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William Kent, New York City: I regret that I have not had the time since the Cincinnati meeting to make as complete a study of Mr. Salom's paper as I wished. I regard it as one of the most important papers that have been presented on this subject, and worthy of complete study. I started out, on the limited time I had, on a system of study which I would recommend to any one else who has leisure to complete the investigation. I took the original report presented at the Cincinnati meeting, and selected from it' such tests as had the analyses reported along with the physical tests, giving the amounts of carbon, phosphorus, manganese, etc., taking only those in which all these elements are given.

Jan 1, 1885

By H Kurth, L Balzan

On-belt analysers have been used since the early 1980s in the coal sector to measure ash content in real time for diverting material on conveyors to remove waste, bypass beneficiation and allow suitable material to proceed to the wash plant for processing. Since 2008, a GEOSCAN-M elemental analyser has been used on an overland conveyor in South Africa to divert direct-shipping quality iron ore to bypass a jig plant. This paper focusses on recent evaluation work to determine the suitability of an on-belt analyser to upgrade the processing plant feed in a copper-gold operation.Copper-gold ore samples from New Gold’s New Afton Mine near Kamloops, BC, Canada were tested to assess measurement accuracy over short time increments. A two-minute measurement increment has been used in the minerals sector as a compromise between good measurement accuracy and a useful tonnage (haul truck equivalent size or smaller). At New Afton, this increment represents approximately 35 t of material. Segregation decisions are currently made after visual and sometimes analytical determination, at increments of approximately 500 t to designate material as ore or waste at the drawbell in the cave.Results of test work including the composition range and expected accuracies by element are shown. The operation, which is not mine constrained, was evaluating the potential for ore upgrading through waste and low grade increment diversion to upgrade ore quality feeding the mill. Prompt-gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) was considered as the company recognised that it would measure through the full conveyed cross section continuously and produce multi-elemental measurements unaffected by particle size, dust, moisture content, layering and segregation, mineralogy and belt speed.GEOSCAN analyses over various analysis periods will be collected to identify variability in the conveyed material quality and used to generate tonnage-grade curves so that an optimal diversion (bulk sorting) tonnage increment can be determined. Measurement increment time can be customised to suit site requirements. CITATION:Kurth, H and Balzan, L, 2017. Assessing bulk sorting suitability at the New Afton mine, in Proceedings MetPlant 2017, pp 315–323 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 11, 2017

By V. R. Garfias

Principal events in petroleum operations of Mexico during 1934 have been the completion of three producing wells in the Poza Rica area and the plans for the expansion of operations of the Cia. de Petroleos de Mexico, S.A. (Petromex). Production for 1934 is estimated at close to 38,000,000 bbl., an increase of 4,000,000 bbl. over the previous year; an increase due in large part to the successful development in Poza Rica. The output of the South fields (Golden Lane) and Tehuantepec fields also increased somewhat during the year. Production of natural gasoline increased from 382,000 to 431,000 bbl. in 1934. Crude run in local refineries is estimated at 26,000,000bbl., some4,000,000bbl. more than the previous year. Exclusive of bunker fuel exports totaled 24,000,000 bbl., or 3,000,000 more than in 1933. Domestic consumption increased approximately 500,000,bbl. during the year, reaching a total of close to 13,600,000 bbl., exclusive of ships' bunkers. A total of 148 wells were completed as compared to 91 in 1933 and 40 in 1932. In proven areas, 133 completions resulted in 54 producers and 79 failures. The 15 wildcats drilled during 1934 gave no encouraging results. Seven of these were located in the border zone of northeastern Mexico; three tested possible northeast extensions of the Northern fields; two were drilled for possible extensions of the "Golden Lane" and three were completed in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Fields Northern Fields (Heavy Oil District).—There were 34 producing wells and 71 failures completed in the Northern fields, as compared to 20 producers and 20 failures in 1933. Practically all new producers were drilled to the shallower San Felipe formation, while wells drilled to the deeper Tamasopo limestone encountered salt water. Production of the field totaled 11,890,000 bbl., a decrease of 7.5 per cent from the previous year. Acid treatment was attempted during the year in seven wells

Jan 1, 1935

By M. S. Tsai

Recovery of uranium from wet-process phosphoric acid is a newly developed source of uranium. Many processes have been developed but the OPAP (octylphenyl acid phosphate) process is still the valuable one because the OPAP reagent compound has the high extraction ,power and cheap cost. The OPAP process was already studied by murthy(1) in 1970 and its complete process flow sheet was first fulfilled by F.T. Hurst(2) in 1974. WCFC(3) (western Co-op Fertilizer Ltd.) in cooperation with ESI (Earth Science Inc.) set up the OPAP uranium recovery pilot plant in Canada in 1978. We have studied the OPAP process since 1974 and first improved the OPAP extractant by proper adjustment of the DOPAP/MOPAP mole ratio with CH3OH-H20 method, resulting in shortening the phase separation time and avoiding the precipitation occurrence in our process. Second, we utilize the reduction and oxidation occurring by DC power supply on either side of the membrane to achieve the extraction and stripping at the same time. An improved OPAP process in which high recovery yield of uranium and acid uncontaminated by iron has been developed in our laboratory.

Jan 1, 1982

By Hugo A. Carrillo F

Los campos petrolíferos de Brea y Pariñas son reservorios del tipo "impulsión de gas", cuya recuperación por métodos normales de producción es ínfima del 30% del aceite original. Por ello, el objetivo del trabajo, propone la inyección de gas o agua, como método principal de recuperación artificial para dichos yacimientos. Este sistema comprende dos tipos de inyección: mantenimiento de presión y circulación, cuya ventaja radica en la estabilización de la producción, elimina el tiempo para agotar el reservorio, reduce los costos de producción, y permite un mayor rendimiento de la gasolina natural.

Jul 20, 1955

By I. L. Sills

Introduction So many minerals and mineral products are used in the glass industry that it would require an unduly long paper to deal adequately with all of them. Only those that go to make up the batch for the more common types of glass will be discussed here, and even with these only, the list is a lengthy one. It is true that for the body of the glass comparatively few materials are required-as silica sand, soda-ash, lime, and feldspar. The others are used mainly to colour or decolorize the glass, or to give it some other desired characteristic, such as high lustre, greater physical strength, or opalescence; but, although they may be present in very small quantities, they are just as in-dispensable to the glass industry as are the main constituents of the batch. Sand Sand is essentially quartz, the dioxide of silicon, Si02. Most glass contains from 71J to 75 per cent silica. Sand for use in the glass industry, or 'glass sand', is obtained both from deposits of unconsolidated material, commonly referred to as 'sand', and from solid rock-sandstone, quartz, or quartzite. For the manufacture of glass, the material must possess a high degree of purity, as noted below, so that, although sand is widespread in most parts of the world, and sandstone, quartz, and quartzite are not at all uncommon, it is only in certain places that suitable deposits are found. At the present time, most of the glass sand used in Canada is imported from France, Belgium, and the United States. The French material, from Fontainebleau, near Paris, is known the world over as a very high quality glass sand. That from Belgium is nearly as good and is lower is price.

Jan 1, 1934

By Eckley B. Coxe

I wish to call the attention of the Institute to a peculiar variety of anthracite which occurs in the Buck Mountain vein at our collieries at Drifton, and in the same and other veins in different localities in the anthracite coal-fields. It is known among the workmen as iron-gray or cast-iron. It has a dull, greasy appearance, as if a piece of ordinary anthracite had been rubbed with a dirty and greasy rag and allowed to dry. It was formerly considered a very impure coal containing a high percentage of ash, and was picked out of the coal and thrown away. But the following analysis of it and of its ash, made by Mr. J. Blodget Britton, of Philadelphia, shows that such is not the case, the percentage of ash not being much higher than that of the ordinary anthracites as they are prepared for market. ANALYSIS OF COAL. Water,.........4.36 Fixed carbon, by difference,.. 84.90 Volatile combustible matter,. . 3 48 Ash,..........7.26 100.00 The carbon proved to some extent to be of the nature of graphite, and slowly combustible. ANALYSIS OF ASH. Silica,.........25.66 Sulphur,........ .17 Alumina,........27.03 Phosphoric acid,.......21 Ferric oxide,.......42.83 Alkali, undetermined matter and Lime,.........1.56 loss,.........60 Magnesia,........1.83 Manganous oxide,......11 100.00 We recently collected a quantity of the substance and made a fire with it, in an ordinary stove, which was kept up several days. We found that it burned with intense heat, and apparently as freely as our other coal does. Mr. Britton is probably right in his view, that the difference in appearance is not due to impurities in the coal, but to the fact that the carbon is in a more or less graphitic form, as many of the standard coals are no purer. I bring this before the Institute as I know that a large quantity of this valuable fuel is thrown away every year, on account of its supposed impurities.

Jan 1, 1879

By M BSckstr÷m

Acid rock drainage (ARD), commonly found in vicinities of sulfidic mines, possess properties capable of widely affecting the surrounding environment by acidification and heavy metal pollution. In most ARD treatments, various alkaline sources are used to neutralise the acid produced. Utilisation of highly alkaline fly ashes instead of raw materials is a cost-effective alternative, which lately have become increasingly popular. In laboratory batch experiments, neutralising capacity of fly ash was studied during 20 days. ARD was added to the fly ash once a day, for each increment the liquid to solid ratio (L/S ratio) was increased. At an early stage of the experiment (day 6, L/S ratio 12), the concentration of barium in solution unexpectedly increased by a factor of 50 (from 200 to 10 000 ¦g+l-1). This high concentration also sustained the following two days (L/S ratios 14 and 16) before dropping to the original level. pH showed a slight increase during these observations (pH 12.4 - 12.7). The phenomenon was also observed in a parallel and identical series. In addition to barium, aluminium and strontium clearly increased in the same manner, however not as much as barium. Furthermore, concentrations of chromium and molybdenum noticeably decreased at these distinct L/S ratios (12, 14 and 16). The behaviour of barium and subsequently strontium, aluminium, chromium and molybdenum is only partially understood. The decrease of chromium and molybdenum is suggested to be due to incorporation into the interlayer regions of hydrocalumite (Ca4Al2(OH)12(OH)2+6H2O), replacing the hydroxide groups, which also explains the increase in pH. Moreover, the increase of barium, strontium and aluminium could be attributable to dissolution of the silicate mineral celsian (Ba,Sr(Al2Si2O8)). Alternatively, barium and strontium increase could be explained by dissolution of a Ba,Sr(SO4)-solid solution and aluminium increase by dissolution of hydrocalumite or ettringite.

Jan 1, 2008

By John R. FitzPatrick

The separation and purification of uranium from either nitric acid or hydrochloric acid media tan be accomplished by using either solvent extraction or ion-exchange. Over the past two years at Los Alamos, emerging programs are focused on recapturing the expertise required to do limited, small-quantity processing of enriched uranium. During this period of time, we have been investigating ion-exchange as a method for extraction/purification of uranium from acidic media. In addition, waste stream polishing is associated with this effort in order to achieve more complete removal of the uranium prior to recycle of the acid. Extraction chromatography has been demonstrated' to further polish the uranium from both nitric and hydrochloric acid media thus allowing for a more complete recovery of the actinide material and creation of less waste during the processing steps. We will discuss contact experiments for evaluation of eleven different resins for uranium removal from nitric acid, the evaluation (again by contact experiments) of uranium elution from the ion-exchange media by various chemicals, and small-scale experiments for the removal of 235U from nitric acid. Larger-scale (100-gram) flow experiments using depleted uranium, were done after the small-scale evaluation Of the selected resin. A discussion is also included concerning the shortcomings of the contact experiments and how the flow experiments were modified in order to overcome these problems. We will also discuss the application of ion-exchange for some specific process needs at Los Alamos Contact experiments were used to evaluate some commercially available solvent-impregnated resins in addition to evaluation of several resins of this type synthesized in our laboratory. These experiments' involved both nitric and hydrochloric acid media. The data from these experiments will be used to determine the column size and' amount of resin required to polish the waste stream produced by the ion-exchange process described above. Small-scale flow experiments will be described and data given on the mass balances achieved using this two step process. Future work for evaluation of new ion-exchange and solvent-impregnated resins as well as the search for new eluants will be discussed. Other future experiments for both processes, including large-scale experiments, will be discussed in detail.

Jan 1, 1996

By P. T. Bloomer

Introduction Mining of the orebody of the Sullivan mine, which is owned and operated by the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada, Limited, has reached a point where pillar extraction is rapidly becoming a major part of the operation. Very few of the larger pillars have been completely extracted; consequently, this paper contains much that is theory and expectation. Due to early mining methods and the physical characteristics of the Sullivan deposit, similar conditions may not exist in other older mines facing the problems of pillar extraction, but it is thought that the methods employed and those contemplated may be of general interest. History The Sullivan orebody, which is at Kimberley in the Fort Steele mining division of the East Kootenay district of British Columbia, was discovered in May, 1892, by Messrs. Sullivan, Smith, Cleaver, and Burchett. After passing through the hands of several owners the property was optioned in 1909, and purchased in 1910, by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited. Early mining was highly selective, the objective being a clean, high-grade silver-lead ore. By 1923 the difficulties of milling the very complex ore had been overcome and the first unit of a concentrator was completed with a capacity of 2,500 tons daily. Capacity was increased by stages to the present rate of 8,500 tons per day. Concentrates are shipped over the Canadian Pacific railway ? to the Company smelter at Tadanac, British Columbia, for final treatment. Approximately 45,000,000 tons of ore has been mined to date.

Jan 1, 1948

By R Razanatsimba, A Galli

A mining company has entered into contractual commitments to supply certain quantities of its product to clients in each time period. Failure to fulfil its obligations would damage its reputation as a reliable supplier. The planned production would normally be sufficient unless major problems such as highwall failures, roof falls, natural disaster, or strikes that interrupt production or delays in obtaining environmental permits, occur. To overcome these difficulties, the company may be able to obtain more of the commodity: from its strategic stockpile (if there is sufficient there); by buying it on the spot market; or for some commodities such as gold and uranium, by leasing it. Two sources of uncertainty, the spot price of the commodity and the occurrence of serious incidents that interrupt production, are considered. For simplicity it is assumed that the commodity price follows a geometric Brownian motion, that productions incidents have a binomial distribution, that they are independent from one time period to another and that they do not affect prices. A branching tree structure is used to model the joint evolution of prices and production incidents. The aim of this research project was to evaluate the companyÆs options for fulfilling its contractual commitments. When evaluating these options, multi-stage stochastic programming with recourse was used to solve this problem because in addition to providing the dollar value of the project, it gives decision-makers the æroadmapÆ to reach the optimal value. That is, how much material should be bought/sold on the spot market, how much to add to/subtract from the stockpile, how much to lease and in the worst case what the shortfall would be, for each time period as a function of the current spot price and breakdown status. A case-study over a five-year period is used to illustrate the proposed procedure. In this study the production would be sufficient to cover the companyÆs contractual commitments unless production incidents occur. Focus is on evaluating the impact of the quantity initially in the stockpile on the value of the project when the commodity market is tight, that is, when only small quantities can be bought on the spot market or by leasing.

Sep 26, 2011

By Ronald T. Mayerle

In-1992, the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a mineral investigation of the Anderson Mountain study area, including RARE II area 4-942, in Lemhi County, Idaho. The 7,340-ha study area lies within the Salmon National Forest about one kilometer north of the old mining town of Gibbonsville (pop.: 100). The eastern boundary of the study area is formed by the crest of the Bitterroot Range. The crest also serves as the continental Divide, and as the border between Idaho and Montana. The study area lies within the Gibbonsville Mining District, an important past producer of gold from lode and placer deposits. Since the 1870's, several hundred claims for both types have been located in the study area. Thirty-six current (1992) lode claims and two patented claim groups (one lode and one placer) are wholly or partially in the study area. No placer claims are current. In all, twenty-seven lode and five placer properties in and adjacent to the study area were investigated. Workings on the properties included 2 caved shafts; 36 caved adits; 8 open adits; 120 small pits, cuts, and trenches; and 4 large dozed cuts.

Jan 1, 1993

By Alyson Morley

The mining sector in Canada is facing significant challenges to develop a competent workforce, including increased technical and logistical operational demands, and the imperative to promote local content. There is an increasingly unpredictable labour pool which can be aging, or have skill shortages, or non-aligned skills. As globalisation continues, companies also require efficiencies during operation across various locations. AMEC has met these challenges in the global oil and gas sector by developing our Capability Development and Competence Assurance (CDCA) program. CDCA is applicable across all process industries, including mining. CDCA supports simultaneous consistency and flexibility by defining competence at task level, with corresponding best practice blended training programs, and evaluation criteria and processes. CDCA then defines role profiles mapped to local task definition. When combined with web-based technology, this granularity allows us to manage high volume workforces, while retaining individual learning plans and progression, aiding job satisfaction, and employee retention.

May 1, 2007

By A. Porvali, V. Agarwal, M. Lundström

Hydrometallurgical recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from NiMH battery waste can be performed using sulfuric acid leaching followed by selective precipitation as double salt (REENa(SO4)2•H2O) by adding Na2SO4 as a precipitating agent. The formed double salts can be treated further with NaOH solution to form REE hydroxides. This study focuses on metamodeling of a simulated flowsheet with design of experiments (DOE). Based on literature survey, a process flowsheet was developed using HSC Sim software. The created flowsheet focuses on circulation of solution containing Na+, K+, SO42- ions and impurities liberated in the NaOH treatment of double salt precipitate. The effect of seven parameters (P1-P7) on seven responses (R1-R7) were modeled using central composite design (CCD). INTRODUCTION Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery waste can be considered as an urban mineral due to the presence of valuable metals like: Ni, Co and rare earth elements (REE) (Larsson et al., 2013). In NiMH battery waste leaching experiments, sulfuric acid has often been employed as a lixiviant (Pietrelli et al., 2002,Zhang et al., 1999,Rodrigues and Mansur, 2010,Porvali et al., 2018). The key advantages of sulfuric acid are its stability and cost-effectiveness compared to other mineral acids such as HCl and HNO3. However, the usage of sulfuric acid in NiMH battery waste leaching poses simultaneous challenges and advantages. Limited REE solubility can be taken as benefit when recovering REEs double sulfates after solid-liquid separation. However, sodium and potassium hydroxide, present in electrolyte residues in the battery waste, can cause in-situ precipitation already during leaching due to limited solubility, thus decreasing the total REE recovery (Porvali et al., 2018). However, this problem can be circumvented by washing the electrolyte residues off the raw materials. Subsequently, the REEs may be precipitated in bulk as a mixed double salt out from the solution at very low pH with minimal co-precipitation of Ni and other metals. This relatively easy separation method can be extremely advantageous in the case of such a complex solution matrix with relatively high REE concentrations (conc.). Once REEs have been precipitated as double sulfates as per eq. (1) (Porvali et al., 2018), the resulting double salt precipitate lacks applications without further treatment. Direct thermal treatment would generate sulfur dioxide emissions and likely require high temperatures in order to transform double sulfates into REE oxides. Furthermore, the precipitate contains Na ions, which would need to be removed by chemical treatment from the calcined REE product. In the context of circularity of raw materials, it can be taken of a remarkable benefit if the sodium and sulfur present in the double salt could be reused instead of wasting them into the side streams. To that end, in this simulation study, the double salts are converted by dissolution and precipitation to hydroxides which are readily treatable, e.g. with total dissolution and solvent extraction, for further purification (Abreu and Morais, 2010):

Jan 1, 2019

By Donald W. Gentry

The evaluation of industrial minerals deposits for investment decision making follows the same basic principles that apply to metallic deposits. For example, the quantity and quality of the mineral occurrence is assessed, engineering/economic feasibility studies are performed for various production scenarios, project evaluation criteria are calculated for each alternative, and finally, an investment decision is made. A more specific evaluation-related example of commonality between metallic and nonmetallic deposit assessment relates to the various parameters which impact project feasibility studies. There exists a suite of pertinent factors which must be considered, studied, and analyzed when evaluating any mining property. Table 1 is an outline of some, but certainly not all, of the various factors which should be considered when preparing feasibility studies on mining properties. Most analysts agree that all the factors listed in Table 1 should be assessed to some degree in at least one of the feasibility studies prepared during the property's evaluation period.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. V. Lundquist

Aeration in water slurries and controlled drying of manganous hydroxide produced from dithionate leaching of Artillery Peak manganese ores from Arizona were investigated by the Bureau of Mines at its Electrometallurgical Experiment Station, Boulder City, Nev., to determine whether a simple process could be developed for converting this product into a battery-grade manganese dioxide. The properties of manganese dioxide prepared by the thermal decomposition of manganous nitrate were investigated also. Manganese dioxide suitable for use in batteries was not obtained from the dithionate leach product, but some of the factors controlling its oxidation were isolated. Aging of manganous hydroxide was of major importance in retarding its oxidation by aeration. Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate promoted oxidation by drying. Optimum quantities were about 0.85 mol of sodium hydroxide and 0.2 mol of sodium silicate per mol of manganese, and drying temperatures of 200° C. produced yields of manganese dioxide up to 90 percent of the manganese present. Higher temperatures and concentrations of reagents carried oxidation of manganese beyond its tetravalent state.

Jan 1, 1957

By Lloyd A. Morley

This Bureau of Mines publication presents a comprehensive review of mine electrical power-system theory and practice. It discusses fundamental theory and the vital aspects to be considered in planning and designing mine electrical power systems. The report is divided into three major sections. The first presents the history of electricity in mining and the fundamentals of electrical phenomena and components. The second focuses on power-system components: motors, grounding systems, cables, and protective equipment and devices. The final section includes mine power-center equipment, switchhouses and substations, batteries, and mine maintenance.

Jan 1, 2003

By Victor Azbe

Azbe System of Controlled Calcination To obtain good and cheap lime there are certain fundamental requirements that need to be satisfied. These are : (1) Proper combustion of fuel and steady supply of heat to the kiln. (2) Proper heat distribution in the kiln. (3) Uniform drawing of lime through the several shaft sections. (4) Complete cooling of the lime and recovery of the heat. (5) Temperature control of the hot zone by economical means. (6) Ample draft to obtain high capacity. (7) Arrangements to facilitate operation. Figure 17 shows diagrammatically one of the smaller kilns, intended for large stone. Such a kiln can be supplied with gas from a centrally located automatic gas producer, or, as shown, from an integral producer located snugly against the kiln. These producers make very good gas and have a gasification capacity of either 10 or 15 tons of coal a day. The producers have water-sealed ash pits, a rather thick fuel bed that is conducive to the making of high-CO gas, and are under forced draft. No steam is used. Clinkering is prevented by admixing some spent gas from the kiln with the air. Coal feeding is from a coal bunker through spouts into the hoppers over the producer. This is done, at proper intervals, by manual operation of slides, but it is planned to install mechanical feeders. Central mechanical gas producers have the advantage of requiring little labour, but the blowing of soot is a problem, as also is the proper distribution of the gas among several kilns. In the case of integral gas producers, soot from the centre burner is blown back into the producer to be burned, and the supply of gas to the kiln is controlled by regulation of air to the producer. In large plants, the mechanical producer may be preferable, but in small ones, the integral producer is cheaper, better, and more reliable. The kiln shown in Figure 17 is suitable for both systems of gas supply. It will be noticed that there are no side gas burners. All gas enters the kiln through the centre burner in a manner that permits any desired amount of gas to be directed to any of the kiln sections by the aid of regulating slides.

Jan 1, 1946

By Guillermo Ortíz C.

El presente trabajo señala la importancia de la simulación matemática en la investigación de operaciones como medio de solución en la minería de cielo abierto y subterráneo. En este sentido, se revisa la repercusión del sistema de simulación GASP VI, el cual propone una serie de reglas de un sector de la realidad y lo simplifica en un modelo a construir. Este lenguaje de programación reconoce las identidades y sus atributos como codificación del valor de los atributos. Asimismo, sugiere el enlace entre el modelaje y las actividades del programa, simplificando el diseño y los análisis de las actividades requeridas por el problema a resolver.

Nov 20, 1978

By M. S. Cetiner

This report describes the prototype development If a medium to high voltage coupler, suitable for underground coal mining operations. The coupler has such unique features as automatic dust covers and continuous phase pin shielding. The coupler is rated at 7500V and 250A continuous operation.

Jan 1, 1982