mine stockpiling and reclaiming requirements com- menced in 1975. Final selection of equipment was made in 1978 and the equipment was commissioned in June, 1979. Equipment selection was made after extensive investigation and visits to existing facilities throughout the world. The equipment selected is described and com- pared with the alternatives. Foundations were designed to minimise clean up effort and to ensure stability of equipment under design wind loading without storm bays. Program- mable logic control enables the stacking and reclaiming facility to provide a blended feed to the coal preparation plant.

Jan 1, 1980