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By W. W. Agey

An inexpensive technique that laboratory studies indicated would significantly reduce seepage in irrigation canals was devised and tested through research sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Missouri River Basin Field Committee. Laboratory tests simulating optimum field conditions determined that easily applied sodium carbonate solutions made test beds of canal lining materials virtually impermeable for long periods. The study comprised alternative laboratory treatments of 3-inch-deep test beds of canal earths with 74 water-soluble chemicals in search of one 01' more that would effectively improve the water barrier characteristics of the component clays. Sodium carbonate, one of the least expensive, was among the most effective. The addition of 0,4 lb of reagent per sq yd greatly reduced the seepage from typical, highly permeable test beds. The reagent penetrated and sealed surface for about a 1.5-inch depth.

Jan 1, 1965

By Robert J. Anderson

"Introductory Statement:In melting the nonferrous metals and alloys for foundry and rolling-mill work, even with the best practice, there is always a loss, due principally to oxidation. Melting losses are a serious source of financial loss in brass and bronze practice, but they are especially serious in the case of aluminum and its light alloys because of the relatively high price of aluminum. The indications are that the melting losses in many aluminum foundries of the United States are at times high, and in some plants (especially where certain furnaces are used) they are entirely too high when compared with the average practice. The fact that the oxidation losses in melting aluminum and its light alloys are high is well known, but it is doubtful whether the factors governing the most suitable methods of melting for a minimum of dross are equally well known. The metal losses involved in melting are worthy of especial attention now because of the rapidly growing importance of the aluminum industry.Factors in the operation of furnaces which affect metal and fuel losses:The essential requirements in the commercial melting of any metal or alloy are that the melting losses should be low, the melting should be rapid, and the melting cost should be low. Certainly it may not be possible to obtain these requirements in any furnace selected at random, and it follows that the design and the operation of furnaces for melting different metals are subjects that warrant the most extensive study and tests. As a general rule, in the industrial operation of furnaces, run on aluminum and aluminum alloys, an effort is made to keep the dross and oxidation losses as low as possible. In attempting to hold dross losses low, numerous factors involved in metal melting may be overlooked, or at least disregarded, and the net practical result may be that the furnace is exceedingly wasteful of fuel. In the case of aluminum and its light alloys, the effect of increasing the temperature of melting, at least in an atmosphere containing free oxygen and nitrogen, is to increase the net melting loss."

Apr 1, 1921

This paper is concerned with the blasting of rock in mining. The most common purpose of blasting rock is to cast it or to disrupt its structure sufficiently for effective digging and subsequent removal.

Jan 1, 1991

By John D. Spencer

Air and water pollution and land reclamation relating to coal mining and utilization continued to be featured in research and technologic work on coal by the Bureau of Mines in 1967. Details of the environmental studies are given in this report, along with accounts of other research relating to the mining and utilization of coal. Other studies that were continued during 1967 included health and safety, mine explosives, coal preparation and transportation, coal utilization processes, chemistry and properties of coal, inspection and analysis, and inter-national activities. Publications issued in 1967 are cited throughout the report and in appendix C. Bureau of Mines research centers and laboratories are listed in appendix A, and organizations contributing to or cooperating in the work, in appendix B.

Jan 1, 1968

By Z. L. Xue, J. L. Li, X. Y. Wang

"In low-carbon energy-efficient basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking processes, limestone partly or completely replaces the active lime. The effects of limestone calcination temperature (1200–1500°C) and time (5–15 minutes) on lime reactivity and CaO grain size were investigated. The reactivity was evaluated by titration with hydrochloric acid, and the CaO grain size was analysed using scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed that for calcination temperatures higher than 1300°C, the reactivity reached a maximum and then decreased . The higher the temperature, the earlier the peak of reactivity appears. The CaO grains grow with increasing temperature and time, which leads to the decrease of reactivity. Notably, the effects of temperature on CaO grain size and reactivity are more marked than that of time. To obtain active lime calcined at ultra-high temperature by flash heating, the calcination conditions should be 1300–1400°C for 10–15 minutes, or 1400–1500°C for 8–10 minutes. IntroductionLime is one of the most important slag-making materials for dephosphorization and desulphurization in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking process. The reactivity of lime is a measure of its capability to take part in slag-making. Lime having a reactivity of more than 300.0 mL (4 N HCl), determined by hydrochloric acid titration is generally referred to as active lime (Rusjan et al., 2007; Zeman, 2008). At present, the active lime used for BOF processes comes primarily from a kiln or shaft kiln, where limestone is preheated at 700– 900°C, and then calcined at 1050–1200°C (Drenhaus et al., 2010; Oates, 2007)."

Jan 1, 2016

By G A. Blengini, S V. èolar

The minerals industry is faced with choices beginning in the exploration phase and extending over the life cycle of the mine. Firms examine the technical feasibility of alternative actions and typically rank them based on economic performance. Increasingly firms also consider alternativesÆ contribution to sustainable development. There are many visions of what a sustainable future should look like and much debate about what should be sustained. Sustainability is a process, a series of incremental actions, and each alternative course of action has the potential to further progress toward one or more sustainability goal. However, because it is not possible to sustain everything everywhere simultaneously, trade-offs and choices inevitably have to be made.Sustainable decision making before investment (ex ante decisions) should incorporate a broad suite of quantitative and qualitative information. One approach is to utilise an integrated sustainability assessment (ISA) framework that supplements traditional technical and financial tools with other tools such as objectives hierarchies (OH) and life cycle assessments (LCA). OH is a problem framing method that captures stakeholder and decision maker interests, objectives and values. LCA addresses material and energy flows, and environmental impacts. The outputs of these tools can be combined with additional qualitative measures and analysed using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). MCDA models facilitate comparison of different alternatives on the basis of a set of criteria and indicators. Some can incorporate information on risk attitudes and preferences ( multi-attitribute value theory models) and others uncertainty about outcomes (multi-attribute utility models). Studies have been published describing and comparing tools for minerals sector decision analysis. Our paper extends this literature, discussing how a combined OH-LCA-MCDA can support ex ante sustainability assessment by incorporating preferences, risk attitudes, and monetised or non-monetised social and economic variables, in a manner that captures their inherent complexity. We also discuss how such a combined model would support trade-off analysis.

Jan 1, 2009

Q: It is May 1961 at Bill Wrather's Washington house. Bill, think back to your first job after college. Wrather: Perhaps I ought to go back a little bit further than my first job. I entered the University of Chicago with the idea of studying law. My intention was to take a 4-yr liberal arts course and superimpose a law degree on that. But during my undergraduate work I fell under the influence of R. D. Salsbury. He decided I had some talent as a geologist and influenced me to take a geological course. Nevertheless, I did not give up the idea of law. While in school I took a spell of typhoid fever and almost died. The doctor recommended outdoor exercise, so a geological job seemed logical. W. H. Emmons was a graduate student in the University and he interceded with Dr. Hayes of the USGS. I went on the payroll as assistant packer at $60 a month. I had one of the most glorious summers I ever spent in my life. That fall and the following year I took law courses and became thoroughly convinced that I was cut out for a geologist rather than a lawyer. I finished up my law work in 1908 while waiting for a job with Bill Emmons, who was doing a careful study of Goldfield and Tonopah.

Jan 4, 1964

By Yi Luo

In a shearer longwall mining operation, the longwall bits are responsible for breaking into and chip-ping the broken coal blocks away from the coal face. However, underground observations have found that a large number of longwall bits are always working under various degrees of wear. Reduction of the bit wear could be realized by using better designed longwall bits and properly selected shearer operating parameters. A computer program has been developed to simulate the performance of the longwall bits. The shape of the bit head, the installation of the bits on the drum and the operation parameters are the information required by the program. Through the simulations, the main factors affecting the bit wearing process are identified. Suggestions are also made for improving the design of the longwall bits.

Jan 1, 1996

By Edmonds W, Jeffcoat R

The completion of the first two open hearth furnaces in the new No. 2 open hearth plant at Port Kembla will increase Australian production of steel by 350,000 tons of ingots per annum.The paper gives an outline of the essential features of open hearth design and auxiliary equipment required to operate the two modern open hearth furnaces at present being installed.INTRODUCTIONThe increasing demand for steel required by Australian secondary industries led to the decision to construct and operate No. 2 open hearth plant at Port Kembla. Two basic open hearth furnaces of the most modern design are under construction and it is anticipated that these units will be commissi.oned in September 1956. Australian steel capacity will thereby be increased by approximately 350,000 tons of ingots per annum.PLANT LAY-OUT AND CONSTRUCTIONIn the design and lay-out of this plant the emphasis has been on efficient material handling with simplicity of design and operation. Overseas methods were studied and these studies, together with experience gained at Newcastle and Port Kembla open hearth shops, enabled this plant to be built to a standard which compares favourably with any other in the industry.Initially two furnaces, each of 2,75 tons capacity, have been built, but provision has been made in. the design and lay-out to enable expansion to six furnaces.The location of the new plant in relation to the existing units will be noted in Fig. 5. It is one of the first units to be built in an area which will dovetail into a pattern for...

Jan 1, 1957

By Horace C. Porter, F. K. OVITZ

Much has been written of the changes undergone by coal in storage and the deterioration of coal through exposure to the weather. In order to obtain definite information for the benefit of the Government departments and of all who store coal in large quantitieS', a series . of tests was begun in the fall of 1909 under the supervision of tT. A. Holmes, then chief technologist of the United States Geological Survey, and was continued by the Bureau of Mines after its establishment in 1910. The tests were confined to determinations of the loss in heating value of the coals and did not include a study of other deterioration; for exaIp.ple, in coking quality or the yield of by-products in coking. The Bureau of Yards and Docks of the Navy Department cooperated in tests of New R~ver (W. Va.) coal, a variety largely used by the Navy. A preliminary report presenting a brief account of the early results of these tests has been published by the Bureau of Mines as Technical Paper 16.a The detailed report is presented in this bulletin, which gives a fu11 account of the tests and the analytical data covering a period of five years' storage. Data of somewhat similar experiments for shorter periods with gas coal from the Pittsburgh bed, with Pocahontas coal on the Isthmus of Panama, and with Sheridan, Wyo., subbituminous coal, which is used for railroad and other purposes in the West, are included. The tests of New River coal, in cooperation with the Navy Department, were undertaken to determine the advantage to be gained by storing coal under water, and particularly under salt water. Small lots were used in order to make the tests of maximum severity, and parallel experiments were made with run-of-mine and crushed coal under one-fourth inch size. All of the small lots tested under the different conditions (except those tested near Key West, Fla.) were taken as representative portions from one large original lot. The tests of Pocahontas coal, which, like the New River, is semibituminous, were undertaken chiefly to determine th.e effect of the tropical conditions in Panama. They were made on an outdoor pile of 100 tons of run-of-mine coal. Pittsburgh gas coal, a high-volatile, bituminous type used at gas and by-product coke works, was exposed for test at Ann Arbor, Mich., in cooperation with the University of Michigan. The university agreed to make tests at successive intervals of storage to determine, in its illuminating-gas experiment station, the yields of gas and byproducts from the coal. The coal, screened lump, was stored in about 4-ton lots out of doors in open bins. Subbituminous coal, which is mined in Colorado, Wyoming, and other States, and is known also as "black lignite," is commonly supposed to deteriorate rapidly in storage, especially by "slacking" or crumbling of the lumps. The tests herein described were undertaken at Sheridan, Wyo., in cooperation with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co., in order to determine the extent of this slacking and the accompanying loss of heat value. The tests were in open bins holding 4 to 12 tons.

Jan 1, 1917

By Luis-Fernando Contreras, Juliano Maran, Richard LeSueur

A risk study was carried out at the Cerrejon coal mine in order to assess the impacts of pit slope failure in terms of safety of personnel and destruction of equipment with economic consequences. Results of the assessment enabled the definition of risk treatment requirements and the identification of key aspects to consider in a risk treatment plan. The approach included the following tasks: (1) Assessment of the total probability of failure (POF) representative of the stability conditions of typical footwall and highwall slopes. For this purpose, stability analyses were carried out to define the Design POF, which accounts for the variability of strength parameters and represents the normal conditions considered for slope design. Strength parameters for highwall slope analysis were derived from borehole data obtained with a geotechnical drilling campaign. The Total POF was estimated through the use of Source Response Diagrams (SRD) in order to incorporate other sources of uncertainty not accounted for, like changes in geometry, variability of rock conditions due to geological or operational factors, changes in groundwater conditions and occurrence of seismic events. (2) Assessment of the consequences of footwall and highwall slope failure on safety of personnel. The assessment was performed through the use of event tree analysis to establish the probability of fatality caused by slope failures, from the Total POF defined in the previous task. This analysis required the evaluation of personal exposure to slope failures. Also, the assessment included benchmarking of acceptability criteria in terms of probability of fatality and the evaluation of options of risk mitigation to comply with these criteria. (3) Assessment of the consequences of footwall and highwall slope failure in terms of economic losses associated with impact on equipment. The analysis included the evaluation of equipment exposure to slope failures, and it was performed through event tree analysis to establish the probability of an economic loss associated to total or partial lost of equipment, from the total POF value defined in the first task. The magnitude of the economic losses was estimated from the costs of damaged equipment, lost production and site restoration. Options of risk mitigation were also examined in terms of economic losses. The risk assessment process applied to the Cerrejón mine showed how the system can be applied to evaluate the consequences of failure in terms of personnel safety and economics and to identify the more adequate risk mitigation options. The system can be an extremely powerful tool in the mine design process and provides the opportunity to rationalize the geotechnical information requirements, once the risk criteria have been defined by management. The main purpose of this paper is to present the process; therefore, the emphasis has been put on the methodology followed rather than on the actual results obtained.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. L. Machunda, A. M. Rugaika, D. D. Mdachi

Sedimentary and igneous rocks are the two primary sources of phosphate that are mined and beneficiated to fertilizer. During the beneficiation process, phosphate is lost into the tailings. We investigated phosphate concentrations in tailings dumps at Minjingu mine, Tanzania using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to quantify the chemical compositions. The phosphate content in the tailings varied from 12.91% phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) in Tailings 2 to 19.61% in Tailings Dump 1. The naturally occurring phosphate concentration in rocks ranges from 3% to 35%, and phosphate tailings from various locations with P2O5 concentrations as low as 6.46-12.65% have been beneficiated to commercial fertilizer. Our investigation revealed that phosphate concentrations in Minjingu tailings may be sufficient to be recovered for commercial applications. Suitable recovery methods are discussed, and we recommend that beneficiation should be performed to minimize the loss of phosphate into tailings. Further research is needed to identify the optimal beneficiation methodology.

Aug 8, 2024

By Yufeng Guo

Mineralogy and physico-chemical characteristics of a nickel hydrometallurgical residue and recovery of iron-bearing minerals by flocculation-magnetic separation were studied. The results show that the nickel residue is super-fine and fraction less than 0.045mm reaches 85.4%. Ferrous minerals are chiefly magnetite and ferruginous glass. Magnetite accounts for 31.7% and exists as free magnetite. Ferruginous glass is of multicomponent amorphous substances with low-iron grade but strong magnetism, and accounts for 39.9% of total iron minerals. Addition of flocculants increases granularity and magnetic force of fine iron-bearing particles and improves iron grade and recovery. The tests with flocculation separation show that a concentrate assaying 56.68% Fe with 81.72% recovery was obtained in a magnetic tube. A concentrate with 56.92% iron grade and 67.96% recovery was obtained by flocculation-magnetic separation with a magnetic cylinder.

Jan 1, 2006

By Paul C. Hyndman

Three properties in the Tuolumne River RARE II area, the Eagle Bluff Mine (lode) and the Indian Creek Bar and Bossy Bar Prospects (placer), have identified subeconomic gold resources (table 1). Nineteen other properties have potential for gold resources. Adjacent to the study area, five properties have identified mineral resources, and nine others have potential for resources. Properties having high-grade zones (shoots), but licking enough tonnage to be classified as resources, are listed in table 2. Gold, in lode and placer deposits, is the principal mineral commodity in the Toluene River study area. Ten properties within the RARE II boundary have gold-rich zones or shoots; they range in size from 12 to 2,500 tons and in average grade from 0.09 to 0.97 oz gold per ton.

Jan 1, 1983

By S. Iverson

Fall of ground accidents continue to be a source of injury in underground metal mines. MSHA accident statistics indicate that most rock fall accidents occur at a new face where drilling and blasting methods are used. Removing loose rock by scaling is imperative to removing the potential for rock fall injury. Detection of potentially loose rock could improve the scaling process and result in fewer rock falls. Infrared thermal imaging cameras were investigated as far back as 1966 as a tool for loose rock detection. Early on it was clear that sensitivity (e.g. detectable temperature increment) is a key factor in this application. Both pixel resolution and temperature resolution have greatly improved with modern instruments. This paper describes an evaluation of modern infrared thermal imaging camera technology to detect loose rock conditions at six underground metal mines in the western U.S. It was found that thermal images provide a high resolution visual discrimination between loose rock and intact rock. However, detecting loose rock was difficult in cases where the rock and ventilation air were at the same temperature. Loose rock was detected when rock was both warmer and cooler than the ventilation air temperature. Warm rock with cool ventilation air provided the best conditions for detection.

Feb 23, 2014

By G. N. Shannon

Keywords: inclusions, slag, modeling, interfacial energy, capillary force, particle flotation, particle separation A previously introduced model of inclusions separating across a steel-slag interface, developed by Nakajima/Okamura and Bouris/Bergeles, is expanded to include different inclusions shapes (octahedral and plate-like, besides spherical) as well as comparison between model ladle-, tundish-, and mold-slags. Investigation of the relation of these shapes with the interfacial capillary force ? which arises due to the dynamic interfacial energy during separation ? has shown that the force has a significant effect on whether the inclusion separates rapidly or settles at the interface. For the slags considered, the most significant physical property is found to be viscosity, which resulted in fast separation times for inclusions in the mold and ladle slags, relative to the more viscous tundish slag. Particle dissolution (using experimental data) is included in separation modeling.

Jan 1, 2005

[This is the sixth in a series of reports on properties of commercial motor fuels, made in accordance with a cooperative Agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee and the Bureau of tines of the Department of the Interior. The first report gave data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935.-36.3/ The present report cover brands of gasoline represented by 1,490 samples plus thus: from the Pacific Coat, which ;sere averaged by the Pacific Coast Technical Group before being submitted and are published exactly as they were submitted. In some areas reports were received from 8 to 10 companies on the same brands of gasoline, Whereas in other areas only one Company reported on a brand. Thus, it can be seen that soma of the data are more representative than others. The inclusion of data from several cities within some of the districts has improved the report by reducing the number of brands reported by only one company. Severe changes have been made in the districts. A new district, Memphis, Tenn., has been formed to include Arkansas any western Tennessee. The Rocky Mountain area, have been divided into three sections. Salt Lake City and Denver form the Middle Rocky Mountain district; Laramie, Wyo., Idaho, Montana, and. Spokane, Wash., are included in the North Rocky Mountain district, and Arizona, New Mexico , and El Paso, Tex., have been combined to represent the South Rock Mountain district. The Cleveland district has been expanded to include Ohio ant. Indiana. Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia are included in the Washington (D. C.) district. The Atlanta district includes Georgia, South Carolina; Mississippee, and northern Florida.]

Jan 1, 1938

By V. Panayotov, M. Panayotova

"The combined use of semiconductor properties and specific flotation characteristics of minerals under different conditions with external influences ensures a possibility for process control and management. This work presents the relations between the volumetric and surface characteristics of minerals and the minerals' flotation ability (flotability), as well as the possibility for the flotability purposeful change. Results from proprietary laboratory and industrial research are presented showing how controlled impacts on minerals and flotation pulp improve flotation technology. Such an approach reveals prospects for the creation of new technologies for the minerals' beneficiation.INTRODUCTIONThe decrease of the useful components content in the ores, the increasingly complex nature of the raw materials, the increasing energy consumption per the unit of production, and the need to solve the problems related to the environment pollution require solutions different than the existing classical ones. One of the ways to find such solutions is the detailed consideration of the fundamental properties of minerals and, in particular, of minerals having semiconductor properties. The studies of Plaksin et al. (1968), Chanturia and Shafeev (1977), Chanturia and Vigdergauz (2008), Carta et al. (1973), Hoberg and Shneider (1975), Rao et al. (1992) have given an idea of the energy state of the minerals, their flotation ability, and the ways in which this ability can be changed in one or the other direction. The main line in these works is the study and use of the relationship between bulk and flotation properties of minerals. To improve the efficiency of the process, it is also necessary to consider the relationship between the surface properties of the minerals, especially minerals-semiconductors, and their flotation ability.THEORETICAL BACKGROUND IN BRIEFA quantitative estimation of energy changes in a solid phase in the process of flotation may be made by taking in account the changes in the Fermi level. Its position in the forbidden band is an indicator about the direction and the intensity of electron exchange between solid and liquid phases. The Fermi level energy EF enables the estimation of flotability, intensity of needed external impact before flotation, as well as efficiency of the process going on. Quantitative estimation of these processes can be made by means of the flotability coefficient Kf."

Jan 1, 2018

By S Yuen, T Rana, S Khan

Many open pit mines require dewatering or need aquifer depressurisation systems to manage mine water inflow and/or mine floor stability. In many instances these mining operations impact on regional groundwater resources and therefore access to these resources by other users.As such potential exists for mine development to be hindered or even blocked by groundwater legislation that aims to prevent declining groundwater levels and demonstrate equitable use of a regional groundwater resource.There is a need to manage aquifer systems during and after the mining operations, and in some cases stresses on the aquifers and associated ecosystems may be elastic and can be managed with minimum impacts or reversed once the mine ceases to operate.This paper uses the Gippsland sedimentary basin, with a history of declining groundwater levels and mining and petroleum production, as a case study to pose the question: Should period of mining operation, aquiferÆs storage capacity and its ability to recharge be concurrently considered when granting groundwater abstraction and mining licenses for prospective mine development?It further examines that by utilising an aquiferÆs storage capacity and demonstrating an understanding of aquifer system hydrodynamics during and beyond the life of the mine (time), the approval process for groundwater abstraction and associated cost of statutory monitoring may be made less onerous.

Jan 1, 2009

By Charles C. Boley

High-volatile A bituminous coal from the Allen mine, Las Animas County, Colo., blended with char produced from the same coal yielded accept-able metallurgical coke in a 500-lb movable-wall test oven. Nineteen experimental runs were carried out using several concentration levels of two different chars, 5.6 and 19.6 percent volatile matter, produced by entrainment carbonization of the base coal. With the higher-volatile char, an acceptable coke was produced at a 22.5-percent concentration; the lower-volatile char did not produce an acceptable coke at the concentrations investigated.

Jan 1, 1972