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By F. H. Buchella

When Duval Sulphur & Potash Co. awarded pre- mining stripping and early mining at Esperanza to an independent contractor, it was agreed that monthly payments for excavation were to be made on a truck count. At six-month intervals, however, adjustments must be made on the basis of actual excavation or cut from the pit area. It was estimated that it would be three times more expensive to have the pit sectioned by chain and transit survey than to use photogrammetry, since it would take two crews of three men approximately two weeks to do the field work, another two weeks to plot the sections, and additional time to establish a control network. Therefore it was agreed to have the mine area mapped by photogrammetry for both the premined surface and for semi-annual check surveys necessary for intermediate settlements. A triangulation net was established with a maximum distance of 900 ft between control points. In about 30 working days a two-man survey crew, using a theodolite, set up and triangulated 30 stations and calculated their results. For ease in spotting on the photographs, control stations were marked on the ground with white-painted tires centered over the survey pins.

Jan 6, 1960

By M. L. Jeremic

Observations of ground behavior in mining the Choka Dulkan ore body have been described. Ore recovery was limited to approximately 60% because unconsolidated hydraulic fill did not permit either the widening of stope spans nor secondary ore recovery from pillars. Stope undercutting induced high stress concentrations. However, as extraction progressed, ground conditions improved but before extraction was complete they deteriorated again. After completion of a stope, the remnant rib and crown pillars continued to be deformed by other stresses for some time.

Jan 1, 1979

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons. ) The governing body of the Imperial College of Technology, London, S. W. (Royal School of Mines), will shortly proceed to the appointment of a Professor of Metallurgy. This important Chair has been filled in the past by such eminent metallurgists as John Percy, Sir William C. Roberts-Austen, and others. A large manufacturing company having two iron foundries, blast furnace, etc., requires the services of a chemist, metallographist, and metallurgical engineer qualified to give advice on cast iron practice, and to prescribe remedies for difficulties often met with in the usual iron foundry. The position of converter blower at a side-blow Bessemer steel casting plant is vacant.

Jan 5, 1913

By F. M. Sandoval, R. E. Ries, J. F. Power

Returning the original soil material to the surface of smoothed mine spoils is a practical means of restoring agricultural productivity. Research has established that high-sodium spoils in North Dakota: (1) must be covered with about 70 cm of soil material to achieve maximum production; (2) top-soil must be segregated and spread separately from subsoil; (3) potential production depends on the quality of the soil material returned; and (4) erosion and upward salt movement must be controlled for sustained production. Erosion is best controlled by reducing final grades as much as possible during the smoothing process followed by prompt establishment of vegetation.

Jan 12, 1979

JoHN W. BELL, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (communication to the Secretary*).-Mr. Taggart's reply illuminates a puzzling element in his original paper. Unconsciously, he has allowed practical considerations to influence some of his conclusions. In certain cases, he accepts the direct conclusions indicated by his Stadler efficiencies, and these are proved wrong by both the Rittinger and practical method for estimating efficiency. In other cases, a direct conclusion based on his Stadler figures would be so unsatisfactory to him, that he is. compelled to argue how he could have obtained satisfactory results if lie had crone something that

Jan 10, 1917

By B. R. Eichbaum, J. E. Murphy, J. A. Eisele

The US Bureau of Mines demonstrated ferric chloride leaching of galena concentrate on a continuous bench scale basis. Leaching was performed at 95°C (200°F) and with a contact time of 15 minutes. The ferric chloride leaching solution was continuously fed to a leaching tank at a constant rate for periods up to 45 hours. In each test, a constant redox potential was maintained in the slurry exiting the leaching tank by controlling the concentrate feed rate. In the 45 hour test, lead extraction exceeded 99.5%, and the lead chloride produced was 99.97% pure.

Jan 1, 1986

By Eugene Guccione

"Instead of just talking to ourselves we should inform the public of the grave problems that beset our profession and our industry." We've all heard and voiced that complaint at SME-AIME meetings; and if we were physicians, lawyers, pretzel retailers, or what-have-you, we'd hear and voice the same complaint at meetings of the American Medical Association, the Bar Association, the American Pretzel Institute, etc. Somehow we are all convinced or at least hope that if we could only, "get our message across to the public" (an extremely difficult and astronomically expensive proposition), everything would suddenly turn for the better. But would it? Hardly.

Jan 2, 1976

By Freeman Bishop

The Nation's capital has one over- riding minerals-metals question: How long will prices and wages continue to move upward at the inexorable pace of the last year? Is the wage pattern to settle this year around 10%? The big industrial unions are coming into line, some of them later this year. Steel is standing in the wings for next year. Copper, steel, nickel and most other industrial metals have taken big hikes in their stride. Aluminum, which is making inroads into areas of industrial use formerly sacred to copper and some other metals, seems to be fighting to hold down its prices to attract customers from the higher-priced metals.

Jan 1, 1970

By Dirk A. Benham, William A. Warfield

INTRODUCTION Whenever a mine operator is faced with a decision between various mining methods or even equipment selection, he must be assured that his decision will have a positive effect on his economic operating goals. For instance, if a mine operator has a choice of using an LHD mining system or a slusher mining system, then his decision to use either must not only fit within the operational limitations of the mining plan (such as production requirements, physical features of the ore body, mine plant facilities, manpower requirements, etc.), but also assure that the ore is being extracted at the least possible cost. To aid in his decision making process, the operator will commonly compare acquisition costs, operating costs, maintenance costs, and the operational advantages and disadvantages of each system in addition to considering his personal observations and feelings. A decision to select a mining system using only those criteria aforementioned will not necessarily lead the operator down the path to maximizing profits. In addition, the operator should also compare the economic effects of each system upon the overall mining operation. A relatively simple method for determining the economic effects is to calculate and compare the break-even grades for each system under consideration. By implementing such an analysis, the operator can now select a mining system which can operate within the limits of the mining plan as well as extract the ores at the least possible cost, thus yielding maximum profits. This paper will present the geologic and physical conditions of a mine being operated by the Hypothetical Mining Company in the Grants Mineral District. An LHD and Blusher mining system are under consideration and are compared by examining operating costs, equipment availability, and the conventional operational advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, the economic effects of each system upon the overall mine's operation are compared by utilizing break-even grade analysis. DESCRIPTION AND MINING METHODS The Hypothetical Mining Company has located an ore body in the Grants Mineral District. After extensive surface exploration drilling and cost considerations are evaluated, it is decided to open a mine. The following tasks must now be performed: 1. outline ore body and it's basic characteristics, 2. look at mining methods currently in use in the area, and 3. determine mining techniques and methods for exploitation of the ore body. For the sake of argument, the newly discovered ore body is located towards the western edge of the Grants Mineral Belt. The host rock for uranium mineralization is the Westwater Member of the Morrison Formation. The Westwater Canyon sands are overlain by the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation and underlain by the Recapture Member, all of Jurassic Age. Westwater Canyon sandstone is a fine to very course grained subarkosic sand with interbedded green and red mudstone. The Brushy Basin Member consists predominantly of greenish-gray mudstones and contains thin lenses of sandstone and a few thin beds of limestone. The Recapture Member consists of alternating thin beds of reddish brown, grayish red, and light gray sandstone and siltstone. The Recapture interfingers with the Cowsprings Sandstone in the area of the mine. The mineralization is based on the groundwater flow within the Morrison Formation. Primary ore distribution is based on three basic parameters: ore migration in a geochemical cell, lenticular mudstone interbedding, and enrichment along fault zones. In areas where two fault systems intersect, ore thicknesses of up to 30 m (100 ft.) are encountered. In those areas where the ore is well defined and thicknesses facilitate full face mining, the mining methods are determined more by ground or operating conditions, equipment availability, and access to working areas than they are in the fringe areas of the ore body where grade control is more important and split-shooting and break-even grade determines the mining technique. If a modified room-and-pillar mining method using systematic development is selected, better control of the ventilation, equipment utilization, and mining plan can be obtained. Figure I shows a typical mining area where the ore is thick,

Jan 1, 1982

By Alan E. Bland, Jerry G. Rose, Thomas L. Robl

This paper describes the observed variability of the chemical composition of coal preparation plant refuse for the major producing seams of Kentucky. Both the Appalachian Coal Field of eastern Kentucky and the Eastern Interior Coal Field of western Kentucky are represented. Also reported is the variability observed in the chemistry of the coal refuse due to cleaning, and the observed chemical variations between past and present production samples. This represents part of a larger study directed toward characterization and utilization of Kentucky coal refuse.

Jan 1, 1978

By W. G. Woolf, A. Y. Bethune

Filtration of hot (60°C) supersaturated zinc sulphate solution (sp gr 1.540) from slimy leach residues at the electrolytic zinc plant of Sullivan Mining Co., Kellogg, Idaho, is described. Separation of liquids and solids in the finished leach is by Burt filters modified to meet conditions of high-acid, high-density process for electrolytic zinc. Operating characteristics of the Burt filter on this pulp are presented.

Jan 5, 1950

By Charles Morgan

AN increased demand for brown iron ore in the Birmingham district during the past 18 months has caused renewed activity both in prospecting and mining these ores. In recent years the production in Alabama has ranged from 41,559 tons in 1932 to 639,351 tons in 1928. During the last 9 years about 83 per cent of the total brown ore produced in the United States has come from Alabama (Tables 1 and 2).

Jan 1, 1937

By Ingersoll Olmsted

These ores are of two classes, Bessemer and non-Bessemer, existing in separate, though adjoining, beds. Both are carbonates, with small admixtures of oxides and other combinations. To prepare them for market they are roasted in kilns, which have already been described by Mr. John Birkinbine at the Troy Meeting, October, 1883 (Trans., xii., 378). Concerning their size, arrangement, etc., I need, therefore, only repeat that they are 60 feet in height; have wrought-iron shells 24 feet in diameter; are lined with fire-brick, and supported by cast-iron mantel and columns.

Jan 1, 1889

By Isaac Vera, Hans Ruge

The El Soldado copper mineralization occurs as relatively high-grade irregular ore bodies with assay contacts and with frequent inclusions of barren rock. The sampling methods must be timely for production grade control purposes, as well as accurate and inexpensive. Sampling techniques evolved from sampling dump cars at the haulage level to sampling Scooptrams at the loading pockets. These methods were abandoned in favor of sampling production blastholes. Several sampling alternatives are discussed. These involve the selection of optimum volumes and sampling frequencies while taking into consideration geological parameters and statistical analyses of sampling data.

Jan 1, 1985

By D. G. Osborne

Transportation cost is a key factor in both the profitability and competitiveness of coal marketing. With coal exportation growing rapidly, moisture control is important. Although in some cases, too much moisture reduction can lead to losses in transportation and pollution problems, there is normally justification for reducing moisture by mechanical means as much as possible. This paper reviews current technology of dewatering coal fines and examines the comparative capabilities of screens, filters, and centrifuges. Financial considerations are stated and implications of capital and operating costs on selection are discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By K. A. Natarajan, I. Iwasaki

Electrochemical measurements were made wing chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite electrodes in aqueous solution containing a xanthute collector and ground ore mineral particles. The purpose was to investigate the electrochemical reactivity of ozone with respect to dissolved xanthute, surface adsorbed xanthute, and the sulfide mineral itself. Electro-chemical evidence for the removal of xanthate coatings from chulcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and platinum surfaces by ozone is presented. The oxidizing power of ozone is compared with that of oxygen and other common oxidizing agents to portray the superiority of ozone as an oxidant.

Jan 1, 1986

By W. J. Babyak, J. M. Sheehan, H. W. Paxton

THE- solubility of hydrogen and deuterium in solid niobium up to I-atm pressure has been established bv a number of workers.1-5 X-ray examination at room temperature of specimens reacted in hydrogen at high temperatures from 300° to 1000°C shows the presence of two phases—a bcc phase (a) based on the niobium lattice and with an u0, increasing from 3.30A for Nb to 3.32Afor NbHo.L, and an orthorhombic phase6n = 4.84A, h=4.90A, c =

Jan 1, 1960

By Gary E. McIntosh

This paper will discuss a US Bureau of Mines project designed to assess and predict the impacts which surface coal mining will have on the regional shallow groundwater system in the Powder River Basin. The primary objective will be met through the accomplishment of the following: (1) The design and establishment of a regional network for monitoring shallow groundwater systems in the basin; (2) monitoring the direction and rate of flow, water quality, and aquifer characteristics of the shallow groundwater systems; and (3) development of a regional groundwater simulation model, with appurtenant subroutines to determine local effects.

Jan 4, 1979

By Nicholas J. Grant, Olaf Troili, John Chipman

D. C. Hilty (Union Carbide & Carbon Research Laboratories, Niagara Falls, N. Y.)—How does this effect of silica compare with the effect of silica in combining with the lime in the slag to reduce the activity of CaO, thereby affecting the first equation? John Chipman(authors' reply)-—That is the object of showing this effect for slags of two different basicities. In the more basic, the silica is more firmly tied up in the slag and is less easily reduced. It is therefore less able to interfere with desulphurization. The important point is that silica is acting in two ways. Of course it is an acid and as an acid it ties up lime and in tying

Jan 1, 1952

By Ralph E. Wood

X-ray fluorescence analysis can be profitably applied in the mineral industry by improving evaluation and control analyses, while offering lower cost and greater speed than conventional methods. Chemical analyses are not only a major item of cost in exploration and mining, as well as in milling and chemical treatment, but often cause evaluation and control of processing steps to lag behind operations. In the fields of geology and mining, the X-ray technique can be employed without destroying samples and, if necessary, specimens can be analyzed and then used, unchanged, in other evaluation techniques. Results are quickly made available for decisions on progress of exploration or sorting of waste and ore.

Jan 6, 1959