Search Documents

By Henning Nielsen

SIX weeks ahead of schedule, the International Nickel Co. of Canada Ltd. has brought a 30-mile rail line into the newly born town of Thompson, Manitoba. Its construction spurs the development of a rich new mining region slated to become the world's second largest nickel-producing area-exceeded only by Inco's Sudbury, Ont., workings. Two mines, the Thompson and the Moak Lake, will be opened to meet International Nickel's scheduled annual production goal of 385 million lb of refined nickel by 1961. Accomplishment of this aim will mean an additional 75 million lb of the metal available to consumers. In addition, stepped-up out- put of Inco's Sudbury holdings may increase this figure by another 25 million lb. (For an earlier report on these developments see MINING ENGINEERING News, January 1957).

Jan 12, 1957

By W. T. Abel

The Bureau of Mines tested 48 materials for their ability to absorb H2S from hot simulated producer gas (1,000°-1,500° F). The material found best from the standpoint of absorption capacity, durability, and amenability to regeneration was sintered pellets of 75 percent fly ash-25 percent Fe203. The performance of this absorbent under simulated and actual conditions is described. The effect of absorbent composition, absorbent temperature, steam content of the gas, and tar vapors and dust in producer gas is discussed.

Jan 1, 1974

By Lawrence Adler

In-situ rock has well-recognized rupture and yielding responses. Attention is called to an intermediate response, granulation, which consists of an evenly distributed, small-scale crumbling accompanied by swelling. Granulation results in a negative slope for the inelastic portion of the stress-strain curve as successive interlocks are destroyed, and the load-carrying capacity of the material is reduced. Volumetric swelling with softening also takes place. The prerequisites for such a response are moderate confinement and a uniformly distributed defect pattern. Since rock masses, as well as rock as an intact material, have such patterns in their jointing and texture, respectively, granulation is characteristic of them. The presence of granulation can be demonstrated for a very wide scale, ranging from laboratory testing to regional geologic phenomena. The response of an engineered structure is considered in detail. Granulation appears to be dependent upon internal moments, the formation of which can be controlled by engineering design. The practical implications of such control can be significant in optimizing underground instability and in improving excavation techniques. Rock is usually considered to behave inelastically under high load, by fracturing as a brittle material, or by yielding as a ductile material, ignoring time dependency. These responses, which are characteristic of metallic behavior, appear idealized in Fig. 1, where linear-elasticity approximates the initial behavior. However, another major deformation mechanism peculiar to rock has long been recognized in geology, the granulation of an interlocked material. Granulation consists of a uniformly distributed fracturing and crumbling of the material, accompanied by swelling and softening. Predictably, the associated inelastic portion of the load-deformation curve has a negative slope,

Jan 1, 1971

By Paul S. Murphy, Eric W. Oehrke

INTRODUCTION The global market for sulphur has experienced dramatic structural shifts during the past 10-15 years. After a number of years of dominance as sulphur suppliers, the world's Frasch producers were confronted with large increases in nondiscretionary sulphur production from sour crude oil and gas, while escalating energy and exploration costs reduced the economic incentives to replace dwindling sulphur reserves. Sulphur demand also experienced substantial growth, but the majority of this increase was filled by nondiscretionary production. The result was essentially flat demand for Frasch sulphur during this period. This paper briefly summarizes Freeport Sulphur Company's outlook for global supply and demand for sulphur through the year 2000, and examines in more detail the history and anticipated shifts in trade patterns. World trade in elemental sulphur (brimstone), despite year-to-year fluctuations, has been on an upward trend in recent years, and should continue to grow through the end of this century. The type (discretionary vs. nondiscretionary) and location of forecast sulphur supply sources has potentially broad implications for the world's Frasch producers, as they compete in a world market which is increasingly supplied by non-discretionary production. SULPHUR DEMAND Sulphur is a versatile and essential element used in a wide variety of manufacturing processes. Almost 90% of world sulphur consumption is in the form of sulphuric acid. The relatively low cost, ready availability, and physical and chemical properties of sulphuric acid make it the most economical acid for a number of chemical processes. Although sulphur is used in the manufacture of many products, the largest consumer by far is the phosphate fertilizer industry. The majority of sulphur demand growth over the past 30 years has occurred in this area, and today it accounts for nearly 65% of global sulphur consumption in all forms. Due to the relative importance of phosphate fertilizers, sulphur demand is typically discussed in terms of fertilizer and non-fertilizer (or industrial) uses, and this approach will be followed here. We at Freeport believe that global consumption of phosphate fertilizers should grow at an average annual rate of about 3.5% through the year 2000, which is roughly equal to the growth rate experienced during the past ten years. The basic assumption underlying this forecast is that world population will continue to grow significantly, while the total acres of cropland will grow only slightly. Therefore, in order to feed a growing population, higher crop yields will be necessary, which in turn will require the increasing use of fertilizers. This expected growth in phosphate consumption will, without doubt, fluctuate from year to year, and we Frasch producers have painful memories of the large dip in demand during 1982-83. However, we believe that the fundamentals for growth are very good, and that future demand will move back onto the historical trend line. In the recent recession the use of sulphur in the non-fertilizer or industrial sector dropped sharply, and it now appears that future growth will not return to the old trend line. Most of the non-fertilizer uses of sulphur and sulphuric acid involve older industries which are very mature, such as oil refining, steel, pulp and paper, pigments, etc. The use of sulphur in some of these industries is expected to exhibit little or possibly even negative

Jan 1, 1986

By Kenelm C. Appleyard

In introducing to an American audience a description of the work done in dry coal separation in England and in Europe generally, it is perhaps desirable to give a short history of the development outside the United States of the particular processes with which the author is connected, and perhaps to stress a little the differences in the nature of the conditions to be faced. England actually presents one set of problems and the Continent of Europe another, since the character of the coals to be treated is entirely dissimilar, and the attitude of the coal industries towards coal preparation is also dissimilar. England for generations has been working by hand good seams of clean coal of the highest possible quality and has not felt any pressing need to clean its coal. Most Continental countries, however, especially in Central and Western Europe, have been working friable and often very dirty coals for so long that a washery is accepted as a part of the normal equipment of a colliery, with the result that the art of wet washing has reached a high state of perfection, particularly in Belgium and Germany. The advent of machine mining has intensified the problems to be faced in all countries, and in England has been coupled with the working out of the best seams in the older coal fields, thus bringing about the necessity of working thinner and dirtier seams with resultant difficulties as regards marketing the products, while Poland, with clean and well prepared coal, has in recent years been attacking established British markets in Scandinavia. In recent years, therefore, interest in coal preparation has been steadily gaining ground in England, although it has not yet reached Continental dimensions. Broadly speaking, the differences in preparation problems between England and the Continent boil themselves down to one of size. In England, for example, with the exception of the Kent coal field, the proportion of coal of a size less than ? in. to the coal less than 2 in. is very much less than on the Continent, and since the principal difficulties in dry cleaning lie in the fines it is easier to produce good figures on

Jan 1, 1931

By Morris Cohen

IT has been known for several years that in certain age-hardenable alloys precipitation of finely divided particles occurs simultaneously with the changes in physical properties; while, in other alloys, these changes take place prior to, or without any, precipitation. . The silver-copper alloys are generally considered to be the classical example of the first group, and the aluminum-copper alloys (duralumin) are typical of the second group. The two types of aging are explained by the precipitation theory and the knot theory respectively. ? It is well recognized now that these theories do not conflict with each other; the one used for a given aging system depends upon which way the alloy in question happens to age-harden. However, previous work on the aluminum-copper alloys1,2 has shown that if the aging temperature is raised sufficiently the hardening will be accompanied by actual precipitation. In fact, it is quite probable that all of the so-called knot-hardening alloys will harden by precipitation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, a combination of the knot and precip-itation theories is necessary to give a complete picture of the age-harden-ing of these alloys, and indicates that knot formation and precipitation are not independent processes. To test the generality of this concept, it is necessary to show that the alloys that commonly harden by precipitation will harden prior to precip¬itation if the aging temperature is sufficiently lowered. For this reason, it would be well to carefully re-examine the aging characteristics of the silver-copper alloys at aging temperatures somewhat below those used by previous investigators. If hardening can be detected prior to precipi¬tation in these alloys, it will lend great weight to the idea that knot forma-

Jan 1, 1936

By S. Dubnewych, S. Kieffer, M. T. McRae, R. R. Redd

The seismic vulnerability of the existing outlet tower at Lake Mathews reservoir, located in Riverside County, California, necessitated the design of a new outlet facility to assure serviceability of the facility following a major earthquake. The components of the proposed facility include: a new outlet tower; a shaft; a new outlet tunnel; an approach channel that will be excavated underwater; and two short tunnels that will connect the new outlet tunnel to the existing outlet tunnel via the shaft. As the new facilities will be constructed while the reservoir is in operation, a cofferdam will be constructed around the site of the new outlet tower. The design for the underground facilities used a combination of empirical methods; limit equilibrium analyses, including displacement-based pseudo-static analyses for dynamic loading conditions; and numerical analyses. This paper outlines the design methodology used to develop an innovative design for the facilities which can be constructed within the time frame required by the operational schedule of the reservoir and existing outlet facility.

Jan 1, 1999

By Ronald H. Church, Walter E. Pittman, J. T. McLendon

In its role of providing technical assistance to the mining industry, the Bureau of Mines' Tuscaloosa Research Center has conducted research to develop trapped miner location systems which would aid in locating miners trapped by underground mining disasters. Efforts to produce electromagnetic systems for the location of trapped miners underground and to communicate with them were surveyed, from the 1920's to 1981. Theoretical studies of through-the-earth electromagnetic transmissions are described as well as studies of the electrical characteristics of various rocks, minerals, and soil. Several trapped miner location systems are reviewed including the Westinghouse systems, the DEVELCO system, and an automated three-dimensional location system, and the phase difference of arrival technique. Tangential research, relevant to trapped miner location systems is described. A comprehensive bibliography covering all aspects of trapped miner, through-the-earth electromagnetic location and communications systems is appended.

By Luis Alvarado Huamani

Se requiere realizar controles iniciales a las fisuras menores de los hastiales, estás se presentan cuando la roca reacciona y empieza a ejercer pequeñas deformaciones a la superficie del shotcrete, evidenciándose en pequeñas aberturas milimétricas. Es en este momento que se tiene que realizar las mediciones de deformación mediante las tablas patrones, las cuales se insertan a la superficie fisurada y se inicia el ciclo de lecturas hasta que llegue al límite Crack, punto en el cual se inicia la colocación del refuerzo mediante una cinta de malla tipo Straps y perno o en caso rebase el valor crack se podrá resanar con más shotcrete.

Sep 1, 2017

By Y. C. Liu, H. Margolin

Investigation of martensite habit plane in water-quenched Ti-Mn alloys was carried out in the range of manganese contents between 4.35 and 5.25 pct. On the basis of 22 measurements, the poles were observed to fall into two groups, indicating the existence of two habit planes. The Miller indices of the poles close to these two groups were found to be <334>ß and <344>ß. TITANIUM has an allotropic transformation at 882.1° ± 0.5C1 by which the high temperature ß (body-centered cubic) phase changes to a (hexagonal close-packed) phase. It is well known, as in the case of low carbon steel, that the unalloyed high temperature ß phase cannot be retained no matter how rapid the cooling rate. However, the addition of alloying elements usually lowers the transformation temperature continuously and stabilizes the ß phase to a temperature much lower than the allotropic transformation temperature in pure titanium. A typical example of this behavior is found with manganese-alloying of titanium. Fig. 1 shows the titanium-rich Ti-Mn equilibrium diagram as established by Battelle Memorial Institute.&apos; The addition of manganese lowers the ß transus line and the eutectoid reaction takes place at 550°C, the eutectoid composition being 20 wt pct Mn. However, upon quenching to room temperature from the ß field, the ß phase can be completely retained with much less manganese, see Fig. 2. If the composition is less than that required to stabilize the ß phase completely, a plate-like structure, similar to that of martensite in other alloy systems, appears as shown in Fig. 3. Much lower alloying content merely intensifies the amounts of these transformed structures, as shown in Fig. 4. This paper presents the results of an investigation of the habit plane of these martensitic structures in Ti-Mn alloys. Experimental Procedure Investigation of the pole of a given platelet was made using the two-surface method of analysis." In order that a given martensite trace on two surfaces be readily recognized both at low and high magnifications, it is desirable that only a small amount of martensite be present. From a review of the data obtained at Battelle Memorial Institute4 on quench hardening in Ti-Mn alloys and the results of Duwez" on transformation in Ti-MO alloys, it was decided that the most appropriate Ti-Mn composition for this study would be about 6 pct Mn. A group of alloys containing from 3 to 10 pct Mn was made to bracket this composition. The choice of the 6 pct alloy was apparently proper, since it was later learned that approximately 5.5 to 6 pct Mn is required to stabilize the ß phase on water quenching.

Jan 1, 1954

By Albert Smith

THE creep properties of metals have as-sumed increasing importance in recent years and many investigations have been made on various phases of the problem. In the past year the annual lectures of the Insti-tute of Metals Division1 and the Iron and Steel Division2 were concerned with this subject, and are excellent reviews. For many years the creep properties of lead and lead alloys have been investigated at the Central Research Laboratories of the American Smelting and Refining Co., and it is hoped that the present paper will contribute knowledge of some of the factors that influ-ence creep. Lead, being a metal that recrys-tallizes readily at room temperature, is an excellent material upon which to investi-gate creep phenomena because of the sim-plicity of the apparatus needed, and it might be expected that results would apply to some extent to elevated-temperature tests of other metals.

Jan 1, 1940

By Arthur F. Colombo, Donald W. Frommer

With the opening of the Tilden mine near Ishpeming, MI, a new era in iron ore beneficiation was begun. A description of a U. S. Bureau of Mines investigation is summarized to illustrate the selective flocculation-deslime-flotation process developed by the Bureau and used at the Tilden concentrator, which is also briefly described. The operating parameters for the selective flocculation-cationic flotation of an oxidized taconite from the Mesabi range are discussed. A water reclamation system using lime and a cationic flocculant was applied to reclaim the effluents from a 900-pound-per-hour flotation pilot plant. About 80 percent of water requirements were recovered, and the calcium content of the reclaimed water was found to be more important than clarity in influencing the selective flocculation and flotation processes. Although reclaimed waters with about 10 ppm calcium registered turbidities of approximately 5,000 ppm SiO2 equivalents, the concentrates produced using these waters contained 64 percent Fe and 55.0 percent SiO2 and had accompanying iron recoveries of 75 percent. Lower grade concentrates resulted from using reclaimed water with higher calcium contents and lower turbidities.

Jan 1, 1976

By E. G. Joe

The continuing increase in costs for power and fuel are affecting significantly the cost of milling Canadian ores. In order to ascertain the scope and source of energy consumption in Canadian mills for further energy conservation opportunities, CANMET, in cooperation with the Canadian Mineral Processors, carried out a detailed survey on the metallic mineral processing plants. Sixty-seven mills representing almost 300 million tons of annual capacity participated in the survey. The results indicated that, in general, copper and iron ore mills, representing the bulk of the tonnage, consumed relatively low levels of energy per ton. Nickel-copper, zinc-copper and lead-zinc .ore mills were moderate in energy consumption, and uranium and some copper-lead-zinc mills reported much higher energy consumptions due primarily to the increased heat requirements of the ore pulp. Although plant heating costs varied somewhat with location, it was apparent that the lowest heating costs were achieved by those plants built with proper insulation and energy conservation design. If the cost per million British thermal units is taken as $2.00, the mill energy costs generally ranged from 40ft to $1.20 per ton.

Jan 1, 1979

By J. G. Donaldson

The Bureau of Mines investigated the formation of boron and boron-carbide coatings by vapor-phase reactions. Optimum parameters were determined for hydrogen reduction of boron trichloride and for the fonnation of boron-carbide coatings on graphite by reaction with the depositing boron. At 1,300° C, about 85 percent of the boron was deposited. Tungsten substrates did not react with the boron deposit; other substrates reacted to various extents. The hydrogen reduction of boron tribromide was briefly investigated. Boron carbide was deposited at 1,300° C by adding methane to the boron trichloride-hydrogen feed gas. The chemical composition of the vapor-deposited boron carbide approximated B4C. A method of etching B4C was developed to study its microstructure. When boron was deposited on graphite at 1,500° C, very hard, uniform, strongly adherent coatings of B4C were formed that might be useful in rocket nozzle applications.

Jan 1, 1968

By Wilson R. G

The Bulli and Wongawilli Seams, the two principal sources of coking coal for the Port KKembla steelworks of Australian Iron and Steel Pty. Ltd., vary in rank and in type over the Southern and -South Western Coalfields. The Bulli Seam, ranging widely in type, produces coke varying from weak to strong. The Wongawilli Seam, more consistent in type, produces coke of more consistent strength, but considerably less strong than that from the best Bulli Seam coal. Plans of seam variation show the regional trends in rank and type for each sear. The strongest coke is derived from coal containing between 45 and 55 per cent vitrinite, m.m.f. This is obtainable from the Bulli Sean in a zone embracing Bulli and Appin Colleries.

Jan 1, 1969

By Robert M. Stevens, Arnoldo Acuña

INTRODUCTION In the early 1950s, underground miners and tunnel¬ing contractors were experimenting with ways to supple¬ment or eliminate track-bound loading and hauling equipment. Diesel-powered crawler and rubber-tire mounted front-end loaders and trucks designed for use on the surface were being modified and tried with limited but encouraging success. Miners began working with interested manufacturers to explore the develop¬ment of vehicles specifically designed to meet the de¬mands and constraints of underground material han¬dling. By the mid 1960s, load-haul-dump (LHD) vehicles were firmly established as a fundamental part of what has become known as the "trackless" mining concept, used in many mines and many countries around the world. The flexibility, mobility, and versatility of these units have given the industry a useful tool and have added new dimensions to mine development and produc¬tion. Many old mines have been redesigned to accom¬modate these trackless vehicles, and few new mining plans have failed to find some use for the concept during some phase of development and production. By 1977, several manufacturers in several different countries were producing a variety of LHD vehicles to meet the growing worldwide demand. GENERAL DESCRIPTION LHD vehicles combine certain characteristics of conventional front-end loaders and dump trucks, spe¬cifically designed for materials handling in underground mining and tunneling. The design intent is to provide one vehicle with one man, with the vehicle loading itself, hauling the load over level or inclined haulageways, and dumping the load. A typical production cycle of the most popular units has the operator driving the vehicle forward, forcing the bucket into the muck at or near floor level, and using the tractive effort of the vehicle and the prying action of the bucket to roll out and tilt back the load as shown in Fig. 1. With the bucket rolled back into the carrying position on the boom and the boom resting on the main frame of the vehicle, the load is hauled (trammed) to the dump point as shown in Fig. 2. At the dump point, the boom is raised, the bucket is rolled forward, and the load slides out as shown in Fig. 3. After dumping, the bucket is rolled back to the carrying position, the boom is returned to rest on the main frame, and the unit is driven back to the loading point for another load. There are two other types of LHD units that are slightly different in the cycles that they perform. One uses a hopper arrangement carried on the front of the machine, with a small bucket mounted ahead of the hopper. Several passes with the small bucket load the hopper, which is dumped by opening its floor. Al¬though this concept is several years old, it has gained less than 0.5% of the total market. The most recent LHD concept differs in that it has one bucket nesting inside another. The smaller inner bucket is loaded first, and it is then tilted back and above the larger bucket. When the larger bucket has been loaded, it is rolled back, and the total load is trammed to the dumping point. The dumping operation tilts the buckets in the reverse order from that of the loading operation. The impact of this new concept on the mining industry has not been measured yet. This chapter concentrates on the LHD vehicles employing the cycle described by Figs. 1 through 3, since these LHD units constitute an estimated 99% of the units in current use. MAIN VEHICLE FEATURES In general, the LHD vehicles available from most manufacturers share the same basic features.

Jan 1, 1982

By P. W. George

This paper presents geological data regarding deposits of over 7,500,000 tons of fine-grained sulphide ore in barite gangue. A series of pyroclastics and arkoses was intruded by sills of quartz porphyry in connection with batholithic intrusions of granite 3 miles from Buchans. Gentle folding, with fracturing acid shearing of tuff beds and intruded quartz porphyry, accompanied and followed the intrusion of granite and porphyry. The sulphide-barite mineralization is localized primarily in fractured and sheared tuff beds, but also in the sheared quartz porphyry. Two structures have proved particularly favorable for mineralization-one, the center of an anticline; the other, a series of weak, incompetent tuff beds intruded by thin sills of quartz porphyry and located between strong beds of arkose. During the folding the weak tuff with intruded quartz porphyry was intensely sheared and contorted and subse-quently mineralized by sulphides and barite.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. L. Fink, L. A. Willey

This paper is the nineteenth of a series from the Aluminum Research Laboratories, presenting the results of the investigations of equilibrium relations in aluminum-base alloys made from electrolytically refined aluminum. In previous papers equilibrium relations have been determined and correlated for 12 binary systems. Equilibrium relations have also been determined for portions of the aluminum corners of three ternary systems (aluminum-iron-silicon, aluminum-magnesium-silicon and aluminum-copper-magnesium). The object of the present paper and those to follow is to increase our knowledge of the aluminum corner of the more important ternary systems. In 1926 Dix and Keith † suggested a new method for designating the phases encountered in alloy systems. The system has been used to a very limited extentl,2,3 The system has since been slightly modified and will be used in this and future papers. In the system as modified, a phase is designated by placing in parentheses the chemical symbols of the elements essential to the formation of that phase. The symbols in the parentheses are separated by dashes in order to clearly distinguish them from a chemical formula. Elements that are not necessary to the formation of the phase in question, but which may be present in solid solution, are not indicated in the designation. If two or more phases would have the same designation according to these rules, they are distinguished by prefixing Greek letters, and are definitely identified by X-ray diffraction patterns. Previous Investigations The solid solubility of magnesium in aluminum has been well established by the work of Dix and Keller4, Schmid and Siebe15, and Saldau and Sergeev6. There is no agreement as to the composition of the magnesium constituents at the aluminum end of the binary aluminum-magnesium system. Hanson and Gayler7 report Mg2Al3; Boyer8 found that the alloy

Jan 1, 1937

By Barry S. Epstein

Financing the acquisition of a going coal mine operation has not had the exposure other finance-oriented projects have had. Therefore, C.I.T. feels that coal mining people and financial people should improve their understanding of the factors involved in this important type of acquisition. The discussion consists of two major subjects: analysis of the acquisition of the property, and sources and terms of funding the acquisition. Source and Terms of Funding There is a need to keep the competent medium-sized independent operator in the coal business, especially in these times of energy shortage. The creation of a resale market for coal mines encourages new investment in the coal mining business by medium-sized operators and their financial backers. Who provides debt and equity financing to acquire going coal mine operations and on what terms?

Jan 9, 1975

By Barnes GJ

The gabbroid-hosted nickel sulphide deposits of the East Kimberley constitutes one of Australia&apos;s most prospective emerging nickel provinces. Sally Malay Nickel NL (SMN), a wholly owned subsidiary of Gindalbie Gold NL, has established the East Kimberley Nickel Project (EKNP). The EKNP project tenements cover about 2000 sq km. The tenements cover the northern potion of a corridor containing mineralised or potentially mineralised layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions which includes the Ni-Cu-Co sulphide deposits at Sally Malay and Keller Creek. The Sally Malay deposit is located 225 km south-south-west of Kununurra (Figure 1). The sealed Great Northern Highway passes 3 km to the east of the deposit.

Jan 1, 1996