Search Documents

By T. L. Hebble

The Bureau of Mines investigated a hydrometallurgical procedure to recover Co, Ni, and Cu from an electrolytic zinc industrial copper filter cake. The copper filter cake is presently unmarketable or of low value because economic and environmentally acceptable processing technology is lacking. Research by the Bureau of Mines has developed a multistage process for recovering or recycling over 93 pct of the Zn, Cd, Cu, Co, and Ni from this material. The stages involved are (1) wet sizing, (2) H2S04 leaching of undersized material, (3) H2S04-Mn02 leaching of H2S04 leach residue, (4) selective precipitation of As, Cu, and Co-Ni products, and (5) precipitation of manganese for recycling to the leach circuit. The final process residue is only 1.6 wt-pct of the initial cake and consists of lead sulfate.

Jan 1, 1981

By G. R. Marchant, B. K. Loveday

"A mathematical model has been developed for flotation circuit simulation. This model was designed to investigate the effect of varying the circulating loads and to determine whether an improvement in overall efficiency could be gained by a size separation prior to flotation.Model parameters were obtained by regression to plant data. Highly correlated parameters in the model were combined to reduce the number of parameters so that the need for excessive data gathering was eliminated. Mass balance smoothing was used to obtain a consistent data set for regression.The results of the simulation indicate that for the same grade of concentrate, an increase in copper recovery of 0.6 per cent may be Possible by increasing the circulating loads. The results of the simulation also indicated that recleaning of the plus 200-mesh material may be beneficiaL."

Jan 1, 2014

By C. G. Palagi, S. S. Stillar

The C. E. Weed concentrator treats 51,000 tons per day of 0.5% to 0.7% copper ore received from the Berkeley Pit, the Continental East Pit and the Butte underground mines. Improved operating techniques and conversion from semi-autogenous secondary grinding to ball milling have increased tonnage from an original design of 42,000 tpd. Separate treatment of sands and slimes, with recovery of soluble copper from the slimes, has increased total copper recovery. Concentrator tailings are pumped 600 vertical feet and 20,000 horizontal feet for disposal.

Jan 1, 1976

By Loo C. E

Thirty two polyacrylamide flocculant samples were selected from the wide range offered to the Australian coal industry. An extensive test program was conducted to consider the properties of the flocculants, the substrates, the process conditions and the water chemistry encountered in coal preparation plants. The study indicated that flocculants with molecular weights of 12 to 14 million and degree of hydrolysis around 40% gave the best "average" performance over a wide range of process conditions. The pick-up and filtration of fine coal was demonstrated on a pilot scale to be a critical function of flocculant properties. This study also showed that the agitation intensity during flocculation was a critical parameter in determining the settling rate of the slurry and the clarity of the resulting supernatant. An electronic meter to measure agitation intensity was designed, constructed and tested to demonstrate how, for the first time, laboratory results can be implemented in operating plants.

Jan 1, 1989

By G. L. Gates

The Bureau of Mines studied the scales formed in producing wells in the Wilmington field, California. The scales were primarily barium sulfate and resulted from the mixing of injected sea water and formation waters; there was excess sulfate in the injection water and the formation waters contained appreciable barium. After breakthrough, the produced brines were supersaturated with barium sulfate. Laboratory tests indicated that barium sulfate precipitated quickly When the supersaturated brines were agitated with crystals of barium sulfate and fairly rapidly when more sulfate solution was added. Precipitation occurred slowly on standing or under nonturbulent conditions. Both the apparent and equilibrium solubilities of barium sulfate in these brines were determined and compared with equilibrium solubilities in distilled water and sodium chloride solutions.

Jan 1, 1965

By V. H. Gottschalk

THE solubility of gases in metals has been of interest since Graham's time in 1866, but, although the subject was actively studied by iron and steel metallurgists during the eighties, the era of painstaking laboratory investigation begins in 1907 with the publication of Sieverts'1 thesis on the occlusion and diffusion of gases in metals. Since then, Sieverts has worked almost continuously in this field, and his views on the subject are the prevailing ones at the present time.2 Probably the most important result obtained by Sieverts, and frequently verified since by other observers, is the discovery that at a constant temperature the solubility of almost all gases in both the liquid and solid state of most of the metals is proportional to the square root of the pressure (for pressure above 100 mm.). The obvious explanation of this fact is that the gas dissolves as atoms and not as molecules, although it has been pointed out a number of times, first by Donnan and Shawl in connection with their work on the solubility of oxygen in silver at 1075° C., that the formation and solution of a compound of the metal and gas would also be indicated by a variation of the solubility with the square or higher root of the pressure. Sieverts4 himself raised the question whether the usual explanation (i. e., that the gas dissolves as atoms) may not be wrong, when he found that the square root law held also for the solubility of sulfur dioxide in molten copper; in which case dissociation into simpler molecules or atoms does not take place. Stubbs5 subsequently showed that Sieverts and Krumbhaar's "constant" for sulfur

Jan 1, 1932

By T. E. Eagan, W. R. McCrackin

IN dealing with segregation in babbitt, and its effect on the final cast structure, which is a bearing, it is obviously impossible to cover all of the compositions manufactured. Each composition, of course, will exhibit certain specific types of segregation. However, as examples,, two compositions of babbitt are presented: one a tin-base of well-known analysis and the other a lead-base, which in the past few years has found wide usage. Bearings usually are cast either statically or centrifugally; therefore the effect of these two methods on segregation is presented. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE A slab of babbitt 1/2 in. thick by 5 in. wide and 17 in. long was cast, using a book mold with the long edge vertical. An A.S.T.M. grade 2 babbitt was used (3.5 per cent copper, 7.5 per cent antimony, remainder tin), to which 0.10 per cent tellurium had been added. Unfortunately, no metal without tellurium was available. The mold to hold the babbitt was heated to approximately 300°F., the temperature being judged by the babbitter. The pouring temperature of the babbitt was 875°F. (470°C.). One slab was made by allowing the babbitt to cool without stirring. The other slab was stirred during the entire cooling cycle. This stirring consisted of a vigorous churning or puddling into the mold until complete solidification had taken place. Three samples were removed from these slabs. One was taken at the extreme bottom, another half way to the top, and another at the extreme top, all at the center of the width. Chemical, macroscopic and microscopic examination was made of all samples. Table I shows the chemical analyses obtained at the described positions [ ] in the slab. The analyses show no serious amount of gravity segregation. Microscopic examination from edge to edge of the slab showed little change in structure. From top to bottom there was a progressive coarsening of the grain size in the stirred slab but little change in the slab that was not stirred (Fig. I). No definite exhibit of segregation could be detected. In line with our experimental study on the tin-base babbitts, we cast an almost duplicate slab using A.S.T.M. Alloy No. 15, containing 0.9 to 1.25 per cent tin, 14.75 to 15.5. per cent antimony, 0.80 to 1.25 per cent arsenic and 0.4 per cent copper. The slab was 16 in. long and 3/8 in. thick, cast with the long side vertical. One slab was allowed to cool normally and the other was stirred continually during cooling. The pouring temperature of the babbitt was

Jan 1, 1944

By L. C. IlsLey

"According to accident statistics, issued from time to time by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines covering fatalities in coal mines, between the years 1870 and 1921 there were 4,897 deaths caused by explosives. The legislatures and safety commissions of the various mining States have Elected and formulated many excellent regulations in regard to the handling and use of explosives in an endeavor to keep this class of accidents as low as possible. An analysis or comparison of the explosive, regulations issued by over thirty States would make a very long paper, however, by subdividing according to phases and issuing several papers it is believed that the material will be more readily available. The first phase was treated in Serial No. 2405 of the Bureau of Mines (""State and Federal Electrical Shot-Firing Regulations,"" issued in October 1922) which gave a compilation of such regulations as apply strictly to electric shot-firing. The second phase under consideration is ""Who may set off blasts in coal mines.""In some States, the person who does the firing must be an ""authorized shotfirer,"" while in other States he must have proved his ability to do this work, and again in other States he is ""any person."" The present paper covers rules and regulations relating to this phase of shotfiring, and those States having similar regulations have been grouped as follows."

Jun 1, 1923

By A. C. Fieldner, S. H. Katz

"Introduction.Recent experiments (Fieldner, A.C., Katz, S.H., Kinney, S.P., and Longfellow, E.S., Poisonous gas from carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers, Jour. Franklin Institute, October, 1920, pp. 543-565), by the Bureau of Mines have shown that carbon tetrachloride extinguisher liquids when applied to fires produce small quantities of irritating and poisonous gases which may be dangerous in very closely confined spaces where conditions are such that the user can not escape without breathing the fumes. The results of the experiments have been confirmed in an independent investigation by the Underwriters Laboratories (Nuckalls, A.H., Corrosive action and products formed when carbon tetrachloride extinguisher liquids are applied to fires, Nat. Fire Protection Assoc. Quarterly, vol. 14, January, 1921, pp. 221-236) who conducted similar experiments for the purpose of determining the corrosive action of these fumes on metals. Both investigations showed that carbon tetrachloride vapor, hydrochloric acid gas, and phosgene were produced in addition to the ordinary products of combustion, such as smoke, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The Bureau of Mines' tests were made by applying a one-quart extinguisher to a wood fire of excelsior in a gas-tight room of 1000 cubic foot capacity. The glass and metal construction of this chamber limited the experimental fire to very small dimensions. It was, therefore, deemed desirable to make a test on a larger scale in the entry of the Bureau's experimental mine in order to similate more nearly the practical use of carbon tetrachloride and other types of extinguishers in mines.Description of extinguishers.Two series of tests were made under identical conditions on different days. Commercial carbon tetrachloride extinguishers were used in the first series of tests and ""foamite firefoam"" extinguishers in the second series of tests."

Jun 1, 1921

By Savage E. N

Two genetic types of base metal deposits occur in the Wainivesi area of central eastern Viti Levu. The Wainivesi deposit is now considered to be a stratiform volcanogenic type, and the Wailotu and Wainiviti deposits are described as contact metasomatic with some hydrothermal manifestations. The Wainivesi mineralization is correlated with the Tertiary "e" stage, i.e. uppermost Oligocene-Iowermost Miocene. Tertiary "e" stage rocks in Fiji are therefore potential ore producers of stratiform volcanogenic type. On the basis of plate tectonics with Fiji part of the New Hebrides Arc prior to rifting apart in the late Miocene, stratiform volcanogenic deposits of the Wainivesi type may also occur in rocks of comparable type and age in the New Hebrides.

Jan 1, 1976

By Forest J. Sur

"INTRODUCTION This report describes an exploratory project conducted by the Bureaus of Mines on a fluorite deposit, near Glenwood, N. Mex. Results of wagon drilling, crosscutting, and test pitting are given, together with results of metallurgical tests made upon samples of the ore. Mining and treatment methods are suggested.C. H. Johnson, Bureau of Mines engineer, examined the deposit in August 1942. H. E. Rothrock, of the Federal Geological Survey, completed a preliminary geologic study and mapped the deposit during the fall of 1942. As a result of these brief investigations, it was concluded that the deposit contained substantial inferred ore reserves, and exploratory work was recommended. G. A. ApelI, also of the Bureau of Mines, made a topographic and underground survey and report on the mine in March and April 1944. A wagon drill, air compressor, and other equipment and supplies were delivered to the property on May 19 to 23, 1944. Drilling began under the direction of the author on May 25, 1944, and was completed in October 1944. The results of drilling and. sampling form the basis of this report."

Apr 1, 1947

By Russell A. Fields

Barite (BaS04) is an industrial mineral with hundreds of uses. It is primarily used as a weighting agent in drilling fluids. This use comprised approximately 97% of U.S. barite consumption in 1981. Barite is found in three types of deposits: bedded, residual, and vein. Bedded deposits, because of their relatively large tonnage, have been the principle target of explorationists. Increased demand for barite in the mid to late seventies prompted many companies to significantly expand their efforts in barite exploration. Barite exploration techniques currently range from outcrop walking and geochemical exploration to gravity and seismic surveys.

Jan 1, 1983

By L. Chang

El presente trabajo revisa la contaminación del medio ambiente a través de unos ejemplos sobre la generación de elementos contaminantes, así como la capacidad natural del medio ambiente para absorverlos en cierto límite. Así también se clasifican los contaminantes del agua de acuerdo a sus propiedades químicas y significado biológico en residuos radioactivos e inorgánicos, describiendo su origen y la forma de alteración con el medio natural. Finalmente se cuestiona la política empresarial con respecto a la responsabilidad social frente a la sociedad, buscando una solución de control sobre el estado actual de los recursos hídricos y sus proyeccciones futuras de uso.

Nov 20, 1972

By R. S. Dean

THE first attempt to establish an equilibrium diagram of the lead-antimony series was made by Roland-Gosselin1 in 1896. This investigation classified the system as a purely eutectiferous one, with the eutectic at 12.5 per cent. antimony and 228° C. In the next year, Stead2 placed the eutectic temperature at 247° C. The error in temperature made by Roland-Gosselin, however, has been perpetuated in the literature with a remarkable degree of persistency; this value was accepted by Campbell (1902), and Ewen (1910),3 and will be found in the last edition of Desch's3 Metallography (1922). Gonterman's investigation, made in 1907, was the most complete one available at the time the present investigation was started. He concluded' that the system was a simple eutectiferous one and placed the eutectic at 13 per cent. antimony and 247°C. Other investigations by Tammann (1907),5 Garbow (1909),6 Rudolfi (1910),7 Loebe (1911),8 and Leroux (1913)9 added little, if any-thing, to Gonterman's diagram. A number of investigations have been made of physical properties of the alloys. The electrical conductivity of the series was studied by Matthiessen (1860)10 and by A. W. Smith (1921);" the thermoforce by Rudolfi (1910),12 and Pelabon (1923);13 the specific heat by Durrer

Jan 2, 1926

By Paul Clark

Generation - Profile l 9,726 megawatts (MW) of capacity l 46,877 gigawatt hours (GWh) produced at an average plant availability of 88.4% l 47 facilities in four geographies: Canada; the U.S.; Mexico; and Australia l Fuel mix of coal (62%), gas (26%), hydro and renewables (12%) l 23.2 million tonnes of coal mined l 47.0 million gigajoules (GJ) of gas consumed

May 1, 2004

By R. E. H. Pomeroy

Early in 1917, it became evident, owing to existing and pending market conditions, that a substitute for crude petroleum must be found for firing the smelter furnaces. After a review of the plants then existing, it was deemed advisable to depart from their practice and to adopt the following described system of distributing pulverized coal to the furnaces. The principal advantages of the proposed system, which influenced this decision, were: (I) Equal safety; no pulverized coal is stored at the furnaces; (2) greater ease of operation, furnace fires being controlled by regulating valves in burner branches, as in gas firing; (3) better organization; all machinery, including pulverized coal feed, is under one roof, and the organization is separate from the furnace department; (4) greater cleanliness; all machinery is under vacuum; (5) greater flexibility of application, the coal and air mixture can be piped where needcd. The design of the plant is the result of the combined efforts of the local engineering staff and of the machinery manufacturers. Many new features were embodied in this design to insure greater safety, cleanliness, and efficiency of handling. After 14 months of continuous operation, the plant has proved entirely satisfactory. The building is of structural steel, covered with corrugated steel, with many windows and is painted light gray inside and out. The building floor is of concrete with ample drains to the sewer, and the building is equipped with fire and service water piping. Fig. 1 shows the east side of the building and the incline conveyor from the raw-coal bins. The plant is operated entirely by electric power. All alternating current is 550 volts, 3-phase, 60 cycles. The pulverized-coal feeding niotors and control mechanism are operated by 220-volt direct current supplied by motor-generator sets in the building. Autamatic push-

Jan 1, 1921

By Kenneth Rigsby

Black Mountain Resources' Highlands Mine No. I is a full extraction room and pillar operation located in Harlan County, Kentucky. Black Mountain extracts the 0.9 to 1.1 meter (36- to 42-inch) thick Owl Scam that is situated 60 to 70 meters (200 to 235 ft) above the longwall panels of the abandoned Arch No. 37 Mine, in the 3.4 meter (I I ft) thick Harlan Scam. In the areas where full extraction has taken place, the overburden above the Owl Seam ranges from 60 to 430 meters (200 to 1,400 ft). A short room and pillar panel was developed above an extracted longwall panel to test the selected pillar size, to evaluate support systems, and to verify the shape of the subsidence profile over the recovery end of the depleted longwall panel. It is over the recovery end that Highlands Mine No. I would access the Owl Seam reserves that exist above the No. 37 Mine. Black Mountain selected pillars sizes to be employed above the longwalls based on the ability to fully extract a pillar employing extended cuts. After a mechanical testing program was completed and mine behavior and top disturbance were observed in the test panel, John T. Boyd Company (BOYD) verified pillar stability and designed support systems. BOYD previously designed No. 37 Mine's gate pillars and studied subsidence and gob formation over its longwall panels; this effort aided the analysis of overburden movement and pillar integrity at Highlands Mine No. 1.

Jan 1, 2003

By Seanley C. Suboleski

This paper examines the likely productivity improvements that have resulted from the introduction of technological advances in underground coal mining during the decade from 1977 to 1987. Included in these advances are the changes in longwall mining; the introduction of larger, more reliable, more repairable continuous miners and shuttle cars; the introduction of remote control and flooded-bed scrubbers; supersections; and other improvements. Procedural improvements are also examined and quantified, the unexplained gains in productivity are attributed to??other factors", among them an increasing maturity of the work force, stabilization of the mining laws, increased labor-management co-operation, and economic urgency.

Jan 1, 1990

By John P. Harmon

A group of organic chemicals, known as wetting agents, has been developed, primarily for use in the textile industry. These chemicals have the property of reducing the surface tension of water when mixed with it in very dilute solutions. The advantage of lowered surface tension is recognized in dust-control work, and several wetting agents, have been tried by dust-control engineers with varying degrees of success. It is well-known that certain solids, coal for instance, are extremely hard to wet with plain water because of the high surface tension of water and the water-repellent action of coal. If the surface tension of the water is reduced, it can be demonstrated that the coal can be wetted easily. This is accomplished practical and at law cost by dissolving a very small percentage of wetting agent in the water that is to be used for wetting purposes. (Care should be exercised in using a wetting agent to be sure that it will not interfere with a subsequent process.) For some time, the comparative efficiency of various wetting agents has been the subject of considerable work by dust-control men at coal mines, as well as by members of the Bureau of Mines 3/, 4/, 5/, 6/. In this connection, a number of samples of air-borne dust have been collected in the mines. With the exception of dust-control measures conditions of dust generation and dissemination were maintained as, nearly uniform as possible. Samples were collected when water alone was sprayed on the cutter bar of a mining machine; various wetting agents were then successively added to the water and more samples of air-borne dust were-collected.

Jan 1, 1946

By C. R. Ramachandra, C. C. Patel

Flotation of chalcopyrite from a low grade ore was studied by using different xanthates and dixanthogens as collectors and by conditioning the flotation pulp with oxidizing gaseous systems. The improvement in the recovery of chalcopyrite with the oxidizing systems was mainly due to the auto-activation of chalcopyrite, leading to the enhanced adsorption of xanthates and dixanthogens even when the latter were formed by oxidation of the xanthates. With air or oxygen as oxidizing system, the amount of ethyl xanthate required at pH 8.5 was much less than normally employed in the industry, the recovery being 97-99% of chalcopyrite with a concentrate of 24% copper. With isopropyl and isoamyl xanthates, the recovery was improved but the grade was lowered. By conditioning the pulp with air-CO2 or oxygen-CO2 mixture, the recovery was lowered with ethyl xanthate only, mainly due to the depressant action of bicarbonate formed. Flotation with dixanthogens gave cleaner concentrates of chalcopyrite. because iron pyrite did not float with these collectors. Of the dixanthogens tried, diisopropyl dixanthogen gave the highest recovery, 99% chalcopyrite with a concentrate containing 28.5 to 30% copper, when the pulp at pH 8.5 was condi-tioned with air. Isopropyl dixanthogen was found to be the best collector of all the xanthates and dixanthogens studied. It was found that the adsorbed ethyl, isopropyl and isoamyl xanthates at chalcopyrite surface, activated by cupric sulfate, and at iron pyrite surface were oxidized to the corresponding dixanthogens to different degrees in presence of air, oxygen, air-carbon dioxide mixture and oxygen-carbon dioxide mixture.' The dixanthogen formed at chalcopyrite surface was, however, firmly adsorbed while that at iron pyrite surface was easily desorbed. Since dixanthogens formed have greater hydrophobicity than the corresponding xanthates, as revealed by contact angles,1,2 the former were expected to improve the flotation results. It was, therefore, thought desirable to find out the effect of air, oxygen, air-carbon dioxide mixture and oxygen-carbon dioxide mixture on the selective flotation of chalcopyrite when individual xanthates were used as collectors. The effect of direct use of dixanthogens as collectors on the selective flotation of chalcopyrite was also investigated. For these studies, low grade chalcopyrite ore, received from the Indian Copper Corp., Ltd. (I.C.C.), Ghatsila, Bihar, was employed. At the milling plant of the I.C.C., chalcopyrite is floated at a pH of 8.5, employing ethyl xanthate as collector. EXPERIMENTAL Materials Employed: XANTHATES - Ethyl, isopropyl and isoamyl xanthates of potassium were prepared in a pure state by the methods described earlier.4 A 0.03% aqueous solution of a xanthate was freshly prepared in air-free distilled water for flotation studies. DIXANTHOGENS - Diethyl, diisopropyl and diisoamyl dixanthogens were prepared by the oxidation of xanthates by iodine and purified by extraction with petroleum ether. A 0.03% alcoholic solution of dixanthogen was used as a collector. FROTHER - A 0.2% solution of pine oil in ethyl alcohol was employed. SODIUM CARBONATE - A 0.4 N solution was used. ORE - The composition of the -100 +200-mesh size (Tyler standard) powdered ore, as determined by standard methods of analysis, was: copper 1.57%, iron 10.29%, sulfur 3.15% and acid insolubles 66.10%. Iron present as chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) was 1.38%, while that present as iron pyrite (FeS,) was 1.37%. Both chalcopyrite and iron pyrite were found to be liberated from the gangue minerals and from each other, as observed under a microscope. Flotation of Chalcopyrite with Xanthates in Presence of Different Gaseous Systems: Fifteen grams of -100 + 200-mesh size ore were shaken well with 100 ml of distilled water. The pH of the pulp was adjusted to 8.5 by the addition of sodium carbonate solution. Then 0.1 ml of xanthate solution (0.005 lb xanthate per ton of the ore) was mixed with the pulp, and the latter together with washings transferred to a

Jan 1, 1963