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By John C. Machisak

INJURY DATA and experience at, coal mines in the United States for 1953 and 1954 are presented in this publication with a minimum of interpretation and comment because of the numerous tables required to afford detailed comparisons between the 2 years. Corresponding tables for 1953 and 1954 follow in consecutive order under the following general sections: (A) General injury experience: Tables 1 to 11: Contain current data on number of fatal and nonfatal injuries, frequency and severity rates, and average severity and time-loss rates. (B) Selected injury data: Tables 12 to 85: Contain current data on causes of injuries, distribution of injuries by part of body injured, days of disability, extent of hand and machine loading, experience by employment and production groups, and various other operating factors and physical conditions related to the occurrence of injuries at the Nation's coal mines.

Jan 1, 1958

By M. H. Kline

Round Mountain is one of a number of locations investigated by the Bureau of Mines in its search for manganese deposits during the early phases at the strategic minerals program. The Suiter mine, on Round Mountain, had provided some 5,000 tons of manganese concentrates during the period 1917 to 1919, and early in 1941 prospecting by the Virginia Hardwood Lumber Co. in this same area had discovered manganese on what later became known as the Hall Pit. These promising indications encouraged the Bureau to begin an exploration project in search of additional reserves of manganese on Round Mountain in January 1942 (fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1948

By Tim Watson

Andacollo Hypogene Project ?Overview Project description: Sulphide copper concentrator Throughput:55,000 tpd Location: Approximately 50 km from La Serena Elevation: Approximately 1,000 m ASL Start feasibility study: July 2005 Start of construction: May 2007 Construction completion: December 2009 Final cost(1,2,3):435 Million US $ (1) Excludes third party costs, 220 kV power line (2) Cost is based on a Chilean Peso to US Dollar foreign exchange rate of 535 to 1 (3) Does not include US$40.3 million for the Elqui River Pipeline Project or US$8.0 million for the stock pile cover

May 1, 2010

By Forest J. Sur

"This report describes an exploratory project conducted by the Bureau of Mines on a fluorite deposit near Vado, N. Mex. Results of trenching are given. Together with analyses made upon samples of the ore. The Federal Geological Survey3/ completed a preliminary geologic study and mapped the deposit during the summer of 1944. A Bureau engineer examined the deposit in August 1944. As a result of these investigations, it was concluded that the deposit contained substantial inferred ore reserves. Exploratory work was recommended to obtain information that might possibly lead to production from the property. Assistance was given the Bureau by the Geological Survey.A gasoline-powered air compressor, other equipment, and supplies were delivered to the property from January 20 to 25, 1943. Trenching began under the direction of a Bureau of Mines engineer on January 25, 1947, and ended on March 15, 1945. The results of trenching and sampling form he basis of this report.In its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy. IT is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, R.G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests. Both these branches are under the supervisions of Dr. R. S. Dean, assistant director."

Sep 1, 1946

Organization Place Date 1917 American Electrochemical Society Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct. 3-6 American Institute of Mining Engineers St. Louis, MO. Oct. 8-13 American Gas Institute : Washington, D. C. Oct. 16-19 American Institute of Architects Philadelphia, Pa. _ Dec.. 26-29 American Society of Mechanical Engineers New York City. Dec. 26-29 American Mining. Congress State Chapter Phoenix, Ariz. Dec. 26-29

Jan 10, 1917

By Gennaro Marino

Documented case histories are studied where data were found on the initial collapse of the overburden above the longwall panels. Under this scenario, the most controlled conditions exist for assessing the span capacity of the overburden (i.e., before failure the roof spans to fin coal abutments on two to all four sides). In an attempt to correlate theory to field observations, data are used on the overburden lithology, and the depth, width, and face advance of the panel, as well as, the subsidence conditions noted on the surface. The subsidence measured on the surface is used to determine when complete failure in the over- burden rock has occurred.

Jan 1, 1987

By R. Strydom, J. H. Selby, J. Slabbert, W. Enslin

Zircon is a naturally occurring silicate of zirconium, which is used in large quantities (~1 million tonnes per annum) for its refractory properties and its extreme chemical inertness. All zircons contain uranium and thorium bound into the crystal lattice, generally at levels up to 500 ppm of uranium plus thorium. This paper focuses on one aspect of the zircon industry—the ability to safely transport large quantities of zircon sand. Currently zircon is not classified as a radioactive material for transport purposes. However, this is because of a factor used in the exemption clauses of the IAEA code on safe transport of radioactive materials. The objective of this study was to determine the validity of this factor, and was submitted as part of an IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP). The study is based primarily on measured rather than modelled data and covers the transport of large quantities of zircon from producers in South Africa to customers in Europe. Both occupational exposure of workers and exposure of members of the public have been considered. The transport routes studied cover rail, road, ocean-going ship and inland barge transport of unpackaged bulk products. The study showed that the most exposed member of the public would receive 10µSv/annum,while the most exposed worker would receive 144µSv/annum of exposure. It is concluded that these levels are well below all regulatory limits for such activities involving naturally occurring materials. The study also showed that normal operational exposures are higher than those in accident scenarios, a feature which does not occur with higher activity materials. It is further concluded that the study validates the use of the factor of 10 in TS-R-1, as applied to zircon sand. Additionally it is also concluded that the exemption currently applied to the transportation of bulk zircon sand is valid.

Jan 1, 2003

By Ramsden AR, French DH

The limited contrast range of conventional black and white imaging does not enable full use to be made of the dynamic range of the video signal obtained from a scanning electron microscope or microprobe. The use of false colour substantially increases the information that can be derived from such images enabling relationships to be displayed that cannot be observed in black and white. This capability is now used extensively in combination with quantitative electron microprobe analysis as a research tool for ore characterization and host rocks studies related to minerals exploration in the CSIRO Division of Exploration Geoscience.

Jan 1, 1989

By Fred Heivilin

A symposium on the characterization and toxicology of mineral dusts was held Sept. 19 and20 in Washington, D.C. The symposium was held to update the minerals industry, the health community, government agencies and academia on the technical, health and regulatory aspects of minerals to be evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).In October 1996, the IARC met in Lyon, France, to discuss and prepare “Volume 68 of the IARC Mono-graphs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans on Silica, Silicates, Dusts and Organic Fibers.”

Jan 1, 1996

By G P. Bates

The rationale for the design of the Emergency Egress (escape andentrapment) strategy for one underground metal mine has beenpreviously described (Brake, 1999). Two of the key conclusionsfor this mine, which is equipped with 30 minute oxygen-generating self-contained self-rescuers (SCSR), were the need to ensure no person is ever more than 750 m from an emergency refuge station (ERS) and that it could take up to eight hours to rescue workers from undergroundå. These conclusions were based on a number of considerations including the non-availability of a credible, æpersonalÆ entrapment procedure at the workplace, the duration of self-contained self-rescuers when used for travel, the need for rapid æclearingÆ of mine personnel to effectively and safely target mine search and rescue resources and the maximum time to either put a fire out, or to rescue affected personnel. As there is no Australian standard for refuge stationsç (or for self-rescuers), this paper follows with guidelines for the location and specification of both fixed (permanent) and relocatable Emergency Refuge Stations (ERSs) that may be applicable to other underground Australian metal mines.

Jan 1, 1999

By G. Pizzi, G. M. Ciucci, G. L. Chierici

The use of the material balance equation to estimate the volume of hydrocarbons originally present in a reservoir, whose producing mechanism is partly due to water drive, has been discussed in the literature by several authors. There is no general agreement upon the possibility of obtaining reliable results by this method. Gas reservoirs in contact with an active aquifer are considered in this paper. Theoretical considerations based on the cybernetic principle of uncertainty (which states that the internal structure of a system cannot be uniquely determined from its observed external behavior) lead to the conclusion that the volume of gas originally present in a reservoir of this type cannot be uniquely determined from its past history. The range of values which encompasses the actual value of the reserves varies from case to case and must be determined by either numerical or analogical methods. Results obtained for six gas fields are reported. All these fields were produced with small fluctuations in their production rates, as is common practice for gas reservoirs; no gas storage fields were considered. Results obtained show that reserves values in a range of 1 to 2, associated with appropriate aquifers, allow the matching of the reservoir past history with mean-square deviations less than the experimental errors involved in pressure and produclion measurements. Similar results have been found in several other partial water drive gas reservoirs. From these results it is concluded that gas reserves cannot be uniquely determined from the past performance of partial water drive reservoirs, at least in cases where the reservoir has been submitted to small fluctuations in the production rates, and pressure data of normal accuracy are available. INTRODUCTION A number of authors have analyzed the problem of estimating the reserves originally present in a partial water drive reservoir from its past pressure-production performance. Literature which deals with this subject can be grouped, according to their conclusions, as follows. 1. A reliable value for the reserves can be obtained even if reservoir data (pressure and cumulative production) are affected by errors within the normal range.'-' 2. A reliable value for the reserves can be obtained only if reservoir data are very accurate'- or if past production performance has been subjected to abrupt variations in the production rate."' 3. No unique value for the reserves can be obtained from reservoir past production performance. This conclusion has been based upon theoretical considerations" and verified in several field cases. The purpose of this paper, which deals only with partial water drive gas reservoirs, is to test the above conclusions against actual field cases. Some theoretical considerations on this problem are also presented. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS As the behavior of a gas reservoir communicating with an aquifer depends on both the aquifer and the reservoir characteristics, the physical system to be studied is the combined gas reservoir plus aquifer. The information which is available for studying the performance of such a system is the well production rates and bottom-hole pressures, all given as functions of time. The external behavior of the reservoir-aquifer system is therefore described by 2n input variables (Gp, Wp,) and n output variables (p,), n being the number of wells in the reservoir. In reservoir engineering it is common practice to consider the reservoir as a whole, disregarding the internal distribution of pressures and of producing wells. This practice is equivalent to substituting the above multi-variable system with a single-variable system, where the average reservoir pressure is the only output variable and the cumulative production G,(t) and W,(t) are the input variables. The internal structure of such a system, defined by initial gas reserves G, aquifer shape and dimensions, boundary conditions and petrophysical parameters distribution throughout the aquifer, is unknown. Therefore, from a cybernetic point of view the system is a "black-box It has been demonstrated" that for a blackbox the indetermination principle holds. Accordingly, the number of different internal structures (or set of parameters) which can account for the observed external behavior is infinite. As a consequence, the initial reserves cannot be uniquely determined from the reservoir past performance. When W,(t) is known, the determination of G from

By James W. Neill

Discussion of the paper of H. 0. Hofman, presented at the Canal Zone meeting, November, 1910, and printed in Bulletin No. 42, June, 1910, pp. 473 to 497. JAMES W. NEILL, Pasadena, Cal. (communication to the Secretary *) :-Professor Hofman's paper brings the art up to . date. As I was one of the pioneers in this business, I beg to give the following incomplete data regarding my efforts in this line. In the year 1883, while I was in charge of the smelting-operations at Mine La Motte, Mo., there was at the concentrator an unusually large production of a middle product, locally called "iron," which carried considerable values in nickel and cobalt, and which it was desirable, for this reason, to treat by itself. The works could not spare a furnace for the purpose; and to handle this product I improvised a "roast-hearth " from an old " lead-hearth." This was a small cast-iron furnace of the usual construction, about 2 by 4 ft. in dimensions, with a hollow cast-iron back, through which the wind circulated before entering the tuyeres. I had a cast-iron grate made to fit this hearth, and placed it flush with the lip, or apron, and above the tuyeres. On this grate, which had round holes about 0.25 in. in diameter, and a total surface of about 20 by 40 in., I roasted the nickeliferous pyrite product; starting the fire with kindling, then adding charcoal, and then gradually feeding the sulphides with a shovel, so as to cover the fire, choke down blow-holes, and get an even bed. Blast at a pressure of 3 or 4 oz. was supplied by a fail-blower. When a cake of roasted material had formed, it was removed with a steel bar, or fork, to the lip of the furnace, and thence into a wheel-barrow.. The fine material which had remained unmelted, but very hot, on top of the cake would promptly ignite when the cake was broken up and removed. The fire would then be covered with fresh material and * Received Aug. 29, 1910.

Apr 1, 1911

The minerals industry focus over much of the past twenty years has been on cost reduction and production growth supported, but not driven, by technology improvements. Mergers and acquisitions, and the demands of financial markets, have been high priority items whereas research and development and technology based innovation have received less attention and have been cut back in many companies. Technology improvements will be critical if the industry is to make progress on the stated aims of improving energy efficiency, reducing water usage and maximising recovery from deposits. They will also be important for improving capital efficiency and in treating difficult deposits. However the role technology based innovation will play both in the overall industry, and within individual companies, during the next decade is quite uncertain. There are major challenges in progressing technology based innovation in an industry with limited technical resources which is dominated by long life high capital operations. Specific opportunities for energy and productivity improvements exist but face significant technical and structural barriers that need to be overcome if the industry is to significantly improve performance. Current evidence suggests that changes in approach will be needed for these improvements to be realised. Recent studies in the United States and Canada have highlighted the wide range of energy performance across the industry and the scope for marked improvement from both incremental improvements and increased research and development. Comminution, material transportation and underground mine ventilation were identified as high priority areas. Opportunities within these areas are discussed both in respect of specific technologies and in how they may change performance. The role of open innovation as a source of new technology is also discussed. This is an abstract only. No full paper was prepared for this presentation.

Sep 13, 2010

In 2006, a total of 280 metal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).1 Metal mines were the smallest mining commodity sector, comprising 1.9% of all mining operations. ? Gold mines comprised 46.8% (n=131) of all metal mining operations. Other common types of metal mines were copper ore (n=34; 12.1%), and iron ore (n=33; 11.8%). ? Nevada had the largest number of metal mines (n=53; 18.9%), followed by Alaska (n=31; 11.1%).

Jan 1, 2008

By Robert J. Timkp, James D. Noll, Peter Hall, Robert Haney, Linda McWilliams

Diesel particulate matter (D PM) samples from underground metal/nonmetal mines are collected on quartz fiber filters and measured for carbon content using National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Method 5040. If size-selective samplers are not used to collect D PM in the presence of car-bonaceous ore dust, both the ore dust and D PM will collect on the quartz filters, causing the carbon attributed to D PM to be artificially high. Because the D PM particle size is much smaller than that of mechanically generated mine dust aerosols, it can be separated from the larger mine dust aerosol by a single-stageimpacto1: The SKC D PM cassette is a single-stage impactor designed to collect only D PM aerosols in the presence of carbonaceous mine ore aerosols, which are commonly found in underground nonmetal mines. Howeve1: there is limited data on how efficiently the SKC D PM cassette can collect D PM in the presence of ore dust. In this study we investigated the ability of the SKC D PM cassette to collect D PM while segregating ore dust from the sample. We found that the SKC D PM cassette accurately collected D PM. In the presence of carbon-based ore aerosols having an average concentration of 8 mg/m3, no ore dust was detected on SKC D PM cassette filters. We did discover a problem: the surface areas of the D PM deposition SKC D PM cassettes, manufactured prior to August 2002were inconsistent. To correct this problem, SKC modified the cassette. The new cassette produced, with 99% confidence, a range of D PM deposit areas between 8.05 and 8.28 cm2, a difference of less than 3%.

By M. E. Gershon

I would like to congratulate Professor Gershon on an idea that is obviously valuable and is certainly new to me. It has, however, to be further developed, in that one can get fallacious results by limiting oneself to positional weights. In the example problem, the positional weight of one block was 8.6 (the 8.0 value in the paper was incorrect) for 36 units in the cone, for a mean block value of 0.239. The positional weight of the second block was 4.4 for 15 units, for a mean block value of 0.293. Surely one would expect the second block to be rated higher. Additionally, the time value of money adjustment cannot be determined by depth, because the time that a block is mined is determined by the mining sequence, not depth. Figure 1 shows a slightly altered version of Professor Gershon’s pit. The overall value of the pit is the same, as are the total values under each of his blocks. The values in the right-hand cone have been reversed top to bottom, and the values in the rest of the pit adjusted to keep the central cone total unchanged. All values have been multiplied by 10. Figure 2 shows the sequence of mining, at three blocks per year, for Professor Gershon’s pit, and Fig. 3, the sequence for a pit under the other block. Table 1 shows the value and discounted value (157. ) of Professor Gershon’s pit, and Table 2 shows similar values for the second pit. It is apparent that the second pit schedule is more valuable than the first.

Jan 12, 1987

By Z. H. Liu

We experimented with slurry which from one of coal preparation plant in Guizhou province and made researches on double hump gradation, one of critical factor of gradation technology, which can influence pulping character in the process of making coal water mixture (CWM). The purpose for it is to find the best particle gradation which can meet the requirements in concentration, viscosity, and stability for CWM. The final result is that the concentration, viscosity, stability of CWM can meet the requirement for industrial use while the rate of fine particle in the slurry is 70%~75% and the maximum concentration of 62%.

Jan 1, 2014

By D Laurence

Australians are at the forefront of exporting their mining expertise in a number of areas. Minerals education is just one example. The growing economies of Southeast Asia host some of the most prospective mineral fields in the world. Laos for example, hosts the world class Sepon and Phu Kham copper-gold deposits. The Philippines has the fifth largest global mineral resource inventory. These and other countries in the region lack the mining engineers, geologists and metallurgists required by international mining companies to ensure their operations are sustainable. This paper describes the author’s experience in working with mining schools in Southeast Asia and specifically the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Various strategies to ensure sustainability and lessons learnt are presented.

Nov 22, 2011

Coal mining in Indiana is limited to the south-western portion of the state, with coal currently being recovered in 19 counties. The coal-producing area of the state covers approximately 6,500 square miles. Although most of the coal in Indiana is recovered by surface mining methods, a small percentage is recovered through underground mining. To date, 40 percent of the known coal reserves have been removed. Indiana has about 33 billion tons of identified coal reserves, of which approximately 17 billion tons are recoverable using current technology. Of this recoverable coal, about 15 billion tons are recoverable by underground mining and 2 billion tons are recoverable by surface mining methods. The State of Indiana has regulated the environmental impacts of coal mining since 1941. Indiana was the second state in the nation to pass legislation requiring mined land reclamation. Its SMCRA regulatory program was approved July 29,1982, and its Abandoned Mine Land Program was approved July 29, 1982.

Jan 1, 1992