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By William W. Adams

The stone-quarrying industry of the United States, including such related operations as rock crushing, rock dressing, and the manufacture of cement and lime, reported a larger volume of employment in 1934 than in 1933. Reports from the operating companies to the United States Bureau of Mines showed an increase in the number of men employed, number of man-days of employment, and total number of man-hours of labor performed during the year. Moreover, the average worker had a longer period of employment during 1934, the gain amounting to 11 percent over 1933. The increase in employment was accompanied by no increase in accidents for the industry as a whole; in fact, the accident rate for 1934 was a fraction lower than the rate for 1933. In some branches of the industry the frequency of accidents increased, but these increases were more than offset by reductions in rates for other branches. Reports for 1934 were received from 1,403 active plants. The working force averaged 64,331 men for 204 days per man, and the total period of employment for all of the men was 95,258,880 man-hours. Each employee averaged 1,481 hours of work during the year. The total number of hours of labor represented a gain of more than 8 percent, and the average working time per employee showed a gain of 62 hours per man.

Jan 1, 1936

After considerable input from the mining industry, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) finalised National Instrument 43-101: Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. This Instrument, which became law across Canada on 1 February 2001, applies to all technical public disclosure on mineral projects and requires all technical disclosure to be based on the work of a æqualified personÆ (QP). While the QP is quite similar to the Competent Person in Australia there are important differences when it comes to all disclosure. This paper will summarise the main areas in which the Instrument introduces major changes to Canadian disclosure standards on mineral projects including the role and responsibility of the qualified person; the increased requirements to file technical reports; the incorporation by reference of the October 2000 CIM definitions of resources and reserves and additional rules governing written disclosure of scientific and technical information. In October 2001, eight months after the implementation of NI 43-101, the CSA compiled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and CSA responses to assist mining industry participants and their advisors in understanding and applying NI-43-101. This document has been well received by industry. The CSA plans to update the FAQs when further guidance is requested. Two industry committees have been established to provide the CSA with technical advice on the application of NI 43-101. As recommended by the Ontario Securities Commission/Toronto Stock Exchange Mining Standards Task Force, the CSA has established an external industry advisory committee û the Mining Technical Advisory and Monitoring Committee (MTAMC) û to monitor the application of NI 43-101 and advise the CSA on industry and professional developments. The role of the CSA-Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Working Committee on Reserves and Resources is to ensure that the future changes and updates to the CIM Standards can be efficiently and effectively incorporated in NI 43-101. During this first year, the Canadian securities regulators have seen an improvement in the quality of disclosure on mineral projects, which will increase investor confidence in the industry.

Jan 1, 2002

By S. Schutte, J. Pelders

Worker participation in equipment development can result in improved user acceptance and product quality. This paper focuses on worker engagement in equipment development processes in the South African minerals sector. Qualitative data was gathered during interviews with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and industry experts. A lack of inclusion in equipment design from workers from all organizational levels in mines was reported. Meanwhile, the historical context and workplace culture of the mining industry (including leadership, trust, training, performance, and remuneration factors) were evident barriers to the implementation of new technology. Worker engagement processes should include securing management commitment, creating multidisciplinary teams, effective facilitation, shared understanding of needs, training and development, and iterative design. Human-centred design approaches and independent platforms for engagement on equipment design requirements are recommended.

Feb 2, 2021

By Peter Schmäh

Pipe-jacked tunnels are considered for a large variety of applications from water and sewage, cable ducts to challenging pipeline crossings or landfall construction. In most cases, Slurry MTBMs are used to carry out these projects. Continuous further development of technological features for pipe jacking plays a key role to overcome feasibility limits and to meet increased project requirements. As tightened safety regulations in terms of accessibility and escape routes increasingly limit the options of small segment lining tunnels in the diameter range below 4 m, 13 feet, pipe jacking has partially taken over. During the last decades, a growing number of large-diameter and long-distance pipe jacking projects have been completed. Experienced contractors successfully use the technological capacity of the MTBM equipment. The machine and cutting wheel have to be designed according to the ground conditions. Bentonite lubrication and interjacking stations are key factors to keep push forces moderate. For long pipe jacking drives, a so-called push module can be installed in the machine can, to be able to switch from pipe jacking to segment lining in case the machine gets stuck. The overall aim is to provide clients and the tunnel construction industry with safe and economical solu- tions for successful project execution. This presentation will present international milestone projects and will also discuss the latest developments in automation, related opportunities and limitations, and the future of digitization and artificial intelligence in pipe jacking.

Jun 23, 2024

By Amilton Feliciano Castro

In this work, activated carbons (ACs) were prepared using Sewage sludge as starting material. The ACs were pyrolyzed in an inert atmosphere at 550 °C after independent chemical treatment with ZnCl2 or KOH with ratio of 1:1. The materials were used as adsorbents for removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents were characterized using adsorption/desorption nitrogen isotherm, SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The results showed that copper removal could be linked to surface pH and compounds present on the surface of adsorbent. KOH-treated adsorbent has smaller surface area (186 m2 g-1) than ZnCl2-treated adsorbent (192 m2 g-1), however, KOH-treated adsorbent exhibited higher removal of Cu(II). The performance of KOH-treated adsorbent could be attributed to the presence of basic groups on the adsorbent surface. Liu isotherm model gave the best description of the equilibrium data. From the Liu isotherm, the maximum adsorption capacities at 298 K for KOH-treated, ZnCl2-treated and sewage sludge (without inorganic activation) adsorbents are 31.85, 19.79 and 3.513 mg g-1, respectively. The best desorption experiment was obtained using 1.50 mol L-1 of HNO3 as eluent. Recoveries of Cu(II) from Cu(II)-loaded adsorbents are 98.9% (ZnCl2-treated) and 95.5% (KOH-treated.

Aug 17, 2017

By J. R. Patts, A. B. Cecala, E. J. Haas

Exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) remains a serious health hazard to the US mining workforce who are potentially exposed as various ore bodies are drilled, blasted, hauled by truck, crushed, screened, and transported to their destinations. The current Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) for RCS remains at approximately 100 μg/m3 , but it is noteworthy that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has lowered its PEL to 50 μg/ m3 (with enforcement dates staggered through 2022 for various sectors), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has held a 50 μg/m3 recommended standard since 1976. To examine a method for reducing RCS exposure using a NIOSH-developed video exposure monitoring (VEM) technology (referred to as Helmet-CAM), video and respirable dust concentration data were collected on eighty miners across seven unique mining sites. The data was then collated and partitioned using a thresholding scheme to determine exposures that were in excess of ten times the mean exposure for that worker. Focusing on these short duration, high magnitude exposures can provide insight to implement controls and interventions that can dramatically lower the employee’s overall average exposure. In 19 of the 80 cases analyzed, it was found that exposure could be significantly lowered by 20% or more by reducing exposures that occur during just 10 min of work per 8-hour shift. This approach provides a method to quickly analyze and determine which activities are creating the greatest health concerns. In most cases, once identified, focused control technologies or behavioral modifications can be applied to those tasks.

By W. F. Netzeband

This paper, which describes mining methods and practices at the Rialto zinc-lead mine American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co., in northeastern Oklahoma, is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining methods, practices, and costs in various mining districts of the United States, The Rialto mine is in the SE1/4 SW1/4 sec. 20 and the NW1/4 sec. 29, T. 29 N., R. 23 E., Ottawa County, Okla. (fig. 1). The 200-acre property is southwest of and adjacent to the town of Picher in the central part of the Picher field of the Tri-State zinc-lead mining district (fig. 2). Other mines of the company adjoin the Rialto on the east and south. Zinc-lead ores have been mined almost continuously from the Rialto tract since 1916. The property was acquired by American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co. late in 1951, and the mine was operated thereafter by the Nellie B Division of that company until the end of 1955, when it was subleased to the Residue Mining Co.

Jan 1, 1958

By T. L. Turner, Daniel T. Rogers

As part of a program to investigate technology for the extraction of studied HNO3 alumina from abundant domestic ores , the Bureau of Mines leaching of calcined Georgia kaolinitic clay . In this investigation , iron impurities were removed from the aluminum nitrate pregnant leach liquor by solvent extraction , and the purified liquor was evaporated to prepare a suitably concentrated crystallizer feed liquor . Aluminum nitrate nonahydrate was crystallized from the liquor to separate the aluminum from undesirable trace elements and excess water . Continuous crystallization at 40 ° C in a pilot plant vacuum evaporative unit was performed for 5 days to observe the effects of impurity buildup under minimum bleed- stream conditions . Liquor feed rate was 26 lb/h and AAll (( NNOO33 )) 33..99HH22O0 ((AANNNN)) crystal production rate was 17 lb/h . Fe 203 and Cr203 were not effectively separated from the crystals , and P205 , MgO , and K20 impurities must be removed by recrystallization . Other impurities did not excessively contaminate the crystals . Washing the crystals with water or aqueous HNO3 gave an equivalent increase in crystal purity levels by displacing mother liquor . Theoretical equations , applicable to any continuous evaporative crystallization of developed to produce material balances for engineering ANN , were applications .

Jan 1, 1965

By James J. Scott

I welcome this opportunity to speak before the Coal Division of the AIME in such an attractive setting as the Pacific Northwest. With the development of the Centralia project, the Pacific Northwest will have its first major coal-fired thermal electric generating plant. This State has a long history of coal mining that diminished with the passage of coal-fired steamships and locomotives but is now reviving with the growth of electrical power demand. Because this 1,400 row plant is to be supplied with surface-mined coal, it is particularly appropriate that this area be the setting for a talk on factors influencing the growth of surface coal mining in the West. During the course of my talk, I will touch on a number of factors including electric power demand, coal resources, production trends, environmental considerations and trends in State and Federal activities that I feel will influence surface coal mining in the West. Total electric power consumption by the year 2000 is expected to reach 9.4 trillion kilowatt-hours. Predictions of total coal consumption for electric power generation by that year range from a low of 845 million tons to a high of 1,520 million tons, or 2.6 to 4.7 times the amount used for this purpose in 1970.

Jan 1, 1971

By Donald M. Ulbrich

As all of us know, the "heat" is on for western coal. The need for western coal is critical if the nation is to reach the goals of Project Independence by 1985. Without the development of western coal, the goals will not be met. It's that simple! That's because 50 percent of our nation's coal reserves lie in the states of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. And surface mining is the key to unlocking these reserves. Of the nine states in the coal provinces, five-Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Arizona-are the best examples since surface mining accounts for 88 to 100 percent of the coal mined in each of these states. Collectively, their annual production more than doubled between 1969 and 1972, rising to 35 million tons per year. And, taken individually, each state's production has more than doubled, also. Total annual production from these five key states could very well exceed 180 million tons per year by 1980-four times the 1972 production level. The biggest producer among the five is Wyoming. Wyoming's production tripled since 1969 to nearly 14 million tons in 1973. So the heat is on for western coal, especially from Wyoming. Now we come to the question of how to mine this increasingly precious mineral. What are the available methods? First, let's take a brief look at several characteristics of western coal deposits.

Jan 1, 1975

By L. E. Cardwell

This publication contains routine analyses and related source data for 390 natural gas samples from 22 States and five foreign countries. Of this total, 385 samples were collected during calendar year 1969. The remaining five analyses are of samples collected during previous years, but releases granting permission to publish the results were not received until 1969. All samples were collected as part of a continuous survey of the free world for occurrences of helium in natural gas. This survey has been conducted in the United States by the Bureau of Mines since 1917. In late 1965, the survey was expanded to include foreign gasfields. The analyses published herein were made by mass spectrometer and a special helium analysis apparatus which are described in Bureau of Mines Bulletins 4863 and 576.4 Eleven previous publications have presented the results of 8,660 gas analyses made by the Bureau of Mines Helium Activity prior to 1969. The first three, Bulletins 486,6 576,6 and 617,7 contain analyses and related source

Jan 1, 1970

By Gyan S. Rajhans

"The strategy of fibrous dust sampling is discussed, various sampiing methods are critically reviewed .and their application to coal dust is demonstrated. Fibre counting is described in detail. An attempt is made to explain the basis of determining the threshold limit value of asbestos and other dusts. The paper also discusses such dust control methods as enclosure of the process, effective local exhaust ventilation, segregation, substitution, wet processing and continuous monitoring of the return air for recirculation."

Jan 1, 1970

By D. J. Bryden, J. W. Oberholzer

In response to the need for enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard mine workers in collieries from the consequences of methane ignitions in a heading, the coal mining industry has ex- pressed the desire for the development and testing of active on board suppression systems. As overseas systems cannot be used directly in the bord and pillar geometry it is necessary to adapt overseas and local technology to suit local mining conditions, as well as to test such developed systems for their compliance with the expressed needs. As the systems have to be tested in a specific roadway configuration, a facility was developed to enable the testing in South Africa. A surface test facility has been established which can be used to develop and test suppression systems on continuous miners and roadheaders. This facility consists of a tunnel wherein compliance tests can be conducted in simulated underground conditions. A number of methane explosion tests have been conducted in the test facility. The explosions conducted varied in CH,/air concentration (7,5 to 9 percent) and volume (26 to 88 m3). At lower concentrations there was a marked reduction in explosion strength and flame speed. Tests carried out with the Explostop system successfully suppressed the propagation of methane ignitions in both scenarios tested.

Jan 1, 1997

By P. Massacci

The modelling of phenomena by nonlinear dynamic Systems Theory representations require the specification and identification of suitable models of the phenomenon and the availability of good optimization algorithms to determine the optimal controls. Stochastic disturbances and difficulties of monitoring the process lead invariably, otherwise, to suboptimal performance. It will be shown that an algorithm can be formulated which will simultaneously identify and optimize such a system. The properties of the algorithm will be derived and its convergence to an optimal control proved. Some results of actual applications will be presented and it will be shown how this approach generalizes easily to optimal control of the actual processing system. These results generalize those of optimal learning and input conditioning.

Jan 1, 1991

By Armando Fernandes da Veiga Rodrigues

Itabirito é um minério de fero encontrado no Brasil. As reservas futuras de Itabirito requerem moagem para atingir o grau de liberação necessário para concentração. Os circuitos convencionais de cominuição adotados em projetos de Itabirito consistem de três estágios de britagem seguido de moinhos de bolas. Estes circuitos demandam uma alta frequência de manutenção e uma grande área de construção. Por esta razão um estudo de bancada e piloto foi conduzido para entender a rota de cominuição de Itabirito utilizando moinhos autógenos (AG ou FAG) e semi-autógeno (SAG). Os testes piloto demonstraram que moinhos SAG e AG são apropriados para a cominuição de Itabirito.

Aug 1, 2018

By S. Saito, P. A. Beck

The crystal structure of MoNi3 was determined by means of X-ray diffraction. This structure is isotype with that of ovgered TiCu3. The lattice parameters are: a. = 5.064A, bo = 4.224A, co = 4.448A, and zf 0.157. If the orthorhombic distortion (slight relative to the corresponding orthohexagonal unit cell) is disregarded, the structure may be described in terms of a close-packed ordered atomic layer, stacked in the sequence: abab. The structztres of ordered TiCu3 and TiAl3 are homotectic. The three types of ordered hexagonal phases, iso-structural with TiNi3, MgCd3, and VCo3, are known to occur in AB3 alloys of transition elements of the first, second, ad third long periods. It was noted1 that phases with the TiNi3 structure occur selectively in alloys of Ti-group elements with Ni-group elements. In AB3 alloys of Ti-group and V-group elements with Co-group elements the AuCu3-type structure predominates.' The vCO3 structure, which was determined very recently,' has hexagonal symmetry, but the actual atomic arrangement here, too, is rather closely related to the ordered cubic structure of AuCu3-type. However, an ordered hexagonal close-packed structure of the MgCd3-type occurs in MOCO33 and WCO3.4 Consequently, the question arises as to whether or not the crystal structure of MoNi3 is also of the MgCd3-type. Grube and winkler5 found that MoNi3 has a hexagonal close-packed structure with a = 2.54A and c/a = 1.65. They pointed out that some additional weak diffraction lines could be observed in the powder pattern, which may have been due to an ordered atomic arrangement in this phase. However, no detailed information was obtained by them and the structure was apparently not further investigated by others. The present work was, therefore, undertaken in an attempt to determine in detail the structure of MoNi3, and to investigate the possibility of ordering. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Alloys used in the present work were arc-melted in a water-cooled copper crucible under helium atmosphere. Electrolytic nickel and molybdenum, both 99.9 pct pure, were used. Chemical analyses were not made, but the melting loss was not higher than 2 pct for any alloy. Ingots were first homogenized at 1200°C for 48hr, quenched, heavily cold worked, and then annealed at 820" or 860°C for 1 week, followed by quenching in cold water. Powder specimens for X-ray work were prepared by crushing the heat-treated solid specimens. In order to remove strains, the powders were reannealed in evacuated scaled fused silica capsules for 6 hr at the same temperature at which the corresponding solid specimens were annealed. X-ray photographs were taken with an asymmetric focussing camera, using unfiltered CrK or CuK radiation. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The X-ray diffraction patterns of alloys containing 20.8, 25, and 26.4 at. pct Mo, homogenized at 1200°C, showed the face-centered-cubic structure of the Ni-base a-solid solution. It was revealed, however, by micrographic examination that the 26.4 at. pct Mo alloy contained in addition very small amounts of a second phase, in accordance with the phase diagram.6 On the other hand, the 20.8 at. pct Mo alloy after annealing at 820°C gave the X-ray diffraction pattern of the ordered face-centered-tetragonal MONi4.7 In this pattern several additional weak diffraction lines were also observed, corresponding to the strongest diffraction lines of MoNi3. The alloys containing 25 and 26.4 at. pct Mo after annealing at 820" or 860°C gave X-ray diffraction patterns, as shown in Tables I and 11, corresponding to MoNi3. Each one of the reflections which could be tentatively indexed on the hexagonal close-packed cell of Grube and Winkler,5 with the exception of the basal plane reflections, was split into a doublet, as seen in Table I. Since microscopically the alloy consisted of a single phase, it seemed probable that the lattice of MoNi3 is actually slightly deformed, as compared with the tentative hexagonal unit cell. In addition to these diffraction lines, several weak lines were also present, as shown in Table 11, which could not be indexed at all on the hexagonal close-packed cell considered. Satisfactory indexing of all diffraction lines observed was found to be possible by using an orthorhombic unit cell with ao = 5.064A, ft = 4.224A, and c = 4.448A. These values, whose accuracy is estimated to approximately ± 0.008A, correspond to 95.14A3 for the volume of the unit cell, and to an X-ray density of 9.50 g per cm3. If no attention were paid to the weak reflections listed in Table II, a reduced -unit cell of half the volume (a = 2.532A, b = 4.448A, and c = 4.224A), closely related to the orthohexagonal cell, might be used. The dimensions of the orthohexagonal cell of the same volume as the reduced cell are: a = 2.562A, b = 4.437 A, and c = 4.183A. It may be seen that in the reduced cell the a axis is slightly shorter, while the b and c axes are slightly longer than those corresponding to the orthohexagonal cell of the same volume. This slight orthorhombic distortion is re-

Jan 1, 1960

By David R. Peterson

This report presents a deep ocean mining operational simulation which is capable of describing the response of the bottom collection unit to specified mining ship maneuvers and the corresponding operation of the mining ship maneuvering system. Bathymetry, obstacles, collector and pipe dynamics and ship maneuvering capabilities are included in the simulation. The simulation is capable of evaluating the technical requirements and operating costs for specified mine plans, Results are useful in assessing mine size requirements and provide operating 'cost 'estimates useful as inputs to deep ocean mining economic feasibility assessments, The simulation is used to determine the consequences of obstacles to mining system operations in terms of impact on mine size requirements and reduced production arising from obstacle avoidance maneuvers of a towed (unsteered) collector.

Jan 1, 1979

By Hernando Labarthe Correa

La presente investigación busca establecer una política racional para el abastecimiento de insumos que elimine los trámites burocráticos a través de una política de insumos de Mediana Minería que pueda generar un ahorro real de divisas y una mayor producción minera. En este sentido, se define el significado económico de los insumos, se divide la categorización en insumos nacionales e insumos importados, se revisa el reglamento del Art. 125° del decreto legislativo 18880 y los trámites de exportación, así como la importancia de las ferias internacionales y el depósito de mercancías en el perfeccionamiento de este sistema.

Nov 20, 1978

By S. F. Mauser

This report describes the study of factors which affect medium voltage (661 - 1000 volts) trailing cable splices used in underground coal mines. Improvements in quality, dependability, and design of splice kits and shop splices are presented in the study results and recommended guidelines and regulations. Recommended research programs are included which describe approaches for development of the recommended guidelines and regulations for medium voltage trailing cable splices. The basis for the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report is included in three appendices which describe a survey, splice examination, and general requirements development prepared during the progress of this study.

Jan 1, 1977

By Lenny Winkel

With the aim to develop a solar-driven process for the extraction of copper from sulfide concentrates research on the decomposition of copper sulfides under inert atmospheres has been initiated. Thermogravimetric measurements on chalcocite,(Cu2S) revealed that copper is formed already at 1823 K. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) also disintegrates at this temperature, although at a lower rate. Copper and iron have been identified in the solid residue. The results confirm the feasibility of copper extraction by direct decomposition of sulfides under atmospheric pressure. The decomposition under inert atmosphere prevents generation of SO2, it also alters the behavior of volatile impurities during decomposition of copper sulfide concentrates. Chemical equilibrium calculations for chalcopyrite contaminated with enargite (Cu3AsS4) have shown that the absence of an oxidic slag allows for a complete evaporation of arsenic and subsequent separation from intermediate sulfides. The need to better assess the potential of direct sulfide decomposition has prompted the development of an experimental setup for studying the decomposition reactions. The experiment has been devised such that data on the decomposition kinetics and on impurity removal can be obtained at temperatures up to 2500 K.

Jan 1, 2003