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Dartbrook mine is a new greenfields thermal coal longwall mine located n the Upper Hunter Valley ten kilometres north of Muswellbrook Figure 1). Construction began in April 1993 with coal extraction starting n October 1994. Longwall production is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 1996 with production expected to exceed 3.5 million onnes per annum. The permanent workforce will number 150 full-time ,mployees and productivity rates will be 22 000 per employee per annum m a ROM basis. Being a greenfield site Dartbrook has had the opportunity to develop and operate the mine using the best practices and latest technology available to meet high standards of safety, quality and production.

Jan 1, 1995

By Haragobinda Srichandan

The present study aimed to investigate the bioleaching efficiency of moderate thermophilic microorganism in a growth medium without Fe supplement on three different size fractions of spent catalyst obtained from petroleum refinery. All the experiments were conducted on shake flasks at a temperature of 65 °C and a pulp density of 10% (w/v) on three size fractions viz. 45-106 µm, 106-212 µm and >212 µm and a working volume of 100 ml comprising of 10 ml of microbial inoculums and 90 ml of Modified Kelly medium. The parameters like pH, redox potential, viable planktonic cell count and the amount of acid addition was measured and quantified on regular basis to follow the progress of the bioleaching. The pH varied much in the lag and logarithmic phase of the experiments but stabilized toward the stationary phase. The total acid additions in each batch experiment were determined the amount of Conc. H2SO4 requirement, which ranged between 683-757 kg/ton of spent catalyst. The redox potential values ranged between 625-650 mV, Ag/AgCl, but were very low ranging between 350-450 mV during initial period. The planktonic viable cell count ranged between 108-109 cells/ml active in the bioleaching system, without any toxic influence of the spent catalyst, but initially due to fall in redox potential and new environment for the microbes, their population was low. The leaching yield of Ni was found to be promising with very high leaching yield of 92-96% followed by Al as 61-62%, which means both Ni and Al leaching were favored by the moderate thermophilic bioleaching compared to the mesophilic bioleaching. There was very little difference in the leaching yield, when compared with different size fractions and hence grinding can be avoided prior to leaching. This process seems to be economical as no Fe source is supplemented together with no requirement of grinding and over all a biological process resulting for an eco-friendly process for future optimization of the metal recovery from petroleum refinery spent catalysts. Keywords: bioleaching, spent catalyst, thermophile, 9K medium

Sep 1, 2012

By R. S. Dean

The original flotation reagents were certain oils selected for a combination of properties that occurred fortuitously. It was recognized quite early in the study of flotation mechanism that, in order to function, an oil must have an active group-one that differs from the remainder of the molecule in its affinity for water or the mineral particle. Wark4 gives credit for recognition of this elementary chemical principle to the senior author of this report.5 However, it was soon found that simple hydrocarbons could not be used as flotation reagents and that two of the functions, which were combined in the early flotation oils such as pine and eucalyptus, could be obtained in separate compounds and their relative intensity controlled to advantage. These two functions were called collecting and frothing.

Jan 1, 1944

By Thomas T. Read

AT this time of the year, engineering schools are releasing a group of young men who probably are, on the average, in much the same attitude of mind as a person arriving at the terminal station of a railway journey; namely, of having a general idea of his objective, but having to make a decision as to just where he is going and how best to get there. The man leaving the train can at first follow the crowd, but it soon breaks up, as one goes one way and one another, until he has to choose his own course. The recent graduate may do the equivalent of following the crowd by accepting the first position offered, but this only postpones a decision as to where he is going and how best to get there. So many young engineers ask for advice as to what to do that the following statement has been prepared as an attempt to make a general answer to such queries. The engineer taking his first job should realize two fundamental relations. The first is that in electing to be an engineer he has elected to be a hired man. A consulting engineer has more freedom than a man on a regular pay roll, but he is also a hired man; hired for briefer periods at a relatively high rate, but under the necessity of simultaneously doing his consulting work and developing new retainers. There is nothing derogatory in being a hired man (all doctors, lawyers and clergymen are hired men), but the tardy realization that he is one seems to give many an engineer a mental jolt that can be avoided if he accepts it from the beginning.

Jan 1, 1926

By Lowell L. Patten

The Federal Bureau of Mines participated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Martin Marietta Aerospace in developing, building, and testing a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for use as an analyzer in mineral-resource investigative work. The prototype battery-powered spectrometer, measuring I1 by 12 by 5 inches and weighing only about 15 pounds, was designed specifically for field use. The spectrometer has two gas-proportional counters and two radioactive sources, 109Cd and 55Fe. Preliminary field and laboratory tests on rock specimens and rock pulps have demonstrated the capability of the spectrometer to detect 33 elements, to date. Characteristics of the system present some limitations, however, and further improvements are recommended.

Jan 1, 1982

By David G. Adam

Syncrude Canada Ltd. is currently mining over 120 million tons per year of overburden and oil sands to produce 40 million barrels per year of synthetic crude oil. Production increases are planned. This paper reviews the technical and economic assessments of feeder breaker applications in both ore and waste mining which led to an extensive testing and development program and finally to the procurement of full scale production equipment.

Jan 1, 1985

By B. K. Loveday

The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy hosted a School on 'The Practical Design of Comminution Processes' at Megawatt Park (near Johannesburg) on 14th to 16th May, 1991 Derek Barratt, a Senior Consultant of Wright Engineers, Canada, and the main speaker, provided a good insight into how Wright Engineers design milling circuits, particularly large semi-autogenous mills. He was ably assisted by Jens Lichterof Allis Mineral Systems, who described some interesting examples of pilot-plant testwork and summarized South African milling practice. Mike Moys of the Witwatersrand University spoke on the influence of pulp viscosity on mill performance, and Johan Engelbrecht and Jeremy Bosman of Multotech

Jan 1, 1991

By Arthur Matzick

The oil shale from the Mahogany zone of the Green River formation in northwestern Colorado has the greatest potential in the United States for early utilization. A large reserve of adequately rich shale is available to support a sizable industry, and crushing of tremendous tonnages will be required if conventional processing methods are used. This report presents Bureau of Mines data on crushing experiments, physical properties, and related information for Colorado oil shale. Among the properties important to crushing are slab-forming tendency, resilience, slippery character of the richer grades, and heterogeneous nature of an average charge of Colorado oil shale.

Jan 1, 1960

By Jack L. Henry

The monocarbide region of the ternary system U-C-O has been investigated at 1,700° C as the first phase of a more extensive study of a portion of the four-component system U-C-O-N. An area bounded by the following compositional limits in atomic percent was studied: U, 44 to 55; C, 30 to 60; 0, 0.2 to 20. Compacts composed of mixtures of uranium, graphite, and uranium dioxide powders were sintered at 1,700° C under an equilibrium pressure of carbon monoxide to produce uranium oxycarbide specimens having a variety of compositions. Sintered specimens were evaluated by X-ray, chemical analysis, and ceramographic techniques. Solid-solution boundaries and phase relations have been established, and the effects of composition on the lattice parameter as well as the decomposition pressure have been investigated. Oxygen can be substituted for carbon in stoichiometric uranium monocarbide to the extent of about 17 atomic percent at 1,700° C. The composition range of the oxycarbide solid solution extends from about 48 to 51 atomic percent uranium in the low oxygen region. Above 10 atomic percent oxygen the composition range narrows to less than 1 atomic percent uranium. Carbon monoxide exists as a gaseous phase in equilibrium with all compositions which contain oxygen. Five separate phase fields were found bounding the solid-solution area. Other phases within this portion of the system include uranium, uranium dioxide, uranium dicarbide, and uranium sesquicarbide. Decomposition pressures of oxycarbide compositions at 1,700° C have been found to vary from a few microns for stoichiometric and uranium-rich compositions to 35 torr for carbon-oxygen-rich specimens. Lattice parameters were found to depend upon the U to C + 0 ratio as well upon the extent of substitution of oxygen into the stoichiometric monocarbide lattice.

Jan 1, 1967

By Nathaniel Herz

PARTING of bullion before shipment to the mint had been considered by the Homestake Mining Co. at various times, but had never been attempted before 1933, be- cause the margin of profit appeared to be too small to warrant the complications in refining. When the gold standard was abandoned by the United States in the spring of 1933, however, parting of the bullion was decided upon. The method selected was the Miller or chlorine process, which consists of the passing of gaseous chlorine into a bath of molten bullion, converting all metals other than gold into chlorides, and remov-

Jan 1, 1935

By William F. Starke

"The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) located in Toronto, Ontario, found itself in dire need of space due to increased enrollment, leading them to embark on a major expansion and redevelopment on campus. The expansion entailed an additional 115,000 sq.ft. (10,700 m2) and a new major structure was required, as well as extensive redevelopment of existing buildings. The new Sharp Centre for Design was designed by acclaimed British Architect Will Alsop, of Alsop Architects, in a joint venture with Toronto-based Robbie/Young + Wright Architects. The OCAD campus is cramped for space and the design selected was a structure built over top of existing structures. The building has been described as resembling a “shoebox in the sky”, supported on raked columns transmitting high lateral forces as well as compression load to the foundations. There are 12 such supports, each supported by an individual caisson. In addition, the project entailed installation of other caissons in the courtyard area with the construction work accomplished under very confined conditions among the existing structures. The remarkable design for the new Ontario College of Arts will surely make it another of Toronto’s architectural landmarks. Several things make this project stand out as a unique deep foundations project.First is the architectural design. Words cannot do it justice: the picture is the only effective way to start to describe it. This is a big two-story box, built over the top of a fragile existing building. The underside of the box is 86 ft (26m) above street level. Students remained still inside the old building while construction was going on around and above them. There were serious concerns about vibration – not only its effects on the academic life; but more significantly, upon the stability and safety of the old building, which rests somewhat shakily on shallow spread footings.Steel stilts that look like toothpicks when scaled against the new and existing structures support the box. The stilts are much sturdier than they appear from the pictures, but it is easy to visualize the complexity of the loads they transfer to the foundations below."

Jan 1, 2004

By Effie T. Kurt, Jack Wright, J. W. Watkins, Cynthia Pearson

"The analysis of water produced with crude petroleum has interested oil producers since inception of the industry. Records of the first analysis of mineralized water produced from an oil-productive formation are obscure, and references to the first use of brine analyses to assist in solving problems of petroleum production are not available in the technical literature. However, many early reports of the Federal Bureau of Mines 5-8/ and. Federal Geological Survey, 9-11/ as well as articles in engineering and geological placed special emphasis on journals ,12-l4/ the importance, interpretation, and application of water analyses.One of the earliest applications of water analyses, and still a major one today, is for identification of intrusive waters in oil wells. This may be done by comparing the chemical constituents of a sample of water indigenous to the oil-productive formation with those of samples from upper, water-bearing formations within the same general area. Some earlier investigators recognized the need for analyzing samples of all waters encountered in drilling operations. Ambrose15/ stated, in part, ""In wells being drilled, the engineer should grasp every opportunity to get a true sample of water from each sand. . .,"" and, ""The waters of each oil field are chemically different from those of another field."" The validity of the latter observation and the importance of the former one have been borne out by comparing the results of analyses of many samples and noting the differences in relative concentrations of like constituents of waters from the same geological formation in different localities or oil pools."

Apr 1, 1957

By Chee S. Theng

As the 2018 president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc., I am pleased to present the 2018 issue of the Transactions of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc., Vol. 344. A significant portion of the contribution that we make as a professional society is the publication of professional and technical papers that accelerate the advancement of scientific knowledge and enable the transfer of technology. Communication within the mining community is the key to a successful society. This technology exchange continues a tradition that dates back to the 1871 meeting of 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, PA, that resulted in the founding of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). Those individuals envisioned that these transaction volumes “would form a most valuable and greatly needed addition to our professional literature.” This volume fulfills that pledge. The 2018 Transactions consists of a total of 59 technical papers, encompassing all 25 papers published in 2018 in the Technical Papers Section of Mining Engineering (Vol. 70) and all 26 papers published in 2018 in Minerals & Metallurgical Processing (Vol. 35). Additionally, this volume contains 8 papers that are being published for the first time in this issue. The papers presented in this volume were written by some of the most distinguished professionals in the industry worldwide. All of the technical papers were peer-reviewed. The process of review and publication requires much hard work by authors, reviewers and our Publications staff. As the 2018 president of SME and on behalf of all our members, I would like to extend our gratitude to all whose volunteer efforts contributed to the publication of this volume. The new year brings an exciting change. The publication of Transactions will cease with this volume. Instead, our Minerals & Metallurgical Processing journal has the new name of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (MME), and Transactions as well as the Technical Papers Section of Mining Engineering are incorporated into MME. The journal is published in partnership with Springer Nature, and all SME members have free electronic access to the journal.

Jan 1, 2018

By M. J. Davie, D. S. Ross

"The successful design of a new mine water pumping system is in part dependent upon the accuracy with which the operating conditions can be forecast. This paper outlines the data which should be obtained on water quantity and quality. Methods of modifying the quality are also discussed. Some pumping systems for disposal of sludge are described, citing operating examples. The various types of mine dewatering pumps are described in terms of design characteristics as they affect operating efficiency and installation and maintenance costs. Piping system parameters are outlined. Finally, a hypothetical case study of pumping from a depth of 3,000 ft is assessed, with particular reference to capital costs.IntroductionMany mine operators would agree that the pumping system usually receives a low engineering priority during the design stage, and as a consequence causes some of the most frustrating problems during production. For a ""dry"" mine (up to 200 gpm), design of the pumping system may indeed be simple, but outside of the potash industry such mines are not common. For ""wet"" mines, the pumping system is important because it significantly affects the initial capital and on-going energy costs of the mine and, in the area of sludge disposal, the working conditions and production costs. Indeed, a failure in the pumping system usually has serious, and sometimes disastrous, consequences.The intent of this paper is to outline the factors which should be considered in the design of a pumping system and to describe the types of pumps used in mine dewatering and relate them to practical operating systems."

Jan 1, 1980

By Anna Kate Miller, James J. Brady, Hamza Jaffal, Ritika Sangroya, Chadi El Mohtar, Wing Shun Kwan

"The design of an appropriate pre-grouting program can be the difference between a successful tunnel construction and an expensive on-the-go repair. However, current grout design relies heavily on rulesof- thumb and outdated charts. The geotechnical investigation is rarely targeted towards grouting design and the final grouting decisions are made based on fines content or soil classification. The current paper presents an experimental study performed to determine the optimal grout for a tunnel in soft ground below the ground water table (GWT). The testing program consisted of sieve analysis and undrained static triaxial tests on reconstituted sonic samples. Rheological tests were used to compare the different grout mixes and identify best candidates before performing one-dimensional permeation tests. Pressure and volume measurements during the permeation tests, along with the unconfined compression strength results on the permeated soils, helped evaluate the filtration potential for the different grouts and select the optimal grout.INTRODUCTIONConstruction of the Millwoods Double Barrel Replacement Project commenced in 2009 and was expected to be completed by 2015. To facilitate ongoing city development in south Edmonton, the City implemented construction of a major sanitary trunk network along 91st Street and 30th Avenue. The project involved the design and construction of approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) of 7.8-ft (2,400 mm) sanitary tunnel and 2.1 miles (3.4 km) of 11.5-ft. (3,500 mm) and 9.5-ft. (2,900 mm) storm tunnel. Part of the project also involved the conversion of the existing double barrel storm and sanitary trunk to full sanitary service, and reconnecting the local storm sewers from the double barrel pipe to the new storm tunnel. The tunnels range in depth from 26-ft. (8 m) to 115-ft. (35 m) and are being installed using a one pass system with precast concrete segmental liners."

Jan 1, 2016

By Raymond G. Travis

This paper, which describes mining methods and practices at the Hurricane Creek bauxite mine of Reynolds Mining Corp. in central Arkansas, 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 Hurricane Creek mine is in sec. 12, T. 2 S., R. 14 W., and sees. 7 and 18, T. 2 S., R. 13 W., Saline County, Ark., about 4 miles east of Bauxite. (See fig. 1.) Bauxite has been mined underground at the Hurricane Creek property since 1942. The operation is notable for relatively high recovery of bauxite under the adverse conditions of unconsolidated water-bearing overburden and unstable clay floor. Controlled caving, timbered stope walls, and efficient drainage systems on the surface and underground have minimized the problems and raised ore recovery about 25 percent above that formerly obtained.

Jan 1, 1961

By J. Kalynchuk, R. Poulin, R. Pakalnis, D. Peterson

"A market survey of all underground mines in Canada (Fig. 1) was completed to determine the ex1ent to which cable bolts are being used as ground support. One hundred and nine questionnaires were distributed with 65% of them being returned completed. As a result, the quantity, types and locations of cable bolt installations have been determined. In addition, the grout pumps used, time required and cost of installations have been addressed. The popularity of other support types used in underground mines is summarized.IntroductionRock reinforcement consists of installing support within the rock mass (internal) or within the excavation (external). Within the past twenty-five years several new types of ground support have been introduced within the mining industry. Cable bolts were first introduced to the Canadian mining industry in the 19605 (Gramoli, 1975).Cable bolts have gained increased acceptance as a method of ground support during the past decade. The cable bolt is comprised of one central wire surrounded by six slightly smaller outside wires and typically having an over-all diameter of 15.2 nun to 15.9 nun (0.6 in. to 0.625 in.). The cable wires are made from high-strength steel with an ultimate strength of 26 tonnes (58 000 Ibs) (Goris, 1990). Current cable bolting practice consists of cement grouting one or more steel cables within a drill hole in order to reinforce the surrounding rock mass. Cable bolts are a form of internal support and are generally used in open stoping and cut-and-fill mining methods (Fig. 2).They can be either tensioned (active support) or untensioned (passive support) and may be of any length, though for underground mining applications, they are generally less than 20 m (65.5 ft) and are untensioned. A major advantage compared to previously used ground support is that the cables are flexible and can be coiled to approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) diameter coils allowing relatively long support to be installed in areas with limited head room (1.8 m).With the advent of bulk mining methods which require comparatively large stopes, it has necessitated the use of relatively long support tendons to stabilize the large spans being created. As a result, the use of cable bolts for ground support in mines has increased significantly within the past decade."

Jan 1, 1995

By G. G. Eichholz

SUMMARY RADIOACTIVE dynamite has been prepared by introducing a small amount of antimony-124 into the explosive. Test work is described on the effectiveness of this tracer, on radiation levels in its neighbourhood, and on different methods of .application. Factors determining the choice of isotope, amount of activity, and overall cost of this process are discussed. INTRODUCTION Instances are known in which dynamite remains unexploded in drill holes in mining operations. Usually such 'bootlegs' are easily located by inspection of the face and the powder is removed before subsequent drilling is started. Occasionally, however, serious accidents occur because workmen drill into an undetected piece of dynamite. In order to avoid such accidents it was suggested that a different method of location might be tied, such as that afforded by the use of radioactive tracers. This paper describes some experiments that were carried out under the auspices of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, with the active co-operation of Canadian Industries Ltd. and Canadian Refractories Ltd., to test the feasibility of such a scheme.

Jan 1, 1957

By Sanjay Agarwal

Polymetallic sea nodule is a good source of manganese having 22.3% Mn, 5.4% Fe, 6.14% Si, 1.1% Cu, 1.15% Ni, 0.076% Co & others. These nodules are available in plenty on the sea beds, generated over thousands of years. Nodules mainly consist of manganese dioxide and iron oxide phases and other metals are entrapped in the complex cage of these Mn-Fe oxides phases.World-wide research is going on sea nodules as an alternative future source of many metals, which has led to intensified efforts to develop practical and economical processes for recovery of these metals. Very little attempt has been made world over on manganese extraction from sea nodules. We at CSIR-NML, India have developed a direct reduction smelting process of nodules to recover manganese as Fe-Si-Mn alloy. This alloy is extensively used in the steel industry as deoxidizer and as an alloying element to make different grades of steel. Lab scale experiments were conducted to study the manganese distribution between Fe-Si-Mn alloy and FeO-SiO2-MnO-CaO-Al2O3-MgO slag at different temperatures by varying the basicity of the slag. The direct reduction smelting of nodules is carried out on 1 kg scale in 50 kVA electric arc furnaces to have Cu, Ni and Co alloy and Mn rich slag. This manganese rich slag is further treated in 50 kVA arc furnace to produce Fe-Si-Mn alloy. The composition of Fe-Si-Mn alloy obtained is in the range of Mn: 60-65%, Si: 14-17%, C: 1- 2%, S: 0.03% and the balance iron which is acceptable grade for industrial use. The equilibrium amount of MnO in the final slag is controlled by the temperature of the final melt and the silica, lime, alumina content of the final slag. Increasing the basicity of the slag plays a major role in minimizing the loss of MnO to slag, increasing the amount of SiO2 of the slag, increases the manganese loss in the slag. Increasing the CaO/ Al2O3 ratio of the slag decreases the manganese loss in the slag. Increasing the MgO/CaO ratio of the slag increases the manganese loss in the slag. Thus by adjusting

Sep 1, 2012

By D. F. Boyd

On April 10, 1958 a new 7500 long ton/day iron ore beneficiation plant went on stream producing an average of 3000 long-tons of high quality concentrate a day. Plant operates on two, 12-hour shifts is six days per week, The new mill end crust ink plant were built adjacent to the company's open pit dining operate on at Bomi Hills, Liberia. The mall is essentially a gravity concentrator employing crushing, and grinding to liberate the mineral values, followed by concentration in Humphreys spirals. The cleaner spiral tailings are re-ground and tabled to recover additional iron values. Ire addition to. this mills the company operates a crushing and screening plant for the high grade direct shipping ores

Jan 1, 1962