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By Charles N. Speltz

The cost of transportation of industrial minerals frequently is higher than the cost of the product. When a mine, industrial-mineral plant, or customer is served by a single railroad, because of the lack of competition, that railroad may in- crease rates and/or reduce service so that the economics of that mine, plant, or customer are affected adversely. Transloading of industrial minerals from rail-to-truck or truck-to-rail to improve economics and sales of product is not a new concept. However, transloading to create competition and reduce freight costs or to improve service is a relatively new concept brought on by the recent mergers of many of the main-line railroads, both in the eastern and western United States. For example, in 1998, with completion of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (BNSF) and the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific mergers (UPSP), the western United States has only two main-line railroads. The industrial-mineral producer, to reduce the cost of transportation or increase the level of service, must evaluate potential transloading opportunities in light of higher prices and reduced service brought on by reduced railroad competition. This paper discusses industrial-mineral transloading and examines the case history of the Tucker Hill perlite project in southern Oregon. The Tucker Hill project is a classic study of industrial-minerals transloading where the project would have failed without the transloading.

Jan 1, 1999

Develop a user-friendly computer program that permits those interested in mine health and safety to access and analyze on a personal computer (PC) employment, production, and accident data for U.S. coal and metal-nonmetal mines. This software is being designed with a major focus on flexibility and case of use. The Mine Accident Decision Support System (MADSS) will be available for distribution in mid-1994. Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) is seeking volunteers willing to pilot test a preliminary version of the software and to provide suggestions for its improvement. Background Since 1975, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has compiled large data bases of information about U.S. mines and the reportable accidents, injuries, and illnesses that have occurred in those mines. Employment and production data arc collected on a quarterly basis from each mine and accident information is collected on an incident -by-incident basis. The USBM has compiled estimated costs for each of these accidents using computer models. All of this information is potentially useful to mine health and safety researchers. However, it has been underutilized because it is stored in large mainframe data bases that arc inaccessible to many users and/or are cumbersome and difficult to use.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. K. Whyatt

Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been exploring recent advances in the use of strain-softening constitutive laws that approximate shear fracturing. The purpose of these tests is to investigate shear-fracture-related rock bursts in hard-rock mines. The capabilities and remaining problems in the use of strain-softening laws in finite-element, distinct-element, and finite-difference methods are reviewed. Performance of the finite-difference implementation of strain softening is compared to classic experimental results and observations of rock mass behavior in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. The results show promise for developing methods to identify the general location and orientation of shear fractures and their sequence of occurrence, but such methods cannot be relied upon to quantify post-fracture loads or displacements accurately. Uncertainty over the amount of energy consumed by failing rock and the dependency of energy consumption on model mesh definition prevent direct application of the results to analyses of rock bursts.

Jan 1, 2010

By J. Boltano

This paper discusses the study, design and implementation of the new gas handling system for the Caletones Smelter of Codelco-Chile. A discussion on design conditions for a future Sulphuric Acid Plant using Teniente Converter gases is also included. The old system which started to be modified in 1985 and relied on natural draft and used balloon flues, resulted in a limited gas handling capacity for operation under future process conditions. This system also caused excessive fugitive gases in the smelter working areas. The new system permits handling of process gases from the higher capacity Teniente Converters Installed in 1987-1989 improving the gas handling of the reverberatory furnaces and Peirce-Smith converters as well as the environmental conditions of the smelter. This system utilises improved converter gas hoods, evaporative cooling and electrostatic precipitators gas cleaning, and is based on natural draft.

Jan 1, 1992

By Pedro Forastieri de Almeida Prado

A fim de recuperar-se todos os materiais presentes em painéis fotovoltaicos, o emprego de solventes orgânicos para promover a dissolução da fração polimérica e liberação dos componentes é uma alternativa ao tratamento térmico tradicional. Com o objetivo de verificar-se o impacto dessa etapa na recuperação de prata, o metal de maior valor presente nos painéis de silício cristalino, comparou-se taxas de recuperação de prata para rotas distintas de separação de materiais e cominuição: uma rota por dissolução do encapsulante através de solventes e uma rota por tratamento térmico e destruição do encapsulante. Utilizando-se o isopropanol como solvente, ainda foi analisada a contribuição da cominuição para a liberação da prata. Os ensaios de lixiviação foram realizados com soluções de 5M HNO3, analisando-se as concentrações de prata por ICP-MS. O processo de calcinação foi realizado em forno a 480°C, a dissolução do encapsulante realizada com isopropanol e a cominuição realizada em moinho de facas. Foi concluído que a separação com isopropanol não afetou a quantidade de prata lixiviada na etapa de recuperação de metais. Além disso identificou-se que a cominuição não seria necessária sob as condições de lixiviação utilizadas, já que poderia potencialmente contribuir para perda de prata no processo.

Oct 30, 2017

By Bember Díaz

El presente texto señala la perforación y disparo como los medios más adecuados para la explotación de la mina Marcona. Los depósitos de mineral de fierro de Marcona se encuentran ubicados en el distrito de Marcona, provincia de Nazca, Ica. Los elementos que se consideran en un banco para la perforación de taladros y voladuras son: el tipo de material que constituye el banco, altura de explotación del banco, talud en la cara libre, dureza del material, el factor de explosivo que se desea usar, incluyendo la fragmentación y el desplazamiento que se quiere obtener, y la profundidad de perforación total, que es la altura de explotación más la sobreperforación necesaria para obtener el nivel del piso deseado. Asimismo, dentro del sistema de voladuras, se emplea el uso de nitrato de amonio mezclado con petróleo residual denominado ANFO, habiéndose obtenido reducción en los costos por tonelada disparada mediante su uso.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. Herbst, J. Groppo, A. Noble, R. Q. Honaker

"Coal and coal byproducts produced annually contain enough rare earth elements (REEs) to meet current U.S. demand. The REEs exist in the form of minerals, ion-exchanged elements associated with clays and chemically bonded elements within the organic coal matrix. Researchers at three universities have collaborated to evaluate the effectiveness of existing physical and chemical concentration processes for the recovery of the REEs. The efforts have found that physical separation processes can increase the total REE content in the thickener underflow material collected from a Central Appalachian coal cleaning facility from around 300 ppm to values greater than 17,500 ppm on an ash basis. On the other hand, leaching was effective in recovering REEs from coarse middlings materials collected from multiple coal basins as indicated by recovery values exceeding 80%. Based on material characterization data and process evaluations conducted for several potential feed coal sources, economic recovery of the REEs will require byproduct production of both clean coal and REE concentrate using a process flowsheet that is unique for each source. INTRODUCTION Recent studies initiated by NETL showed that U.S. coals contain significant amounts of rare earth elements (REEs), suggesting that rare earth minerals (REMs) and/or REEs can be produced as byproducts [1]. According to the report, the richest source of REEs is the Central Appalachian coal. At present, there are 208 coal preparation plants located in the region (WV, KY, PA, VA, AL, TN) with a capacity of 166,495 tons/hr or more than 1 billion tons annually [2]. If only a portion of these plants are retrofitted with advanced separation processes, the U.S. coal industry can become a significant producer of RE minerals as byproducts. An inherent advantage of becoming a byproduct producer of REEs is that no mining cost needs to be part of the product cost. Other researchers have also shown that coal can be a significant source of REEs. The average sum of the rare earth plus yttrium (REY) concentration of the world coal is approximately 68.5 ppm, which is lower than the corresponding upper crustal concentration (UCC) (168.4 ppm). However, the average REY content of the mineral matter in the world (404 ppm) and U.S. coals (517 ppm) are 3 times higher than the average UCC. Some of the mineral matter in Russian and Chinese coals have REY concentrations in the range of 0.68 to 2.03% and contain a better source of higher value REYs than many primary rare earth deposits [3]."

Jan 1, 2017

By Kandipati Sreenivasarao

A promising method for removing heavy metal ions from dilute effluents is ion- or precipitate- flotation, in which a suitable collector is added to form hydrophobic metal-collector complexes or compounds that can be collected as foams. We have successfully removed Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(ll) from dilute solutions using sodium dodecylsulfate and ethanol as collector and frother respectively. However the process would not be economically viable unless the collector could be recycled, and the heavy metals recovered in a concentrated, preferably marketable, form from the foams. We investigated four different methods to decompose heavy metal-dodecylsulfate complexes, namely precipitation of hydroxides, precipitation of sulfides, chemical stripping, and electrolysis. We compare the performance of these methods. In each case the observed behavior is related to known thermodynamic data, and potential applications are discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By A. E. Isaacson

The U.S. Bureau of Mines determined the effect of common sulfide minerals on the corrosion rates of various types of ferrous alloy grinding media. Data obtained from this study will aid in determining the contribution of any electrochemical reactions between sulfide minerals and grinding media to the total grinding media consumption. Common sulfide minerals used in this study were chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. In the presence of oxygen, chalcopyrite was found to increase the corrosion rate, galena was found to decrease the corrosion rate, and the effect of sphalerite was dependent upon the type of grinding media. Possible electrochemical reactions of these minerals in the presence of grinding media are suggested.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. D. Jones

The geographic occurrence of economic mineral deposits presents a variety of problems in modern tailings disposal operations. This paper presents case histories in several sectors of the mineral industry as well as the several stages of operations planning required for new designs, system expansion, reactivation of abandoned systems and upgrading to present environmental standards.

Jan 1, 1978

By A. C. Fieldner

It is estimated that 6,202,235,000 gallons .of- gasoline was produced during the year 1922. The crude light oil- output Burin- the same year is estimated at 111,000,000 gallons, or 1.8 per cent of the gasoline production. In fact, if all the coal mined were coked in by-product ovens, and the light oil recovered therefrom, this product would amount to only 15 to 20 per cent of the quantity of the petroleum gasoline now produced annually. It is obvious therefore, from these figures that the light oils by present coking processes can not assume great importance as a gasoline substitute in a national sense. However, the use of light oil as a motor fuel is of real importance in districts adjacent to by-product coking operations from which a reasonable proportion of the local motor fuel supply may be derived. The certainty of diminution of petroleum resources in the relatively near future demands the utmost utilization of gasoline substitutes from the distillation of coal as well as other sources. Motor benzol is a by-product from the destructive distillation of coal. From 11/2 to 3 gallons of refined motor benzol is obtained per ton of coal carbonized. The light oil vapors are extracted from the by-product coke-oven gas by passing it upward through a series of towers in which these vapors are absorbed in a descending current of "wash" oil (petroleum distillate). The light, oil is recovered from this wash oil by distillation with live steam, the resulting crude light oil consisting of a mixture of benzol, toluol, xylol, solvent naphtha, and a small amount of other substances (unsaturated hydro-carbons, carbon disulphide, and other sulphur compounds, phenols and pyridines) is then transferred to an intermittent still and fractionated into crude motor benzol, which includes the toluol and a part of the xylol or light solvent naphtha. The crude, motor benzol is yellow in color, contains sulphur compounds which corrode copper and brass, and also contains unsaturated bodies which oxidize and polymerize on standing, producing sediment and forming gummy deposits highly objectionable when the benzol is used in motors. These objectionable

Jan 1, 1923

By AIME AIME

THE 123d meeting of the Institute was held in New York Feb. 14 to 17, 1921. The total registration was 1199, as compared with 1138 at the New York meeting in 1920. The weather was a strange and welcome contrast to that of last year, when New York was buried under six feet of snow as the result of the fiercest blizzard in its history. This year there was no snow, and the weather was said to be much more like an Arizona winter than New York. A complete program of the Technical Sessions is on p. 9. The discussions of the papers presented will be published in pamphlet form as soon as possible and will be noted in MINING AND METALLURGY in the usual way.

Jan 1, 1921

By K. Knuutila

The behaviour of thiourea, animal glue and chloride ions in the electro¬lysis of copper has been investigated by various different electrochemical experiments, i.e. polarization curves with stationary copper electrodes, long-time galvanostatic electrolyses and Hull cell experiments. Polarization curves with stationary copper electrodes show that animal glue has a polarizative effect on the deposition potential. Small thiourea contents affect depolarizatively when high concentrations retard the copper deposition. The microstructures of the deposited copper after the long-time electrolyses show that animal glue favours a basis oriented deposition structure. With thiourea the field orientated structure was evident. It was also observed that the deposited structure depended much on the grain structure of the starter sheet. The chloride ion concentration has a drastic effect on. the crystal size of the deposited copper as it was found out in Hull cell tests. Chloride ions flattened the the crystals and the deposition became smoother when the chloride ions were added. The cathode copper quality is discussed according to the literature. Special attention is paid on the codeposition of thiourea and the origin of sulphur impurities in copper cathodes.

Jan 1, 1987

By DeVerle P. Harris, David E. Euresty

"Potential metal supply refers to metals to be produced from as yet unknown deposits. Naturally, to measure potential supply requires, among other things, inference to the number of deposits, their tonnage, and their grade Thus, probability distributions were constructed for each 400-square mile cell in Northern Sonora, Mexico. A computer system was developed that simulated the occurrence of deposits for each cell, exploration for the deposits, and their exploitation. Evaluation was performed for each deposit by discounted cash flow analysis.An objective of this study was to explore the effect of the transportation network and required road or railroad construction upon potential supply. Consequently, the evaluation system was designed to consider the spatial location of a simulated deposit to the existing transportation network and the market destination. The construction of linkages to connect the deposit to existing transportation arteries as well as the carrying of the concentrates to the intended market were simulated. in terms of cost. The selection of the path took into account the existing terrain. This was done by digitizing topographical maps and representing the topography of the area by an orthogonal grid of elevations. The optimum route was selected by dynamic programming, meeting a prescribed gradient constraint. The potential supply of each cell was determined, allowing for the infrastructure effect."

Jan 1, 2014

By Sai Phaninder Reddy Chaganti, Corrina D. Beaven

This study investigates the effect of reagent type, dosage, and pH on flotation kinetics and copper recovery for secondary sulfide ore with elevated clay content. The primary objective was to determine whether Xanthate performs comparably to or better than the currently used primary collector, Thiophosphate. Approximately 80 kg of ore was collected from three blast holes and systematically prepared through drying, crushing, grinding, and flotation testing. Grinding tests were conducted to establish optimal grinding time and lime consumption for pH control, achieving a target particle size distribution in 13 minutes and 30 seconds. Elemental and mineralogical analyses using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) identified a copper content of 0.36% and significant clay presence, affecting flotation performance. Fifteen flotation tests were performed under controlled conditions, with variations in reagent dosages. Control tests confirmed reproducibility, with recoveries around 80–82%. Increasing the pH did not improve kinetics or recovery, making higher pH adjustments economically unjustifiable. Adjusting the Thiophosphate dosage yielded the best recovery of 83%. Xanthate collectors, tested both as tertiary additives and as replacements for Thiophosphate, delivered comparable or superior recoveries—up to 91.5% in plant tests—and demonstrated faster flotation kinetics, even under high-clay conditions. These findings highlight Xanthate’s reduced sensitivity to clay, potential for lower dosage requirements, and operational benefits such as improved selectivity and circuit efficiency, validating its role as a cost-effective and alternative for processing complex sulfide ores.

Feb 22, 2026

By William J. Wuest

This U.S. Bureau of Mines report presents an overview of ground control considerations associated with floor heave. Factors affecting heave, such as in situ stress, floor characteristics, and mine geometry, are described. Floor-displacement monitoring and data analysis methods are outlined. Finally, floor heave remediation is discussed. The remedial techniques are divided into four categories: mine maintenance, supplemental support, mine structure, and techniques for multiple-seam operations. Other subjects covered in the report include laboratory and in-place testing of floor rocks, U.S. and international case studies, effects of mine layout, determination of excess horizontal pressure, and types of heave failure. The emphasis of this report is on practical considerations; theoretical discussions are kept to a minimum.

Jan 1, 1992

By Lakshman D. Jayaweera

Today's rapidly developing and changing technologies and industrial products and practices frequently carry with them the increased generation of materials that, if improperly dealt with, can threaten both public health and the environment. Mercury is an element that poses great problems in the many forms in which it is to be found in the mineral processing industry. These forms are often contained in hazardous wastes and residues which may be unstable, and in which the contained mercury has value. This paper presents some of the stabilisation and recovery methods which are based on hydrometallurgical techniques and thermodynamic stability considerations.

Jan 1, 1994

By N. Verbaan, E. Bourricaudy, M. Dry

"Starfield Resources is developing a novel circuit for the recovery of nickel, copper, cobalt, iron oxide, sulphuric acid and precious metals from the Ferguson Lake deposit in Nunavut, Canada. In this deposit, pentlandite is too finely disseminated in pyrrhotite for the production of a smelter-grade nickel concentrate at an acceptable nickel recovery, so established technology is not applicable and a novel chloride-based circuit is under development. The enabling aspect of this circuit is the hydrolysis of ferric chloride to hematite, releasing gaseous hydrochloric acid that is recycled. Conventional steps are used for separating and recovering the valuable metals from the chloride solution generated. This paper briefly outlines the circuit and presents the results of experimental work on the enabling steps, viz. the oxidation and hydrolysis of iron chloride to hematite and gaseous hydrochloric acid.IntroductionThe Ferguson Lake bulk sulphide ore body in Nunavut, Canada, owned by Starfield Resources Inc., contains significant amounts of base and precious metals but its mineralogy is such that it is not amenable to conventional processing. Pentlandite, for example, is too finely disseminated in pyrhhotite for even modem techniques such as fine grinding and improved flotation reagents to be effective [ 1] and extracting the value requires processing the entire bulk sulphide, including the pyrrhotite. To give the project a total green footprint, in terms of both carbon emissions and acid rock drainage, Starfield imposed the following requirements:• No reactive tailings to generate acid rock drainage.• No gaseous emissions other than normal atmospheric constituents.• No liquid effluents.• No regular consumption of fossil fuel.• High recoveries of all the valuable metals."

Jan 1, 2011

By R. P. Vinson

The Bureau of Mines evaluated two real-time light-scattering dust monitors by measuring their response to Pittsburgh Seam coal dust and Arizona road dust (ARD). Both monitors, the model PDS-l, a personal dust sensor, and the model PCD-l, a digital dust indicator, are made in Japan by Sibata Scientific Ltd. Tests were conducted inside a laboratory aerosol chamber designed to maintain a uniform spatial distribution of the test dust. PDS-l and PCD-l measurements of concentrations for each test dust were averaged over 4-h test periods and compared with simultaneous gravimetric measurements. Both dust monitors responded linearly with mass concentration with both coal dust and ARD. However, the linear response of the PDS-l differed from that of the PCD-l for both dusts.

Jan 1, 1987

By Rina Kim

The addition of lead to a gold leaching reactor can effectively accelerate or retard the gold cyanidation reaction. This study explored the effect of lead on the gold dissolution kinetics using cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments. It was illustrated that the gold leaching kinetics in the cyanide solution enhanced with the addition of lead salt in the low overpotential region (–0.35 V vs. Ag/AgCl). The similar behavior was observed in the presence of ore containing 0.25% galena. In contrast, the gold oxidation kinetics retarded at –0.35 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in the presence of silicate and lead-bearing mineral under certain conditions. Likewise, the lead addition was not functional for the high sulfur ore. This was attributed to the oxidation of the sulfides to the elemental sulfur, which subsequently formed a passivating layer on the gold surface. The results were evidently affirmed by the electrochemical tests and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis.