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By J. R. Ross, J. B. Rosenbaum

Bureau of Mines research has resulted in the development of fluid- bed ion-exchange columns for recovering uranium from slime pulps. In pilot plant tests, slime slurries containing up to 6 percent solids were processed at flow rates of 10 gallons per square foot per minute with high uranium recoveries and efficient resin loadings. Uranium was effectively eluted in a laboratory fluid-bed elution column at eluate-to-resin ratios of less than 5:1 and eluate flow rates of 3 gallons per square foot per minute. Construction costs of mills using these improved ion exchange techniques are estimated to be 25 percent less than for mills using solvent extraction of clear solutions. For mills having a capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 tons of ore per day, the saving would be in the range of $2.5 million. In addition, a saving of about $0.80 per ton of ore in total operating costs is indicated.

Jan 1, 1973

By T. M. Gurr

The United States is the world's leading producer of phosphate rock. In 1975 according to the US Bureau of Mines' statistics, 44.3 million tonnes (48.8 million st) of phosphate rock were produced in the United States, l which is 40.6% of the world's production.2 The major phosphate producing areas of the United States are located in [Fig. 1] and the production for 1975 is listed as follows: [ ] All of these areas produce phosphate from deposits which are of marine sedimentary origin. Occurrences of phosphate exist throughout the United States in numerous locations that are of both igneous and sedimentary origins. However, these other phosphate occurrences vary greatly in extent and economic significance. Georgia, South Carolina, California, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Alabama, Kentucky, and Virginia are but a few of the states in which phosphate is thought or known to exist. The near future expansion will probably continue to be in, or near, existing producing areas, (i.e., Florida and North Carolina).

Jan 1, 1980

By P. B. Bucky

IN this day of steady progress in the mining industry, especially along mechanical lines, the question of whether to discard present equipment for that of a new type often engages the minds of many officials of mining companies. The rapid strides made from year to year sometimes cause this question to be brought up within a year after new equipment has been purchased and installed. It is a moot question whether a machine that has been purchased last year should be replaced by a new one put on the market this year. As I see it, the reasons for the replacement of present equipment may be summed up as follows: (1) because of increased safety; (2) because of legal regulations; (3) because of increased profits. I think all of us, as engineers, will endeavor to put in as safe equipment as it is possible to devise. The tendency of mining companies in that direction is very gratifying.

Jan 1, 1930

By Ian M. Thomson, Robert W. Greene

Last August, American Commercial Barge Line Co. (ACBL) began moving coal from mines on the old Camp Breckinridge property in Western Kentucky to TVA's new 2600 MW steam plant at Cumberland City, Tenn. By April of 1973, this movement will reach a level of 7 million tpy. TVA bought the coal rights to this property from the General Services Administration in 1965 for approximately $7 million and is now in possession of reserves containing about 120 million tons of recoverable No. 9 coal, and about the same recoverable amount of No. 11 coal. TVA then contracted through competitive bidding with Peabody Coal Co. to mine the No. 9 seam through two slope shafts. The mines are about 300-ft deep and are separated by the one major fault on this property. The mine portals are approximately 3 ½ mi apart, with the northern portal being over nine miles distant from the Ohio River.

Jan 1, 1971

A new $18-million hydrometallurgical ore treatment facility for the recovery of molybdenum oxide was dedicated at Climax, Colo., on November 19 by Climax Molybdenum Co., division of AMAX. The Company has been producing molybdenum from molybdenite (MoS2) ores since 1918. Now oxide values, formerly lost in the sulfide flotation plant tailing are to be processed to yield about 3 million Ib per year of metal. In 1965, Climax produced about 50% of world molybdenum from sulfide ore. This ore is mined at the rate of 42,000 tpd. The annual production of concentrate is 100 million lb containing 90% to 92% MoS2, or about 50 million lb of metal. As only a relatively small portion of the total Climax production is sufficiently enriched in oxide molybdenum to process through the new plant, 5700 tpd of selected ore containing 1.5 lb of Mo per ton is now treated by the new process.

Jan 12, 1966

By J. R. Campbell

During the past few years, the writer has had occasion to take several excursions into the realms of the washability of beds 3 and 4 of the Pocahontas coal and the proper handling of these coals in prepared sizes Fig. 1.—Washability curve for 4 by 2½-in. egg, PocahoKtas coal. Note that definite break occurs at about 1.60 sp. gr., and washing at this gravity removes all heavy rock and slate, amounting to about 5 per cent. Curve 2 indicates a bony coal, and washed egg coal might not have a good appcarance, and would be condemned by visual inspection, although it would be well prepared mechanically. to attain the greatest realization for the operator and yet produce a market product acceptable to the consumer. Preparation is not new in the southern field, but some new angles have presented themselves in recent years on account of the progress of mechanical preparation. Mechanical methods are entirely devoid of the five senses given to

Jan 1, 1931

By Wesley G. Josephson

THE MINING PROPERTY of the Argonaut Mining Co., Jackson, Calif., is one of the oldest on the Mother Lode. A vein outcropping on a hill in this section could not long elude the eye of the forty-niner, so it was first discovered in 1850. From that time until 1893 the Pioneer mine, as it was then called, limped along under various poorly equipped and financed operators who tried tapping it by trenching and tunneling. Then the Argonaut Mining Co. took over the property and sank the present 65° inclined shaft in the hanging wall of the vein. The mine workings have now reached the 6000-ft. level, which is 5283 ft. vertically below the surface, or just 3 ft. over a mile. The total production of the mine is uncertain, because of lack of early records, but from 1893 to 1932 it is known to have produced in excess of $17,000,000.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. D. Cannon

SLAGS studied in this investigation were from 0.25 to 0.35 pct plain carbon steels and were melted in a 3-ton acid-lined Lectromelt furnace with a 2500-kva transformer. The melting process employs a short, violent boil, which is partially blocked, and the desired carbon content is adjusted by pig iron or iron ore, depending on the preliminary carbon. A relatively small volume of slag is used in refinement. Bottom is here defined as that portion of the furnace that comes in contact with the molten metal, or all the surface below the slag line. Bottom trouble-i.e., holes in the bottom lining-is very seldom experienced at our plant. We have been watching the bottom lining over a period of some boo heats in the hope of having holes large enough to supply data for this report, but none occurred during that period. The bottom is eroded uniformly, occasionally with slightly deeper depressions around the taphole.

Jan 1, 1947

By V. Rajaram

The oil shales located in the Appalachian Basin cover an eight-state area of the eastern US and are referred to as Devonian (black) shales. These shales have been exploited for their gas potential for several years. The Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) has conducted research since 1972 on the production of shale oil from the Devonian shales. This resulted in the development of the HYTORT process. This process demonstrated that the yield from the Eastern oil shales can be greater than the value indicated by the Fischer assay method. IGT estimates that 67 Gm3 (423 billion bbl) of oil could be recovered by HYTORT processing of surface minable eastern US shales. Recently, American Syncrude Corp. and Southern Pacific Petroleum NL have proposed oil shale projects in Kentucky. This paper will describe the surface mining and retorting techniques that have been studied for exploitation of the Devonian shales, and enumerate the problems that have to be overcome before commercial production can be realized.

Jan 1, 1986

By James L. Hendrix, Pat Vreeland, Hamilton Vreeland, Marcel F. DeGuire, Peter L. Comanor

A study of the ground area surrounding the Getchell, Nev., gold mine mill tailings was conducted so that a better understanding of the effects of arsenic toxicity on Upper Sonoran vegetation could be obtained. The Getchell area was selected because of the known high values of arsenic currently contained in the tailings waste (1% or higher). Mill wastes as well as the scrubber product As2O3 are contained in the tailings pond. In order to determine the effect of the tailings disposal on the surrounding vegetation, plots and line-transect techniques were employed to obtain plant ecological information on the area surrounding the ponds, and also non-affected control plots. Data for percent ground cover, species frequency, and plant vitality as a function of distance from the tailings ponds were collected. In an attempt to isolate naturally occurring factors for varying plant communities from induced factors derived from the close proximity of the tailings, soil cores were

Jan 1, 1975

By R. P. Smith

THE carbon content of iron-silicon and of iron-manganese alloys at fixed activities of carbon has been reported previously.' It seemed desirable to investigate a system which allows a more extended range of alloy composition within a single phase region. The iron-nickel system is ideal in this respect, in that all alloys from 100 pct Fe to 100 pct Ni are face centered cubic ("austenitic") at 1000 °C. The experimental procedure was similar to that previously described.1,2 The alloys, in the form of pieces about 2 by 2 by 0.2 cm thick, together with a similar specimen of pure iron, were equilibrated with each of a series carbon monoxide-carbon dioxide tnixtures of fixed composition, quenched in the carburizing gas in the top of the furnace and then analyzed for carbon. The carbon content of samples containing more than 0.3 wt pct C was determined by the usual combustion method; those with less carbon

Jan 1, 1961

Western Mining Corp. has announced plans to expand its mining operations at Kambalda, and to build a nickel refinery at Kwinana, near Perth, Western Australia. The refinery will use the ammonia-leach hydrogen reduction processes of Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd., and it is expected that by 1970, when the expansion is scheduled for completion, Western will be the world's fourth largest nickel producer. Although estimates have not been finalized, the total cost is expected to be about $55 million. The mine and mill facilities at Kambalda, which began production in June 1967, are now producing at the rate of 11 million lb of contained nickel per year. The company estimates the sulfide ore reserves at Kambalda and St. Ives at 10.4 million tons averaging an usually high grade of 3.8% nickel, or about 790 million lb of contained nickel. In addition, silicate and oxidized ores have been located in both areas.

Jan 3, 1968

By P. H. Thornton

MaNY intermediate phases are solid solutions which have a solute-solubility range greater than 3 at. pct. These phases, which are generally very strong and often have simple crystal structures, are usually extremely brittle so that specimens of simple shape cannot be produced by the usual mechanical-deformation techniques. Furthermore, single crystals of reasonably uniform composition are difficult to grow by the Bridgman technique because the phases generally form by a peritectic reaction, which causes pronounced segregation. In this note, a technique is described for the preparation of thin-rod specimens of brittle intermediate phases, which may be used for physical-property studies such as resistivity changes' and for the conversion of such rods into single crystals. The method has been used for the preparation of rod single crystals of the phases and Ingots, of about 100 g weight and 11 mm diam, were made by melting together the appropriate amounts of high-purity materials (usually 99.999 pct) in sealed

Jan 1, 1967

By Fuad S. Maayeh, Robert J. Evans, Paul M. Yavorsky

A description and capabilities of the Mine Roof Simulator at the Pittsburgh Mining Technology Center is illustrated for testing longwall roof support equipment. This unique Mine Roof Simulator has the capacity to exert 3 million lbs. of compressive force vertically and 1.6 million lbs. of force horizontally to simulate loads on hydraulic supports typically found in longwall mining. The supports that undergo testing are instrumented with strain gauges and photoelastic coatings such that critically strained areas become readily apparent. These critically strained areas are redesigned or retrofitted with appropriate reinforcement and retested. A data base will be accumulated from several support designs that will lead to an optimized design that will have the potential to reduce downtime by malfunctions of supports and thus increase productivity. A typical test procedure and analysis is given for a two leg 350 ton shield along with a description for placement of strain gauges, displacement gauges, and hydraulic pressure monitors for critical sites.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. D. Groves, G. M. Potter, T. H. Jeffers

Experiments on ammonium carbonate leaching of native copper ores crushed to 1-inch size showed that in 30 days 55 percent of the copper was extracted from 0.7 percent copper conglomerate-type ore, and 85 percent was extracted from 2.1 percent copper amygdaloid-type ore. Cupric ions were not necessary to initiate leaching, and dilute solution containing only 2.2 grams per liter NH3 and 1.9 grams CO, was a suitable solvent. Copper was recovered from the leach liquor by solvent extraction and electrolysis of the strip solution. Cyclic testing of the leach-solvent extraction-electrolytic procedure is in progress on a 6-ton charge of minus 12-inch conglomerate-type ore assaying 2.2 percent copper. Oxygen is metered to the closed leach vessel as required by the leaching reaction. Initial copper dissolution was much slower than from minus 1-inch ore, but the leaching rate then markedly improved.

Jan 1, 1974

By G. Rinelli, A. M. Marabini

Flotation of rutile with N-benzoyl-N-phenyl-hydroxyhmine (N-BPHA) has been investkated. Initially, floatability tests were performed in a Hallimond tube. The results indicated that rutile was floatable at pH 2-4 with N-BPHA concentration between 2 x 10-3 mol/L and 2 x 10-2 mol/L. Selectivity against hematite was recognized when operating at pH values below 2. Following the hypothesis of the formation of a surface chelate between N-BPHA and titanium ion, this compound was precipitated from a solution of Ti (SO4)2 to which N-BPHA was added. I. R. spectrometry of the rutile before and after treatment with N-BPHA solution confirmed the presence of this compound on the rutile surface. Adsorption isotherm and kinetics were determined by analyzing N-BPHA in solution with an U. V. technique. A hypothesis on the way N-BPHA is adsorbed on rutile is presented.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. E. Dinger, Ross Gunn

Faraday's Law of magnetic induction states that the e.m.f. acting around a closed circuit is equal to the time rate of change of flux through that circuit. If the closed circuit is a conducting medium, there will flow an electric current which is propor¬tional to the conductivity of the material and the time rate of change of the flux. Electrical currents so induced in a con¬ducting material are often referred to as eddy currents. Eddy currents are thus induced into a conducting material by (1) a time rate of change of the magnetic field through the material, by (2) a relative motion of the conducting material and a magnetic field, or by (3) a combination of (1) and (2). Because the magnitude of the induced eddy currents is dependent upon the resistance of the equivalent conducting path, these currents offer a method of detecting electrical discontinuities in a

Jan 1, 1945

By Jesse Jones

1. BRINELL tests at progressively increasing temperatures are given for a representative lead-base and a representative tin-base babbitt, showing that the former has superior resistance to deformation at the working temperatures of bearings. 2. Small squares of bearing bronze, tinned and then babbitted with a representative lead-base babbitt and a representative tin-base. babbitt were subjected to compressive loading. The lead-base babbitt showed less average compression than the tin-base babbitt. Compression did not materially increase the Brinell hardness of the babbitts. 3. A process and a tool are described for giving smoother and more accurate surfaces to bearings than has heretofore been possible. The following experiments have recently been carried out in the chemical laboratory of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. While the work is incomplete, it is described at the present time because data on the comparative merits of lead-base and tin-base babbitts are of interest in connection with the present shortage of tin.

Jan 8, 1918

By S. Skowronski

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION Since cuprous chloride melts at 418° C., boils at 954° C. to 1033° C.,1 and is known to be volatile at a much lower temperature, the presence of chlorine in any form in or on copper to be melted has always been looked upon by copper refiners as a possible source of-serious copper loss. Although this fact has been known for some time, the copper literature contains little or no information regarding it and the field seems .never to have been properly investigated from a metallurgical standpoint. According to Greenawalt,2 cupric chloride, CuCl2, when ignited gives cuprous chloride; therefore cuprous chloride is always formed when copper enters into reaction with chlorine at a high temperature. Cuprous chloride melts somewhat below a dull red heat, and does not volatilize in closed vessels, even if strongly heated, but if heated in the air it goes off as a white vapor. Hofman3 gives the melting point of cuprous chloride

Jan 2, 1919

By Vassiliki G. Stavropoulou

Although plane-strain is the preferred method of analysing many rock mecahnics problems, little is known about the behaviour of rock under this loading condition. A simple and inexpensive apparatus has been built for laboratory testing of rocks in plane-strain conditions. A thorough .investigation of the specimen geometry and the friction end effects showed that the results can be considered as reliable. The behaviour of a brittle sandstone in the simplest plane-strain condition [(03 = 0)] is significantly different than that of the uniaxial compression [(02 = U3 = 0)]. The plane-strain values of the Young's Modulus and the Poisson's Ratio are decreased in comparison to the corresponding uniaxial values. Dilatancy is also reduced in plane-strain, whereas the pre-failure brittleness of the rock increases. The most dramatic effect of the plane-strain condition is that on the strength of the sandstone, which increases by 49 per cent in comparison to its uniaxial compression value.

Jan 1, 1982