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By Howard N. Eavenson

AN analysis of the bituminous coal situation by an authority who traces the production, mining, safety, markets and labor trends in comparison with other fuels. BEFORE 1918 the production of coal experienced a steady growth, with slight recessions in ouput in only twelve years (1837, 1841, 1852, 1855, 1861, 1874, 1876, 1889, 1894, 1905, 1909, 1914), and in each of these cases the loss was recovered in the following year and the increase continued. In each decade the output was doubled. Prices, while not high, allowed some profit. In 1918 during World War I, an output of 580 million tons was reached and with the exception of 1923 this total was not again reached until 1942, in World War 11. Losses of output in this period were much greater than ever before; in 1932 the total was 270 million tons less than in 1918 or 1923, and the loss after 1923 was not recovered until 1942. The greatest output was 631 million tons in 1947.

Jan 1, 1950

By D. W. Lui

Tangdan copper oxide deposit, the largest independent copper oxide deposit in China so far, is located in the northeast of Yunnan province, southwest of China. The ore from this deposit is characterized by: low grade, high oxidation ratio, and fine-grained disseminated, resulting in poor flotation recovery. The analysis of plant flotation data reveals that the loss of copper minerals into tailings is mainly with coarse size fraction due to insufficient liberation and fine size fractions, especially minus 10 microns fraction, which proved to be very difficult-to-float with conventional flotation. In order to improve the performances of plant flotation of this ore, laboratory flotation tests were conducted with the pure malachite, which was the principle copper oxide mineral in Tangdan copper ore deposit. The results obtained suggested that a finer grinding (up to -325 mesh or even -400 mesh) be needed to decrease the loss with coarse size fraction, and vacuum flotation is a promising way for the recovery of the fine malachite effectively.

Jan 1, 2014

This publication summarizes, for potential contractors and other interested parties, the proposed research, development, and demonstration contract projects programed by the Bureau of Mines for fiscal year 1977 (October 1, 1976-September 30, 1977) under its Advancing Coal Mining Technology program. The objective of these projects is to provide an ordered and sequenced series of advances toward the overall goal of providing the system technology required to increase the productivity of the coal mining process.

Jan 1, 1977

By Alen Shibu Joseph, Arvind Rajnarayan Singh, Mudila Dhanunjaya Rao, Kamalesh K. Singh

In this article, the cementation of major impurities from zinc sulphate leach solution by the addition of zinc dust was studied by considering different parameters including time, mesh size, and percentage of excess zinc dust. The output obtained from various experiments was utilized for the design of experiments. A multi-level categorical factorial design with a quadratic model was employed during this study. Results were predicted to minimize the concentration of impurity metals in the solution by altering the parameters. Furthermore, these predicted results were validated by performing another experiment. Successfully, it showed that the predicted and experimental data values were close to each other. The predicted optimized values were 40 min, 100% excess zinc dust, and 300 mesh size for copper; 42 min, 100% excess zinc dust, and 300 mesh size for cobalt; 37 min, 100% excess zinc dust, and 300 mesh size for cadmium; and 34 min, 100% excess zinc dust, and 300 mesh size zinc dust for nickel. At these optimized values, the experimental results showed 99.99%, 55.7%, 99.6%, and 76.6% cementation efficiencies for copper, cobalt, cadmium, and nickel respectively. The statistical design of experiments for the effective cementation of impurities corroborates the economic feasibility of optimizing parameters for the proposed process.

Jul 18, 2022

By Thiago Augusto Ávila

A limpidez de aços e a diminuição de problemas de lingotabilidade em aciarias tem sido alvo constante de esforços de engenheiros na siderúrgica. O bom entendimento dos efeitos do processo e as suas respectivas particularidades garantem a redução de ocorrências de inclusões e má lingotabilidade. Dentre os principais aços de construção mecânica com maior ocorrência de problemas de inclusões e lingotabildade estão os aços “Baixo Si” e aços com faixa de S e acalmados ao Al e Si/Mn. Entre os parâmetros de análise, a ordem de adição de ligas, definição de temperatura de lingotamento e a estabilidade térmica e química, são os de maior influência na quantidade de inclusões e problemas de lingotabilidade. Para aços baixo Si, a pré-desoxidação com Al, auxiliada por maiores temperaturas de lingotamento, confere inclusões líquidas no inicio do processo promovendo a maior remoção destas. Da mesma forma, aços com S e Al são beneficiados pelo aumento da temperatura de lingotamento, mas fortemente afetados pela estratificação térmica do aço na panela, quando é elevado o teor de S e Al nestes. Sendo assim, o tempo de espera e o estado térmico da panela e distribuidor passam a ser um fator importante para redução da estratificação térmica bem como a redução de problemas com macroinclusão e má lingotabilidade.

Jul 30, 2018

By Gregorio Llanos Villarreal

Dado que la expansión progresiva de la mina Calera exige una productividad de material detrítico, se ha optado por una alternativa de voladuras a gran escala que controle el desmonte proveniente de los desarrollos de la mina. En esta perspectiva, el presente estudio refiere las experiencias de voladura adquiridas en la mina Calera, a partir de la aplicación de "voladuras de coyote" a gran escala. La eficiencia de sus resultados redujo la utilización de los equipos pesados en la cantera de relleno, así como los costos de los conceptos.

Apr 1, 1991

By T. E. Masoner

The struggle to get the minerals industry seriously interested in high intensity wet magnetic separation* has been difficult. The high capital cost of the equipment, the lack of basic research, the lack of operating information, and the diverse characteristics associated with different minerals and ores have prevented the development and use of HIMS-W on a wide scale. The Climax Molybdenum Company, a Division of American Metal Climax, Inc., located at Climax, Colorado, was among the first companies in the Americas in recent years to support the development of HIMS-W to recover weakly magnetic minerals on a large scale. The Climax Molybdenum Company, one of the world's largest underground mines, processes about 40,000 tons per day of ore, from which about fifty million pounds of molybdenum disulfide are produced each year. By-products include tungsten, iron pyrite, tin, and some monazite.

Jan 1, 1968

By Farrel W. Lytle

An X-ray emission spectrographic method of analysis is presented for determining rare-earth elements in fractions obtained from bastnaesite ore. The method includes determination of yttrium, thorium, lanthanum, and the rare-earth elements in various complex mixtures. The analysis technique is based upon comparing the samples with synthetic standards approximating the composition of the samples. Working curves are plotted on an absolute-intensity basis, with no correction for back-ground. Examples of working curves and the analyses of typical rare-earth concentrates are included. The selection of spectral lines for the various sample matrices is discussed. A special technique is used for samples in which rapid hydration and carbonation occurred. By analyzing synthetic samples of known composition, the accuracy of the method was determined. The average error of analysis was about 3 percent of the amount present in the range from 5 to 100 percent and about 7 percent in the 0.2-to 5-percent range. A maximum of about 40 samples per day may be analyzed for 7 elements each.

Jan 1, 1957

By Bryant Fitch

This paper will review thickening theory, from the ( ) of the practicing engineer, with particular emphasis on ( ) uncertainty or disagreement. It will attempt to outline broadly what we know and what we don't know. This should serve two purpose First, it will warn the process engineer where he might get into trouble. At least it will alert him to the risk involved in uncritically accepting any of the recommended design procedures. Second, it will identify for researchers some areas in which further work might be fruitful. Not too many years ago there would have been little to write on such a subject. We had been designing thickeners for decades, using the classic Coe and Clevenger procedure. As far as we were generally aware, they all turned out to be about the right size. And so if there was anything we didn't know, It certainly wasn't hurting us much. Today we know better. While it is true that in most cases units designed by the Coe and Clevenger procedure (1) will perform satisfactorily, we now know of cases in which they don't. And during the past few years there have been many developments and advances in basic thickening theory. So there is now a lot more room for disagreement, and a whole lot more to be uncertain about. What is "thickening" "Thickening" means different things to different people. For this paper we define it to mean sedimentation behavior characterized by line settling. Solids subside with a clear line of demarcation between settling solids and supernatant. Although the supernatant will usually be clear, in some cases it may be turbid. Line settling must entail that all particles just below the pulp-supernatant interface have the same subsidence rate, so that

Jan 1, 1971

By R. G. Knickerbocker

[The Electromet l'.ur.::ic'l.l LC:tt:n~ to:!'"' of' the BUl~6au 0: M_nes, Boulder City, ..rev. I invest~.f-'8tes th~ r.: nc= I (l.op itr. in tr.e redon around Boulder Dam, and thi" p2pe:.. ., 'est.3nttl t rt") d.c-velo !l'\CtltR of n seriAl of studies on "Joron uineral~ mario n.~ t~l"'t f1tn.: ... o]

Jan 1, 1940

By M. Howe

This is a study of the impact of cyanide from mining waste on riparian communities, primarily vegetation, near Whitewood Creek, down-stream from Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Cyanide is used in gold processing and the effluent, until fairly recently, was discharged directly into Gold Run Creek which empties into Whitewood Creek. Vegetation, soil, and water were collected from four different sites over a six month period, and samples tested for cyanide concentration. Data indicate a relationship between cyanide in soil and its uptake by certain plants, also, that the Homestake cleanup effort has made the stream viable again.

Jan 1, 1983

By Kenneth S. Ritchie

THE discovery well of the world's -deepest oil producing structure, University 1-B of Group No. One Oil Corporation, in the Big Lake oil field, Reagan County, Texas, has had a remarkable record. The well is outstanding for the following reasons: (1) It is the world's pioneer well to produce. oil in commercial quantities from a structure 8500 ft. below the earth's . surface; (2) this well was the only. producer from the 8500-ft. pay for a period of 17 months and 24 days; (3) the flow of the discovery well has been free from-the customary changes at the casinghead, with the exception of putting on a back-pressure of 185 lb.; and, (4) the well's daily production of oil and gas increased rather steadily for 17 months and 18 days from an initial of 40 bbl. per day to a maximum of 2926 bbl. per day, and then six months later, after a period of decline and self-readjustment to subsurface changes caused by six more deep producers, the well set its real record for one day's production of oil at 2950 bbl

Jan 1, 1931

By Leming Ou, Longsheng Yi, Qiming Feng, Yiping Lu, Qing Shi, Kun Liu, Guofan Zhang, Yanfei Chen

"Three important components of stirred tanks involved in energy consumption, the impellers and baffles, were investigated to intensify the agitation pretreatment on the flotation of nickel ores. Flotation tests revealed that the stirred tanks with two impellers had an advantage over those with one impeller in intensifying agitation pretreatment, and the higher agitation speed led to better flotation performance of nickel ores. Installation and removal of baffles were also employed in the stirred tanks, and flotation tests demonstrated that with baffles, the flotation grade increased significantly. These agitator design improvements were used to demonstrate that the energy supplied to the system significantly influences the flotation recovery and that if the energy consumption of the agitation pretreatment is ideal, flotation efficiency can be improved. Data from full-scale operations backed up these results.INTRODUCTIONThe flotation recovery of nickel-copper sulphide ore at the Western China nickel mine has historically been difficult due to the presence of large amounts of serpentine minerals (Feng, et al., 2012). Many studies reported that serpentine minerals tend to have a positive potential at pH values up to 9.5, while sulphides (such as pentlandite and chalcopyrite) have a low isoelectric point(Feng, et al., 2012). Serpentine minerals can form surface coatings on negatively charged sulphides surface due to electrostatic attraction when they interact with each other, which may also reduce collector adsorption and increase the hydrophilicity of the sulphide particles. In order to improve the flotation of nickel sulphides, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium silicate, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and other agents are used to disperse serpentine coating from sulphide surfaces in the flotation of the Jinchuan deposit and other nickel ores in China ( Kirjavainen and Heiskanen, 2007; Lu, et al., 2011). However, it is difficult to improve of the sulphide flotation due to the high dosage and the lack of selectivity."

Jan 1, 2018

By Janet M. Epps

The international climate regulating environmental management in mining is rapidly evolving through the combined influences of the development of international guidelines, resolutions, protocols, treaties and conventions; the influences of the international lending and aid institutions who seek a consistent but constantly evolving standard of environmental performance from their clients; the legal precedents being developed in courts al over the world; and the activities of multinational countries who tend to rapidly upgrade technological performance through their international activities (particularly influencing developing countries). In this rapidly evolving regulatory environment, the more 'models' available to this international pool of resource materials that demonstrate practical. cost-effective and (most desirably) incentive based regulatory mechanisms, the better will be the eventual body of 'international standards' we will al have to work with. Australia can make a significant contribution to this process, however, it has only been on the margin of this dynamic, North American and European led process, up to this time. It is in the Australian minerals and energy industry's best interest to take an active part in the evolution and direction of this process.

Jan 1, 1996

By B. J. Moore

This Bureau of Mines publication contains analyses and related source data for 276 natural gas samples from 23 States. All samples except four were collected during calendar year 1984. Those four samples were collected earlier, but releases granting permission to publish were not received until 1984. All samples were obtained and analyzed as part of Bureau of Mines investigations of the occurrences of helium in natural gases of countries with free market economies. This survey has been conducted since 1917. The analyses published herein were made by the mass spectrometer and chromatograph. The results of these investigations are published annually to make the information available to the petroleum industry and the general public. Twenty-eight publications have presented the results of 13,957 gas analyses made prior to 1984. The first three bulletins (1-3)2 contain analyses and related source data on 5,218 gas samples collected from 1917 through 1960; these bulletins have been supplemented annually by information circulars (4-17, 19-24, 26-28) containing 8,453 analyses of samples collected since 1960.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. Cammack

"A fundamental component of the Hoek–Brown empirical rock failure criterion is assessing an appropriate mi constant. In developing their empirical criterion Hoek and Brown normalised triaxial test results by dividing the principal stresses at failure by the uniaxial compressive strength to provide mi values for typical rock types. Experience shows that Hoek triaxial tests for individual lithology types commonly have a large inherent scatter. In addition, tests are often conducted on core from random locations, which although being of one parent rock type, display variations in density as well as minor variations in grain size and alteration.This paper presents experience from projects the authors have been involved in which large sample populations of triaxial and UCS tests on similar rock types were available. Geophysical logging data was also available for some projects. The methods used to estimate the compressive strength for each sample and the effects on normalising the data sets are described. The variability of the data and uncertainties and assumptions involved in the process of assigning a mi value from the normalised data are also discussed."

Jan 1, 2015

By (Journal for the Fields of Gunpowder and Explosives) Germany (1914 Issues)

RBH Note: The following items are a deviation from the usual content of these articles, but I thought they were kind of interesting from an historical point of view (other than just explosives-history historical.) The interesting things to me are the military-related products, keeping in mind that World War I didn’t start until August, 1914, and then it was kind of an accident of political alliances gone awry. Obviously companies in Germany saw it coming. Of course, all the ads also included dynamite and safety explosives for mining and tunneling as well as the military items.

Jan 1, 2015

By Rich Akerman

as 1866, I wish to assure both these gentlemen that I had not seen the section when I designed mine, :md even if I had, I should not have then dared to put it forth as a standard for English rail makers; tind the soundness of my opinion has a simple but conclusive proof in the statement made concerning the extra price which was at that time required for their production. I need not say that I highly approve of the original Welch section, for it is in principle similar to the design which I made ufteen yeam subsequently; and from a professional point of view I would fully concecle to Mr. Welch the credit of first designing the modern steel-rail section. From com- mercial, matter of tict, and practical point of view, he was, however, before his time by many years; or to put it in another way, rail making was ten years behind its time when the new metal steel was first introduced for rails. If his design has been incorrectly identified with my name (as the sections are similar in principle, though they differ in thickness of flange and web), I beg to say (1st) that I much regret the misun- Understanding which has arisen through no fault of niine, aud (2d) that no confusion has been intentionally created by me. It is a pity that the section designed so long ago has not been made public at an earlier date, as it would make a really goal stand- and pattern, anil even now be quite equal to present requirements. In conclusion, I wish to say that I have never desired to claim any invention or novelty by the publication of my sections; they Were put forth as being such as English railmakers could and would produce at the ordinary market. price, and as being the best and most suitable to be so obtained. Had Mr. Welch or Mr. Holley put forward theirs ten or fifteen years ago, I should have been the first to recommend theru. In fact I should have been glad to see their narnes associated with rail patterns in their own country, in the same way as mine has been. PROFESSOR RICH. AKERMAN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: i AGREE with your (Mr. Sandberg's) views that it is too early yet to stipulate only one definite chemical composition in the rails. Such a stipulation, I think, might he justified, if it were not for the manganese; but this metal changes the properties of the iron aud steel in tho same direc- tion ae carbon, silicon. and phosphorus, by increasing its tensile strength, stiffness, hardness, and brittleaess. If the iron and steel does not only contain carbon and manganese but also phosphorus,

Jan 1, 1881

By Ralph J. Holmes

INTRODUCTION Although sampling techniques used by the mineral industry continue to improve, sampling is still an area which is often neglected. Frequently, sampling and sample preparation requirements are left to personnel who do not fully appreciate the significance and importance of sampling. Consequently, plant evaluations are often based on seriously biased samples, leading to mass balance problems and incorrect assessments of plant performance. The basic rule for correct sampling is that each particle of ore or concentrate must have an equal probability of being collected and becoming part of the final sample for analysis. If this is not the case, bias is easily introduced and the sample is not representative. For example, when ore is travelling on a conveyor belt, the lumps may come to the surface. Consequently, a grab sample taken from the top layers only will contain a greater proportion of lumps, i.e., the sample is biased. There seems little point in making major investments in precise analytical equipment, if the sample provided to the analytical laboratory is not representative in the first place. This paper describes the sources of plant sampling errors, reviews the methods of estimating their variance, presents some worked examples, and provides some practical advice for reducing sampling errors and their variance. SAMPLING BASICS It is generally accepted that the discharge point of an ore or concentrate stream is the most suitable sampling location. The stream can be intersected at regular intervals, and representative samples, referred to as increments, can be obtained by taking a complete cross-section of the ore stream. On the other hand, sampling devices that take part of the stream on an intermittent or continuous basis, e.g., a bleed from a pipe, may introduce serious bias, and should be avoided at all cost. Increments may be taken at completely random times or tonnages during the sampling operation, in which case it is called "random sampling". However, as shown below, random sampling results in the largest sampling variance, so it is preferable to divide the ore or concentrate stream up into strata of equal time or mass and take one increment from each stratum. This operation is called stratified sampling and may be either systematic sampling, in which increments are taken at the same point in each stratum, or stratified random sampling in which the increments are taken at random within each stratum. Systematic sampling results in the smallest sampling variance, provided periodic variations in quality or quantity are not present which may coincide with, or approximate to, any multiples of the proposed sampling interval. In such cases, it is strongly recommended that stratified random sampling within fixed time or mass intervals be carried out.

Jan 1, 1991

By Larry L. Anderson

Enormous quantities of organic wastes are produced each year in the United States. The total amount is in excess of 2 billion tons and at least 880 million tons of this is moisture- and ash-free organic material (dry organic solids), representing a potential energy source of significant magnitude that is not being utilized. Bureau of Mines scientists have developed methods for converting these wastes to convenient energy forms. This report itemizes and evaluates for the first time in detail the quantities and sources of moisture- and ash-free organic material contained in manure, urban refuse, industrial wastes, sewage solids, and agricultural wastes in the United States. Furthermore, estimates are presented for amounts of organic wastes collected or concentrated. The potential for fuel, either oil or gas, from both the total organic wastes generated and those collected or concentrated is also estimated.

Jan 1, 1972