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By Werner Goldsmith, Akihiko Kumano

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the response of soft, porous rock, green shale, under dry and liquid-filled conditions to normal impact of hemispherically-tipped cylindrical steel projectiles with diameter and mass of 6.35 mm and 31 g, respectively. Disk-shaped green shale specimens with nominal thickness and diameter of 32 mm and 127 mm, respectively, were tested in the initial projectile velocity range of 18 to 42 m/s. For the liquid-filled tests, the green shale specimens were saturated with kerosene. A total of eight impact tests were conducted. Information on the extent and pattern of the damage in the rock and velocity histories of the projectiles were collected. It was found that while the penetration depth was quadratically related to the initial projectile kinetic energy for the dry case, the penetration depth for the liquid-filled case was directly proportional to the initial projectile kinetic energy. The results of the impact tests under dry and liquid-filled conditions conformed well to a linearly viscous model and a Coulomb frictional model, respectively. The major deformation processes in the dry specimens were found to be compaction and equivolumnial distortion of the material. In the liquid-filled case, however, formation of cracks and equivolumnial distortion with less material compaction were observed. Furthermore, craters were formed as a result of the crack formation in the liquid-filled specimens.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. Parke Channing

IT IS most appropriate for mining engineers and in fact for all engineers to perfect themselves in leader-ship, because in the last ten years there has been a growing realization on the part of capital that there is no man who by capacity and training is better fitted to manage industrial production than the engineer. In high places the engineer and particularly the mining engineer is coming into his own. We have Mr. Hoover as Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Hammond as the head of the Federal Fact-finding Coal Commission, and Prince Caetani as Royal Italian Ambassador, all mining engineers. More and more in all industries is the manager more likely to be an engineer than he was five, ten, fifteen or twenty years ago, and the feeling is that the man who has had a technical training, whether from going to a school or from burning the midnight oil, makes a better manager than the man who has not. We find in mining that the best man for a manager is one who has had engineering, training. The manager who comes up from the office, from the purchasing department or from the transportation department may make a fairly good manager but he is never so good as the man who has had a technical training. He cannot speak the language of his staff.

Jan 5, 1923

By S. Y. Han

INTRODUCTION More than 97% of the total uranium production of the United States comes from sedimentary deposits (1). These sandstone deposits were formed by reduction of migrating uranium-bearing solutions from volcanic silicate rock sources. Such deposits occur in two major forms, either as relatively flat, lens-like deposits or as crescent- shaped roll front deposits. The lens-like deposits are found as discrete masses enclosed in reduced sandstone which is generally surrounded by oxidized sandstone. The roll front deposits are found along crescent-shaped interfaces between reduced and oxidized sands tone (2). In-situ mining of selected sedimentary deposits has proven to be a viable method of extraction and competitive with conventional mining for relatively deep low-grade ores (2). In in-situ leaching, uranium is recovered by drilling injection and collection wells in the ore body, pumping a suitable lixiviant to dissolve the mineral, extracting uranium from the pregnant solution by ion exchange, and finally regenerating and recycling the lixiviant. Even though there is increasing interest and practice in developing the in-situ technique for obtaining uranium values from deeper, lower-grade reserves, there is a lack of knowledge of the basic leaching kinetics and combined transport processes. In-situ leaching operations, in general, appear attractive for the following three general types of deposits (2): (1) low-grade surface dumps or deposits which lie above the natural water table,

Jan 1, 1983

By Raymond H. Young, Paul Sennett

INTRODUCTION Kaolin clay, consisting largely of the mineral kaolinite, is widely used as a white pigment. In the United States, for instance, pigment kaolin production was nearly 6,000,000 tons in 1976 (1). Production for this year should be significantly above this level. Current prices for kaolinite 'pigments range from about $20.00/ ton to$260.00/tony,depending on the amount of processing needed to make the final product. Although much of this pigment kaolinite is used as an inert filler where product specifications are not very rigid, a large quantity of kaolinite is converted to products where very restrictive specifications exist. These specifications set severe limits on such properties as viscosity in a water suspension, particle size distribution, color, and brightness. This discussion will concentrate on methods available to improve the color and brightness of pigment kaolin and will review the advantages and problems associated with these various methods. The term "brightness" refers to the reflectance of the pigment to blue light (2). Since even the brightest commercial kaolins have a somewhat yellowish color, the blue reflectance (or brightness) is a reasonably good measure of their nearness to a perfectly white material. I KAOLINITE STRUCTURE AND SOURCES The mineral kaolinite is an aluminum silicate and can be represented by the formula (OH) 8Si4A14010. The formula is frequently written

Jan 1, 1979

By M. Vallée

This case study compares the actual production figures for the No. I and No. 2 copper orebodies of the Société Miniére Louvem, Val d'Or, Quebec, with the preproduction estimates and a postmortem geostatistical estimation using kriging techniques. The deposits considered are small subvertical sulphide orebodies which were mined from August 1970 to April 1973, producing 648,000 tons at 2.04% Cu versus the 1968 computed reserves of 671,000 tons at 2.51% Cu (with 20% dilution), thus showing a 25% overestimation of the copper contained. The postmortem geostatistical estimation based on the same 44 D.D.H. intersections available in 1968, shows 2.24% Cu (no dilution), compared to 3.23% Cu (no dilution) given by the conventional section method. Block by block kriging techniques were used, but within the ore contours as determined by the geologist. In this case, Characterized like many sulphide deposits by highly dispersed sample values, geostatistical kriging techniques permit a more realistic estimation of the metal contained within a given volume, than the conventional methods which overestimate it. This study has been conducted by the Mineral Exploration Research institute (IREM-MERI) for SOQUEM, and is one of the few case studies released with all pertinent data. More postmortem of this kind are required for geologists and geostatisticians to improve their methods and their "batting average".

Jan 1, 1977

By John E. Dowis

Ore distribution being what it is, many of today's mining companies are forced to develop foreign reserves to satisfy the demands of their customers. This necessity complicates the economic picture for a company, because management must look well be- yond grade and tonnage to determine the feasibility of developing a foreign orebody. Above all, the taxes on such a development must be assessed. The difference that taxes can make in mining profits will be illustrated here for three countries-Canada, Mexico and the United States. For purposes of comparison, identical orebodies will be assumed to occur in all three countries. Only the taxes on these properties will vary. Grade, tonnage, gross income, production costs and production rates will all be the same. The discussion will be limited to federal taxes, because state and provincial taxes are usually negligible by comparison. Assumptions relative to the orebody and the nature of the company undertaking the operation are as follows: (1) Copper is the only value to be recovered. (2) Sixty million tons of ore have been delineated. (3) Underground mining is required, and the production rate will be 3 million tpy. (4) The life of the property is 20 yr. (5) Operations in Mexico or Canada will be handled by a subsidiary of a U.S. parent company. (6) The subsidiary will offer stock.

Jan 1, 1970

By S. R. B. Cooke, R. O. Huch, C. S. Chang

IN the flotation of iron ores laurylamine derivatives have been used for considerable time.1, 2' To effect satisfactory separation of the gangue, pre-dominantly silica, from the iron oxide minerals, the addition of specific depressants for the iron oxides has been found necessary. Starches and starch products have been used for this purpose.V here is, however, very little published information on the effects of these materials and other variables on this process. In some cases it has been found that prior acid scrubbing and desliming are essential," and depending upon the efficiency of the subsequent washing step, there will be accompanying changes in pH. It was the object of this investigation to test and observe the effects of the above factor as well as to examine and compare the action of various starches and starch products. Ore Preparation The ore used in this experiment was a wash-ore tailing obtained from the western Mesabi range. Microscopic examination and x-ray analysis of the ore showed it to consist of hematite, goethite, and quartz. Physical properties of the iron minerals ranged from hard and crystalline to earthy and ocherous. The quartz grains were discolored either because of iron-oxide inclusions or because of a sur-face coating of iron oxide. The ore assayed 27.52

Jan 1, 1954

By C. K. Leith, W. J. Mead

One of the most significant developments in the iron industry in recent years has been the discovery and opening of enormous reserves of low-grade ore in eastern and northeastern Cuba. The two principal fields are the Mayari and the Moa, situated on Nipe bag, in the Province of Oriente. A less well-known district of the same type is that of Baracoa, at the east of the island, and another is in Csmaguey Province in central Cuba. In the comprehensive estimates of the iron-ore reserves of the world, published during the summer of 1910 by the International Geological Congress in Sweden,' these Cuban deposits are estimated at about 2,000,000,000 tons. Certain it is that the reserve is a large one. The Spanish-American Iron Co., the Juragua Iron Co. (Bethlehem Steel Co.), the U. S. Steel Corporation, and others have been active in this exploration. The Spanish-American Iron Co. has established a port for the handling of these ores at Felton, has built a railway 16 miles to the ore-fields, and has operied up deposits for steam-shovel mining. Its expenditures have reached an aggregate of about $6,000,000 in preparation for the handling of these ores. Shipment of the ore to Sparrow's Point, Md., has begun and may be expected to rise to a considerable amount in the near future.

Jan 1, 1912

By N. E. Norman

During the past few years the underground mining industry and the big hole drilling industry have been involved in a flirtatious courtship, but until recently this courtship did not appear to be taken too seriously by either party. However, many of the promises made by the big hole industry are beginning to come true. Improvements have been made steadily in techniques of mechanical boring of large diameter shafts, raises and tunnels, thus making the big hole industry a more stable partner in the eyes of the mining industry. The mining industry too has made many changes in planning that make mining more attractive to the big hole industry. If there is to be a marriage between big hole drilling and mining, we should certainly take a look at the background of the big hole drilling industry, and examine the three main features of big hole drilling to determine how each applies to mining. Shaft Drilling Since 1950, numerous large diameter shafts have been drilled using rotary drilling techniques. Most of the larger diameter shafts have been drilled for the AEC for underground nuclear testing purposes. However, since 1960 several shafts have also been drilled for various mining companies, particularly in the United States. In 1967, rotary drilling shafts were either completed or in progress at the mining companies listed in Table I.

Jan 6, 1968

By Raja P. Upadhyay

An evaluation of the economics of mining the deep, thick oil shale deposits of the central portion of the Piceance Creek basin, Colorado, U.S.A. is presented in this paper. For the analysis, a modified large scale underground mining system developed by Cameron Engineers, Inc. and the Gas Combustion retorting process developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines were used to determine capital investment and annual operating costs. A modified risk analysis computer program was then used to calculate DCFROI’s for various grades of oil shale and selling prices of partially refined shale oil. Sensitivity analyses were performed to quantify the affect of bonus bid payments, operating costs, capital investment, and all costs on DCFROI. In addition, a probabilistic evaluation was made to determine the risk involved in obtaining desired rates of return. Results of the economic evaluation indicate that for current selling prices of crude oil a high risk is involved in obtaining a DCFROI of 15%, unless only higher grades of oil shale are mined. However, mining only the higher grade oil shales, 125 l/mt (30 gpt) and above, would effectively reduce the potentially mineable resources by 90%. Risk can also be reduced through higher selling prices of shale oil. Sensitivity analyses indicate that the capital investment has a three times greater effect on required selling price than total operating costs.

Jan 1, 1977

By D. W. Gillmore, C. C. Wright

DEWATERING is a major problem in the preparation and utilization of fine-sized coals now being recovered in increasing amounts from colliery effluents, refuse banks, and silt ponds. Of the various methods which have been proposed for dewatering fine coal, gravity drainage is probably the oldest and most widely used, and yet little information on this subject has been published. Consequently a laboratory investigation of gravity drainage phenomena was undertaken not only to provide basic data for predicting the drainage behavior of fine coals in cars, bunkers, basins, and silos, but also to obtain some understanding of the moisture retention properties of fine coal. Because of practical interest in the problem, a reproducible laboratory technique, which simulated plant conditions as closely as possible, was developed for the evaluation of drainage variables. The apparatus selected consisted of vertically-mounted lucite columns, nominally 4 to 8 ft in length and 2, 3 or 6 in. in diam; the bottom of the column was provided with a rubber stopper through which was inserted a ½ -in. diam drainage tube; a wad of glass wool was placed on the upper part of this outlet tube to retain the coal and a plug was temporarily located at the lower end to prevent drainage during charging of the column, see Fig. 1. The most satisfactory testing procedure is as follows: 1-The fine coal, which has been thoroughly

Jan 1, 1952

By Everett Parker

THIS paper describes the methods used to determine the rates of payment for contract work and the plan of contract supervision in the Elm Orlu mine. A discussion of the theory of wages and the eternal question-what is a just wage-are beyond the scope of this article. In the fall of 1920 the Elm Orlu was the largest mine in Butte using the day's pay system of payment for stoping operations. High labor and supply costs and a falling market for the product of the mine made economic mining difficult. The mining method had been changed from the square set stoping to timbered rilling to eliminate most of the shoveling. There was no opportunity to reduce the cost of supplies other than more rigid economy in their use. It was recognized, however, that the labor efficiency was low and that the reduction in costs depended on increasing the output per man. While in general, the low man efficiency was a resultant of the high wages paid and the shortage of men during the war and subsequent period of inflation, it was felt that the contract and bonus system used in the other mines was the main factor in that the most capable and energetic men had been attracted to those mines where more than average skill and dili-gence were recognized by more than average pay.

Jan 1, 1927

Hunkered up against the spine of the Andes in a tight valley where natural refuge from avalanche hardly exists is the daring Rio Blanco project of Cerro Corp. The deposit here was found in 1904, but nature has foiled all previous attempts to open it. To an experienced mountaineer or a highway engineer with mountain experience, the avalanche hazard in the valley of the Blanco river would be immediately apparent. The collar shaft is at the head of the valley at an elevation of 3600 m and for 12 km down the valley there is no space on the floor for building very much; the dissected rock walls are roadways for avalanches and even a highway could not be maintained sufficiently passable. This is the proposition taken on by the Cerro Corp. Chilean National Decree #1699, passed on December 9, 1966, signified "Go" to the Compania Minera Andina, a company whose shares are held 70% by the Cerro Corp. and 30% by the government of Chile. The orebody, although only partially delineated, contains proven reserves of 120 million tons of ore averaging 1.58% Cu. When the operation comes on stream in the last quarter of 1970, it will be at the rate of 11,000 tpd. Annual production will be 65,000 tpy of recoverable copper in concentrates.

Jan 11, 1969

By W. C. Schroeder

PRACTICAL experience has shown that at elevated temperatures solu-tions containing sodium hydroxide may attack stressed steel in a manner that cannot be explained in terms of ordinary corrosion. Because the ductility of the metal has been greatly reduced during the reaction, the entire phenomenon is usually called "embrittlement." Thus, after several years of operation caustic evaporators have been so badly embrittled that rivets could be cracked off with the blow of a hammer. Since fine intergranular cracks are almost always present in the zone of fracture, it has often been assumed that a process of selective corrosion in grain boundaries was responsible for the failure, although this has not been clearly proved experimentally. Concentrations of sodium hydroxide below those necessary for the uniform, rapid attack of the steel surface are reported to be most effective in producing embrittlement2,3. In the operation of steam boilers a similar type of failure has been found, mainly in riveted seams or other capillary spaces where the solu-tion may concentrate and where high stresses may also exist. It is believed that in such localized areas the dissolved solids may reach a value many times the few hundred parts per million prevalent in the body of the boiler. While this type of boiler failure has been the subject of investigation for a period of 20 years', an understanding of its mecha-

Jan 1, 1936

By Donald E. Crowell

In the fall of 1969, ASARCO and Newmont Mining Co. began the design of the 700tpd concentrator at their Black Cloud shaft located near Leadville, Colo. The concentractor would treat by flotation a Pb-Zn-Ag ore containing minor gold values. Flowsheet design was based on laboratory test work performed at the Minerals Research Testing Laboratory of ASARCO. Since the concentrator is located at an elevation of 11,000 ft, cold weather was a major factor in design considerations. The original capacity was designed as 700 tpd but for various reasons an ultimate capacity of 1,000 tpd was desired. This necessitated special consideration in the design of several areas, particularly the grinding circuit. The grinding circuit chosen was a single 9 X 12 ball mill operating in closed circuit with one 20-in. cyclone. The ball mill will operate at low speed and as an overflow type originally. The mill can be speeded up and converted to grate type for handling the larger tonnage when required. Thickeners and filters were oversized and space was left for additional flotation cells in order to handle the increased tonnage in these areas. Pumps were sized so that they could handle the increased tonnage by increasing their speed. Construction began in May 1970; the Black Cloud concentrator went on-stream in April 1791.

Jan 1, 1974

In the late 19th century Fremont Pass was only a gateway to Leadville, Colo., 12 miles to the north. Some of the silver, lead, and zinc won from this famous camp crossed the Continental Divide at Climax, passing by the huge outcrop of molybdenum on Bartlett Mountain. This element, relatively un- known in the world of commerce, was then nothing more than a joke to play on greenhorn prospectors. Even 30 or 40 years later, after the demand for metals created by World War I had forced temporary use of molybdenum as an alternate for tungsten in tool steels, the Bartlett Mountain outcrop once again became merely a curiosity. With the persistent efforts of Brainerd Phillipson, for years the president of Climax and almost the only employe, use of molybdenum gradually began to grow, first in tool steel and later in the alloy steels required by the growing automotive industry. Mr. Phillipson was first an engineer and second a salesman. The combination of these two qualities is the key to the story, not only of Climax sales but also of the growth of molybdenum from an object of idle curiosity to the point where it is today, along with chromium and nickel, one of the most versatile alloying elements in the iron and steel industries and increasingly important in chemistry.

Aug 1, 1955

By L. O. Bond, R. P. Alger, A. W. Schmidt

Well logging provides valuable information for planning coal mining operations. In addition to locating, defining, and evaluating coal beds, electrical logs indicate the relative competence of roof and floor formations. Electrical well logging is the .recording of various physical, chemical, or physicochemical properties of the strata penetrated by a drill hole. To perform logging operations, borehole measuring probes, or sondes, are lowered on a cable into the drill hole. Insulated conductors in the cable pass power to the sonde and transmit signals to the surface. As the sonde is pulled up the hole, the measurements are recorded as a well log. These measurements serve to define the formation lithology. Common rock minerals exhibit characteristic log values such that computer analysis of the log data defines the mineral content of the formations. Shales, carbonates and sandstones, and coal beds are readily distinguished. Furthermore, preliminary results in coal studies indicate the log data delineates variations in ash and moisture contents. Of major concern in planning mining operations is knowledge of roof and floor competence. Here again the logs provide valuable information. Measurements of formation density and acoustic wave velocity provide data for computation of a compressional modulus. This compressional modulus is an effective index of formation competence. Electrical logging thus efficiently provides information for economic planning of mining operations.

Jan 1, 1972

By Yap Chu-Phay

IN the previous paper, the writer showed how, on the basis of thermodynamic reasoning, it seems probable that when true equilibrium conditions obtain, carbon exists as Fe3C in the liquid state and as elementary carbon in the solid state (7 Fe), in which case the solidus would be a straight line from 0.18 to 1.70 per cent. carbon (Fig. 1). In the same paper he concluded that the solidus obtained by Honda 'and his co-workers1 probably does not represent the same conditions, insuring a complete equilibrium. Except for a downward temperature displacement, the solidus obtained by Gutowsky,2 using the Heycock and Neville method, practically coincides with Honda's solidus as shown in Fig. 1. The writer at first thought that perhaps in some way Gutowsky's thermocouple was improperly calibrated for high-temperature measurements, as his liquidus was also much lower than those obtained by Carpenter and Keeling3 and by Ruer and Goerens.4 However, the eutectic temperature obtained by Gutowsky agrees with the generally accepted value of 1130° C., so that the validity of the inference regarding improper temperature calibrations is to be strongly doubted. In Fig. 1, Gutowsky's solidus is shown both in the original and in the corrected form. In the latter, a correction of 29.2° C. is made for all temperatures above 1416° C. in accordance with-

Jan 1, 1931

By R. C. Davis, R. F. Berry, G. W. White, B. T. O’Connell, L. A. Stacha

P,, and v, may now be solved for by trial and error between Eqs. 2 and 3, by assuming time approaching zero and equating PI, to P12. Observe that the pressure under the slug, P12 of Eq. 3, does not remain equal to the P1, at the valve in Eq. 2 as the slug proceeds up the hole. To plot the profile of pressure vs depth, it is necessary to express P12 in terms of P11. To do so, the extent to which the original submergence length S changes with respect to time must be analyzed. At the end of time t after injection, the actual value of L in Fig. 3 is The fall-back v,(t) is now distributed in the gas and exerts pressure on the bottom. This, in addition to the weight of the gas, amounts to the difference in pressures from point to point. With the average pressure profile calculable, a true numerical value for the average pressure in the tubing may be obtained. The value of v, must be obtained experimentally, and since v,, S and D are known, the basic Eq. 1 may be solved for the amount produced. Knowing P, and the actual volume of tubing occupied by gas (vat), it is possible to calculate the volume of gas at standard conditions which is present in the

By R. F. Marande, R. S. Busk

THE magnesium-aluminum-zinc system contains most of the magnesium-base alloys used commercially, although in practice the ternary, alloys are usually modified by the addition of a small amount [ ] of manganese. Table I contains the magnesium-base commercial sand-casting alloys most widely used throughout the world, together with their typical tensile properties. These alloys may be regarded as a single family of varying aluminum and zinc content, disregarding manganese. A concise means of presenting data for them is by means of iso-property lines plotted on triangular coordinate paper. Constitutional, casting, and mechanical properties are presented in this manner. The data are given with the object of providing reference material, and to aid in the choice of a commercial alloy to serve a particular purpose. Detailed, critical analysis of the commercial alloys has been covered in a previous paper.1 [ ] All alloys reported were made in 15-lb. melts, superheated to 1700°F. for 15 min., cooled to 1400°F. and poured in sand molds. The test bars produced had a ½ in. reduced section and were about 6 in. long. Except for the data represented in Figs. I and 3 the alloys used were of commercial purity and contained 0.1 to 0.2 per cent Mn in addition to the aluminum and zinc. CONSTITUTIONAL DATA Under the heading of Constitutional Data are included all known data on con-

Jan 1, 1946