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By V. R. Degner

The trend in both the metallic and nonmetallic mining industry is toward processing increasingly higher tonnages of lower grade ores, thereby resulting in a growing interest in progressively larger volume individual machines in the flotation circuit. Because of the relatively high cost of large flotation machine development and evaluation, it is important to establish a rational basis by which the existing smaller flotation machine experience can be extrapolated to establish the configuration of the next larger family of flotation machines with a minimum of development modification in the field. This Paper reviews the R&D approach used in translating smaller flotation machine experience to the configuration of a 28.3 m3 (1000 cu ft) induced air machine. Internal cell hydrodynamic principles, which governed this extrapolation, and cell (liquid) surface and froth management considerations will be reviewed, and prototype machine mill tests will be summarized.

Jan 1, 1981

By Richard H. Sprute, Dennis J. Kelsh

Slow-settling, fine-grained suspensions can often be dewatered and densified by applying direct current between buried electrodes. Although water removal rates and power expenditures depend on physical and chemical properties of the treated slurries, metal mine tailings from Idaho, Colorado, and Mexico have responded well in laboratory testing, as have 29 samples of ultrafine coal waste from mines in nine states. This Bureau of Mines report reviews field tests at two Idaho metal mines and describes the recent installation at the Henderson molybdenum mine near Empire, Colorado, and the treatment of coal sludge at a Clinchfield Coal Co. preparation plant near Dante, Virginia.

Jan 1, 1980

By Dennis K. Mortensen

Startup of the 9000 tpd Sacaton concentrator is expected to increase Asarco's domestic copper concentrate capacity by 21%. The plant site is located due west of the mining operations, consisting of both crushing and concentrating facilities. Arthur G. McKee & Co. served as the prime contractor for the project. The Sacaton mineralization contains both sulfide and oxide ores. Primary mineral constituents are chalcocite, azurite, malachite, chrysocolla, and minor amounts of silver and occasional gold. Sulfides are distinguished from oxides when more than half the total copper content is in the form of a sulfide copper mineral. While non-sulfide copper minerals are considerably less prevalent throughout the orebody, they tend to occur quite intimately with the sulfide minerals, particularly in the upper zones of the mineralization. For this reason the decision was made to treat all the ore in a flotation circuit using existing sulfidizing methods.

Jan 11, 1974

By Chester O. Ensign

Results of the application of geologic knowledge to grade control have been remarkable. Grade reduction from dilution has been diminished from greater than 9% at the time of the program's beginning to about 2% at present. This has resulted in an increase of about 1.8 lb of copper per ton of ore mined and has made a substantial contribution to earnings at White Pine during the past two years. Even more improvement is expected in the future. The White Pine orebody, situated in the southwestern portion of the Keweenaw peninsula of upper Michigan, is a gently dipping stratiform or bedded deposit. Copper distribution is stratigraphically controlled with higher values being confined to specific beds in the ore column. Room-and-pillar mining is practiced. Mining technique and geologic characteristics present a special array of problems in controlling the grade of ore.

Jan 4, 1964

By P. T. Carter, A. B. Murad, H. B. Bell

N. A. Gokcen (Michigan College of Mining and Technology, Houghton, Mich.)—The activities of silica, represented in Fig. 5 for the systems MnO-SiO2 and CaO-SiO2, are in disagreement with the established binary phase diagrams. At Ns102 = 0.50 in MnO-SiO2, and at Ns102, = 0.65 in CaO-SiO2, each binary system is saturated with respect to silica at 1550°C, and therefore as102, is unity in each case. The curves for as102 (FeO-SiO2) and as102, (MnO-SiO,) should nearly co-

Jan 1, 1953

The Library of the above-named Societies is open from 9 A.M to 10 P. M. except on holidays. It contains about 70,000 volumes and 90,000 pamphlets, including sets of technical periodicals and publications of scientific and technical societies. Members of the Institute, with few exceptions, are forced to spend a portion of their time in localities isolated from sources of information. To these the Library, through its Library Service Bureau, can render valuable service through correspondence; letters requesting information will receive especial attention. The Library is prepared to furnish references and photographic copies of articles on mining and metallurgical subjects; to determine the existence of mining maps, and to furnish general information on the geology and mineral resources of all countries. All communications should he made as definite as possible so that the information received may he what is desired and not include collateral matter which may not be of interest. The time spent in searching for such collateral matter will be saved, and the information will be sent more promptly and in more usable shape.

Jan 6, 1918

By J. T. Ryan

WITH J. T. Ryan, of Pittsburgh, in the chair, 40 men on Monday afternoon were attracted to the first meeting of the new Health and Safety in Mines Committee. The speakers were well received and the discussion was good and virile. The field and scope of the new Health and Safety in Mines Committee was reviewed briefly, yet concisely, by Scott Turner. This committee is to cover the whole mining industry, in which much progress in reducing accidents has been made in recent years. Members of the A.I.M.E. can considerably assist in this important problem.

Jan 1, 1933

By G. E. Klinzing, S. H. Chiang, R. M. Kakwani

Filtration and dewatering results of -500 µm (-32 mesh) Pittsburgh seam coal are discussed with reference to the microscopic structure parameters, i.e., particle segregation in the cake and particle and pore size distributions at different layers. At low solid concentration of 0.33 kg coal/kg water, a non-uniform cake structure is observed where particle and pore sizes increase from the top to bottom layers in the filter cake. An increase in the solid concentration in slurry produces more uniform cake structure and higher filtration and dewatering rates. Air bubble entrapment in the coal filter cakes is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By William Laird

The predominent method of coal mining in the United States for years has been room-and-pillar mining. The reason for this has been the advantages of room-and- pillar method which is a relatively flexible system and its capital investment. The room-and-pillar method permits some selectivity in mining, especially where gas wells, faults and possible coal quality may be a factor. The mobility of continuous and conventional mining equipment used to develop entries may also be used for retreat mining of rooms and pillars. Longwall mining of coal takes place along a long straight face, or wall, blocked out between two butt or panel entries. The long faces or walls are normally projected in lengths of 61 to 183 m (200 to 600 ft) in this country. The longwall method of mining had its beginning in the United States during the 1800's. During that period, pack wall and wood posts were used for roof support. The longwall face was mined by miners using picks to undercut the coal. To keep the coal face from turning over, short wood posts called sprags were set in a slant position as the coal face was undercut to the depth of two to three feet. When the under-cutting cycle was completed, the sprags were removed to permit the coal to fall from the roof pressure. The longwall mining of coal did not take a firm hold during the 18009s, and room-and-pillar prevailed. In the early 19009s, steel jacks were introduced, and along with it, the modified caving theory. In March of 1950, a retreat longwall mining system, utilizing a plow, manually operated props, wood cribs and chock releases, was installed in one of Eastern Associated Coal Corp.'s mines.

Jan 1, 1981

Do not write until you have something to say. Think first; then write. In order to be understood, you must know what you wish to say. Clear writing is the consequence of clear thinking. Therefore consider your subject well before you begin to write; ruminate on it; marshal the salient facts in your mind; saturate yourself with the ideas you wish to express and with cognate ideas; then express yourself deliberately. If you are bubbling over with your subject the words will come, but you might as well expect to sail without a breeze as hope to give life to words without the living thought. Here I may advert to the fact that among the uneducated it is a common expectation to acquire the knack of writing without taking the trouble to study the art of literature. I overheard a woman in a suburban train remark to her neighbor: "I'd like to be able to write well without stopping to think about it". She was one of many that would like to do a thing well without the trouble of thinking; but it cannot be done in respect of anything to which thought is essential. The possession of a good voice does not justify a person in expecting to sing successfully to a large audience; before singing in public one has to master the technique of singing; one has to learn first how to breathe properly, how to enunciate, and many other things. The successful singer is an artist, not a megaphone. Most of us would regard a man or a woman without any training in the art of singing as a fool or an impostor if he or she were to give a public concert, yet we do not recognize the equal foolishness and imposture of persons that write books before they have studied the technique of writing. That is why so many books are unreadable, and why many books by clever men are difficult to read. They start to write books before

Jan 1, 1931

By W. R. Johnson

In the spring of 1935 the writers undertook to compare the geomagnetic and direct-current earth-resistivity methods of tracing a concealed dike along its strike. As far as they are aware no such direct test has been attempted.# The area surveyed lies along United States Highway number 15 about one and one-half miles east of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and northeast of Bolin Creek (Fig, 1). To the south of the highway is the flood plain of Bolin Crook, and to the north is a hill that rises almost to the elevation of Chapel Hill. A diabase dike, which strikes slightly west of north, out-crops in a. gully just south of the highway. Southward it has been covered by alluvium but northward outcrops again on the southeastern slope of the hill north of the highway. South of the highway the country rock is Triassic shale and sandstone, the northern limit of which is slightly north of the road. On the Geological Map of the United States I the pre-Triassic formations are shown as lower Glenarm and assigned a pre-Cambrian age. Since the ago of the Glenarm has been called into question in Pennsylvania 2, the writers prefer not to commit themselves as to the ago of these rocks further than to say that they are definitely pre-Triassic.

Jan 1, 1937

By Robert M. Dreyer

During the past two decades, synthetic abrasives have taken over successively greater percentages of the high-grade abrasive market, so that now, with the exception of natural diamonds (discussed in section 3.15.4C of this chapter), the importance of natural high-grade abrasives is negligible. The predominance of synthetic abrasives is indicated in Table 15.4A.1. This shows that the 1968 value of domestically produced synthetic abrasives (excluding synthetic diamonds) was over $80 million, whereas the value of garnet, the largest domestically produced, natural high-grade abrasive, was less -than $2 million. The major synthetic abrasives (other than synthetic diamonds) are: alumina, silicon carbide, boron carbide, tungsten carbide, and metallic oxides, including various iron oxides. A major advantage of synthetic abrasives is that the size and shape of grain can be closely controlled during manufacture. Although Table 15.4A.1 gives the average price of synthetic abrasives, such averages are of somewhat limited value. This is because the actual price varies within wide limits, depending on composition, hardness, size, and shape of grain. In 1968 the approximate total consumption of abrasives in the United States was valued at about $200 million, of which about two-fifths was in the form of synthetic abrasives (other than diamonds), one-third in synthetic diamonds, and the remainder in natural diamonds. Natural abrasive products, such as silica sand, tripoli, and pumice, are important in the low-cost abrasive field. Of the low-cost abrasives, silica sand continues to be the most important, with domestic production of about 300,000 tons at a value of $1.8 million (see Table 15.4A.1). In general, the lower the sales price of the abrasive product, the more limited is the market which can be served from a given production center. Each abrasive has applications for which it is especially useful, but there is a continual struggle among abrasive suppliers to induce substitution of one product for another. Such substitution can be stimulated by changes in method of preparation affecting hardness, shape, and size of grain.

Jan 1, 1976

By A. Kounosu, T. Fujita, J. Shimoiizaka, K. Nakatsuka

Stable aqueous dispersion of magnetite colloid of about 10 nm in diameter was obtained by allowing an anionic or nonionic surfactant to adsorb on the hydrophobic surface of magnetite particles prepared by monomolecular adsorption of oleate. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium oleate and poly (oxyethylene) nonyl phenyl ethers whose hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) are higher than 12 were suitable for giving a second adsorption layer to obtain a stable dispersion. Stability of the colloidal suspensions depends upon pH of the solution and is controlled by the dissociation of the adsorbed surfactant in the second layer. The addition of ethyleneglycol, which was used for lowering the freezing point of the dispersion, did not affect the stability when used in amounts smaller than 60% of water. Preparation of diester-based ferrofluids was also attempted by the same procedure using a nonionic surfactant as second layer molecule. Hydrophobic magnetite colloid, which had been preliminarily coated with mono-molecular oleate, was suspended in di(2-ethylhexyl) agipate, azerate, and sebacate respectively, and dispersion stability was investigated by adding various poly (oxyethylene) nonyl phenyl ethers of different HLB values. It was found that those with HLB values between 10.9 and 13.3 were suitable for this purpose. Stabilities of the dispersions in a magnetic field were investigated up to 1 T by applying an electromagnetic field. No separation of dispersant was observed and each magnetite dispersion displayed the characteristics of a magnetic fluid.

Jan 1, 1980

By Ronald J. Roman

All mining and milling complexes can, within limits, operate at a variety of production rates. Factors of economic importance that are affected by production rates are costs per unit production, recovery, and product grade. Once the relationship between the production rate and cost is established, dynamic-programming techniques can define the optimum production schedule (i.e., the production schedule that maximizes the present worth of the operation) for the life of the deposit. In general, the optimum production rate is not constant for the life of the deposit, but declines gradually as the deposit is being exhausted.

Jan 1, 1972

By Thomas M. Drown

The process for determining phosphorus in iron now in most general use in the laboratories of iron and steel works, is, I think, the one proposed bv Mr. Emmerton." In this process the solution of the iron for precipitation by ammonium molybdate is effected by treating the iron with nitric acid, evaporating to hard dryness in a dish, taking up with hydrochloric acid and driving off the greater portion of the hydrochloric by nitric acid. This procedure accomplishes, first, the destruction of all the carbonaceous matters; and, second; it renders all the silica insoluble. Experience has proved the former—the complete oxidation of the carbon—to be absolutely essential; but the explanation usually given, namely, that unless the carbon compounds are destroyed they will have a solvent action on the yellow precipitate, I am inclined to

Jan 1, 1890

By J. F. Enrietto

It is shown that one cannot approximate the broad internal friction Peaks observed in the Fe-Mn-N system as the sum of a number of subsidiary Peaks and still vetain the concept of a single relaxation time. Furthermore, the approximation of manganese affectirg only nearest neighbor interstitial sites is shown to be incompatible with the experimental results. The results of this experiment show that the influence of manganese in the ferrite lattice extends over 3 to 4 atomic distances. NUMEROUS experiments have shown that the presence of relatively small amounts of substitutional alloying elements can profoundly affect the profile of the damping spectrum in the vicinity of the Snoek peak in bee metals.1-7 Dijkstra and Sladekl observed this phenomenon in Fe-Mn-N alloys where it appeared as a broadening and shifting of the Snoek peak to higher temperatures. The authors interpreted this as being the result of a superposition of two damping maxima—the normal Snoek peak, located at its usual position and having a normal half-width, and an interaction peak having a normal half-width, but occurring at a somewhat higher temperature. They prclposed that the interaction peak was caused by nitrogen atoms jumping from Fe-Mn sites to Fe-Fe sites, the Fe-Mn interstitial sites having one manganese and one iron atom as nearest neighbors, and the Fe-Fe sites having two iron atoms as nearest neighbors. They further suggested that the Fe-Mn sites had a lower energy than the normal Fe-Fe sites because of the presence of the adjacent manganese atoms. From the relative heights of the two postulated damping peaks, the dif-

Jan 1, 1962

By John E. Sweet

THERE have already been so many subjects of a purely mechanical nature presented to the Institute of Mining Engineers, that it is unnecessary for me to apologize for adding another to the list. When a new invention, or what is supposed to be a new invention, claiming simply an improvement on the well-known devices, is to be described, it is usual to point out the defects of the old and give a history of the object or the art up to date. But, as no doubt a large proportion of the members of this Institute know as much, or more, about the history and use of the steam-engine indicator than I do myself, I will not further preface the subject, than to remind you that what called for the Richards's improvement on the Watt's indicator was high speed ; that the leading improvement was the reduction of momentum in the reciprocating parts; and that this was accomplished by making the parts lighter, and reducing the travel of the heaviest of them, and consequently the speed and momentum. The use of the indicator has been extended, for the speed of steam-engines and other prime movers has been increased, until one engineer at least, John Cooper, of Philadelphia, says, "I want an indicator that will work up to a thousand revolutions." Mr. Thompson, of the Buckeye Steam-Engine Company, of Salem, Ohio, has improved on the Richards's indicator by another reduction in the momentum, which is done by putting the parallel motion nearer the fulcrum of the pencil arm, reducing both weight and travel. The characteristic feature of the indicator I am going to illustrate is a still further reduction in the same direction, which is accomplished by dispensing with the parallel motion altogether. As is often the, case, in putting a simple idea into shape, some difficulties

Jan 1, 1879

By Bailey Willis, George Otis Smith

I. Summary of General Features. Location.—The Clealum iron-ore deposits occur on Clealum river, a tributary of the Yakima river; in the eastern spurs of the Cascade range, Washington.† Mount Stuart, 9470 feet in altitude, is a dominant peak of the district, which will therefore be referred to as the Mount Stuart district. By way of the valley and cañon of the Clealum, the ores are 18 miles from Roslyn, the colliery-town, which is reached by a short branch from the Northern Pacific Railroad. Where they occur the valley has an elevation of 2900 to 8000 feet above sea; that of the end of the branch railroad at Ronald is 2345 feet. The grade of the valley from near Ronald to the junction of the Clealum and Salmon Lasac rivers, 144 miles, is 20 feet per mile; thence to the iron-ores it is 130 feet per mile, through a cañon 241/2 miles long. Abreast of the deposits the western wall of the valley is formed by precipices of sandstone; the eastern slope is comparatively gentle, being cut in easily eroded

Jan 1, 1901

LOUIS Buchman walks down the hall of Kennecott's Chrysler Building offices as if he belonged there, but it wasn't his setting of choice. The West has become his home, that and the scene of operations is there. When he was a child his family came to the United States from Latvia and settled in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where he went to school and on to Michigan College of Mines. Graduating with B.S. and E.M. degrees, he headed west in 1907 to the mining camp of Ophir, in the state where he spent the bulk of his career - Utah.

Jan 5, 1953

By N. A. Parlee, A. E. Lord

Measurements of the solubility of lead in liquid iron were made at 1550°, 1600°, 1650°, and 1700°C using two different methods, i.e., 1) liquid iron-liquid lead equilibration and 2) liquid iron-lead vapor equilibration. LEAD was long considered insoluble in liquid iron1. Today steels containing 0.15 to 0.35 pct Pb are used. One laboratory has found a solubility of about 0.5 pet in the 1600°C range. Recently Miller and Elliott2 gave 0.60 pct as the result of one determillation at 1540°C. Because these findings resulted from the

Jan 1, 1961