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By L. J. Kane

Applications are described of various methods for determining the weight concentration and physical properties of solid and liquid impurities of gases in connection with problems encountered in synthesis-gas production. Of special interest among these methods may be listed: 1. A method developed for determining, the weight concentration of solid and liquid impurities in. hot, crude synthesis gas containing a high concentration of moisture. 2. A method developed for the same purpose but for highly purified synthesis gas or atmospheric air. 3. A method for obtaining a uniform dispersion of dry duet or, a microscope slide for particle-size determination or other purposes.

Jan 1, 1954

By Terence M. Gordon, Mati Raudsepp, Gregory M. Dipple

Four methods of measuring mineral abundance in a rock are examined for their potential in assaying for high-tech industrial minerals. One method uses X-ray powder-diffraction data and the other three rely on whole rock chemical data and information on mineral assemblages and mineral compositions. All four methods were employed to estimate wollastonite content in diamond drill core of skarn collected as part of an exploration program and are compared to visual estimates of wollastonite content from core logs. These techniques for assaying wollastonite span a considerable range ofaccuracy and expense, and combined, define a non-linear relationship between these variables. Accuracy increases rapidly relative lo expense up to total costs of about $50 per analysis. Assay methods in the $50-100 per analysis range have associated errors of 5-10% relative and probably suffice for most exploration programs. Improvements in accuracy above this level require a much larger investment. The most expensive assay technique (-$300 per analysis) yields the most accurate measurement of grade (relative error -1%). Its application may best be limited to periodic checks on other assay techniques and for fine-tuning ofmineral separation procedures.

Jan 1, 2001

By L. E. Porter

The demand for crude oil on the Pacific Coast during the year 1945. was so acute that the California crude supply had to be augmented by tank-car imports from the Texas and Rocky Mountain fields. Crude imports reached a high of 64,800 bbl. per day during June, with a total of 14,259,000 bbl. imported during the first 11 .months. The U. S. Navy also implemented the crude output from California pools by drilling and completing approximately 300 wells in the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 (Elk Hills), from which an established production of 65,000. bbl. per day was reached in late February and maintained until Aug. 17, 1945, when it was reduced to its preprogram level of 15,000 bbl. per day. Even with the conclusion of the Pacific war on V-J day (Aug. 14), the military petroleum product requirements have permitted little material reduction in output of California crude to prewar rates. During the year, a total of 327-760,000 bbl. of crude was produced, or 19 per cent of the total crude production within the United States during the same period, as compared with 310,996,000 bbl. or 18.4 per cent of the nation's crude production in 1944.

Jan 1, 1946

By Albert L. St. Peter

The "Old Reliable" four million pound blast in March of 1972 marked the opening, as far as is known, of serious efforts to commercialize the In Situ concept. That was a coyote shot, and it was followed by three blasts at McAlester Fuel's "Zonia" operation which were surface hole shots. As the only individual who had a principal part in all four shots, it seems to be appropriate to present experiences in the developments and evolutions of the in Situ method of ore extraction. Some of the problems will be described, along with proposals for management of such projects in the future.

Jan 1, 1976

Thomas H. Beddall, so we are informed by Major J. B. Carlock, has been promoted and is now Adjutant of the 1st Battalion, 1st Gas Regi¬ ment. He was awarded, last summer, the Croix de Guerre. R. A. Bull. See letter in Proceedings of Milwaukee Meeting. Captain Stanley C. Bullock's record since entering the service is given as follows in a letter recently received from Mrs. Bullock: Resigned position of mine manager in Chile in November, 1915, to return to England to obtain commission in Royal Engineers. Joined Officers' Training Corps, Dec. 20, 1915. Commission gazetted, Jan. 27, 1916, 2d Lieut., R. E. Landed in France, Feb. 6, 1916. Posted to 179th Tunnelling Co., R. E. Took part in following battles: Somme, 1916; Ypres;1917; Arras, 1917; Somme, March and July, 1917; Messines, 1917. Gazetted: Acting Captain, July 11, 1916; Temp.-Lieutenant, Oct. 26, 1916; Captain, Sept. 29, 1918. Awarded Military Cross, Jan. 1, 1918, for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty under a heavy enemy gas bombardment, when, by his example and perseverance in spite of every difficulty and obstacle, mining work was successfully completed which was vital for the success of the operations. The Cross was presented to Capt. Bullock by the King, on Sept. 25, 1918. First Lieut. J. J. Cadot, in a letter sent to Mr. H. `V. Hardinge from France, says he has been at the "Front." He also mentions that the Boche "is a good sprinter."

Jan 12, 1918

By Robert C. Laudon

Spectral reflectance data for 335 minerals, including 228 minimum-maximum combinations for anisotropic minerals giving a total of 563 data sets, have been collected from the literature and combined into a single database. Quantitative color values for x, y, Y, Ad , and Pe referred to ICI standard i11uminant C have been calculated from the spectral reflectance data and are included in the database. The programs plot spectral reflectance curves together with all quantitative color data for each mineral in the database. The plots and data can be directed to a dot-matrix printer such that a databook of quantitative color and spectral reflectance having one mineral per page can be generated for the ore microscopy laboratory. In addition, by sorting the database and grouping the minerals, groups or individual minerals can be plotted on the chromaticity diagram, and this plot can also be sent to a dot-matrix printer. The programs are written in compiled BASICA for an IBM-PC with graphics capabilities and at least 128KB random access memory (RAM). The databases are accessible either through the BASIC programs or through any commercial database system capable of loading and writing to an ASCII format sequential file. The programs and database are available by sending a blank diskette and self addressed, stamped envelope to the authors.

Jan 1, 1987

By Robert van Hille, Alison Lewis

The precipitation of a selection of metals from both a synthetic and an actual metal-rich effluent was investigated. The experimental aspects of this study were carried out in a two-stage process consisting of a pre-treatment clarifier and a fluidised bed (pellet) reactor. Each unit operation in the two-stage process was investigated separately. The pre-treatment clarification stage at pH ˜ 5 resulted in a 99.9% removal of iron and 97.3% removal of aluminium. The pellet reactor was used to precipitate nickel as nickel carbonate from a pure stream and a removal efficiency of 99.6% was achieved. The high local supersaturation at the reagent inlet points caused the formation of a large amount of fines, but these agglomerated onto the pellets up the length of the bed. For copper precipitated as copper sulphide from a pure stream, a maximum removal efficiency of 92% was achieved. The high local supersaturation at the reagent inlets also caused the formation of a large amount of fines, but the extremely sparingly soluble nature of copper sulphide meant that the fines were not agglomerated up the length of the bed. For removal of cobalt as cobalt carbonate from an actual stream, a stable cobalt removal of only 60% was achieved. This was found to be due to the presence of magnesium, which reduced the cobalt precipitation efficiency through the formation of the magnesium bicarbonate ion.

Jan 1, 2003

The engineering company's participation in quality assurance in the mining industry is twofold. Not only must it have such a program to ensure the necessary high standards for its own design and construction of a minerals processing plant, but it is also responsible as the "engineer" for both the selection and the quality of purchased equipment which goes into that plant. It is in this latter role that the engineer finds the most difficulty, or controversy, since while it is relatively easy to control his own performance, this is not ncessarily so when dealing with companies, all with their own ideas or standards. The engineer has perhaps rather reluctantly become more involved with the quality assurance of purchased equipment. This is because he has been used to writing performance type specifications and expecting the equipment manufacturer to provide the degree of quality, and control of that quality, for the product to meet the specified operating conditions. However, this has sometimes placed the manufacturer in a difficult position since to remain competitive in today's market conditions, he cannot always insist on product improvements or options which may in the long run be vital to reliable operation of the equipment.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. K. Samal, B. Mishra, M. K. Mohanty, S. C. Mishra

Steelmaking industries consume the majority of chromium and manganese ferroalloys to impart several properties in steel and also for other purposes. The quality of ore governs the process kinetics as well as the process economy of the ferroalloy industry. The present study demonstrates the thermal transformation behavior of chromite and manganese ores with varying compositions. Simultaneous thermal analysis (DTA/TG) is employed for such ore samples where the transformation of mineral phases is correlated with the thermogram characteristics and quantified. Phase, microstructure, and compositional analysis results of individual ores corroborated with thermal analysis are in good agreement. Chromite samples are ferruginous with goethite and gibbsite contents, whereas manganese ores vary in composition and also exhibit multiple and/or overlapping transformations.

Jan 21, 2021

By D. J. Chaiko

Aqueous biphasic extraction (ABE) processes offer the potential for low-cost, highly selective separations. This countercurrent extraction technique involves selective partitioning of either dissolved solutes or ultrafine particulates between two immiscible aqueous phases. The extraction systems that we have studied are generated by combining an aqueous salt solution with an aqueous polymer solution. We have examined a wide range of applications for ABE, including the treatment of solid and liquid nuclear wastes, decontamination of soils, and processing of mineral ores. We have also conducted fundamental studies of solution microstructure using small angle neutron scattering (SANS): In this chapter we review the physicochemical fundamentals of aqueous biphase formation and discuss the development and scaleup of ABE processes for environmental remediation.

Jan 1, 1996

By Horace C. Porter, F. K. OVITZ

The various fuel investigations that were being carried on by the technologic branch of the United States Geological Survey were transferred by law on July 1, 1910, to a new federal bureau, the Bureau of Mines, that was authorized to continue the investigations and make public reports of the results. In consequence of this transfer, the following report is published as a bulletin of the new bureau. The United States Geological Survey had been engaged in analyzing and testing coals, lignites, and other mineral fuel substances under authority given by act of Congress. This work, now centered at the experiment station at Pittsburg, Pa., had its beginning in the operations of the coal-testing plant erected at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Mo., in 1904. The results obtained at that plant showed that the work of determining the fuel value of the coals and lignites in the United States with a view to increasing efficiency in their utilization would be incomplete if it did not include systematic physical and chemical researches into the processes of combustion. Hence in its later investigations the Survey carried on such re- searches, concentrating attention on those lines of inquiry which promised results of greatest economic importance. This bulletin is a report on an investigation of the volatile matter in several typical coals-its composition and amount at different tem- peratures of volatilization. As the investigation is still in progress and will doubtless include other coals than those already examined, the bulletin may be considered a preliminary report, stating the prob- lems studied, the methods used, and the results thus far obtained.

Jan 1, 1910

By N. C. Dunham

"The Bureau of Mines exploratory work on the Bear Lodge, Wyo., fluorite property wider the strategic minerals Program was completed in November 1944. Exploration consisted of surface trenching, shaft sinking, and drifting at shallow depth. Doak C. Cox of the Federal Geological Survey visited the area during the latter part of 1944 and napped the Bear Lodge property.The Bear Lodge property is situated in the Black Hilts National Forest in eastern Crook County, Wyo., 6 miles north of the community of Sundance (fig. 1). Sundance is 29 miles northwest of Upton, Wyo., a station on the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad and 43 miles southwest of a siding on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, 3 miles south of Belle Fourche, S. Dak. U. S. Highway 14 passes through Sundance in an east-west direction. Sundance may be reached from the south over U. S. Highway 85 and Wyoming State Highway 585.The Bear Lodge property i a situated in the Boer Lodge Mountains in secs. 15, 22, and 23, T. 52 N., R. 63W., 6th P.M.The topography in the vicinity of the fluorite deposits consists essentially of rounded hills which slope gently to the valley floors. Near the north end of the Property the terrain steepens locally, and the canyon walls are Precipitous along the courses of several streams. There is an adequate supply of water and native timber for mining purposes. The average elevation near the deposits is 5,700 feet.The climate of the region is relatively moderate. The summers are usually warm, with frequent rainstorms. Temperatures often fall below zero during the winter months. Snowfalls are moderate to heavy.Fluorite occurrences in the Bear Lodge area have been known since 1914; however, fluorite was not discovered on the Bear Lodge property until 1943, when prospectors working on a nearby manganese deposit found fluorite mineralization in the limestone. No production has been recorded from the property."

Apr 1, 1946

By Robert H. Peters

Several significant problems associated with employee turnover among underground miners are described in this Bureau of Mines report. Although a vast amount of research has been conducted on turnover among employees in nonmining industries, there has never been an attempt to empirically investigate the causes of turnover among underground miners. This report presents the results of empirical research on employee turnover in other industries and describes and critiques the research methods that have been used to investigate turnover. Using the findings on employee turnover in other industries and known data about miners and the mining industry, a conceptual model of the factors that cause turnover among miners was generated. This model, which is expected to provide a basis for later empirical studies, is presented. Several recommendations for controlling miner turnover are also presented.

Jan 1, 1986

By K. Thambi

"A recent amendment to Section 36(11)(e) of the Income Tax Act, 53 of 1968 (Tax Act) now extends the allowable deduction of ‘capital expenditure’ incurred by mining companies pursuant to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA). In terms of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2016 (TLAB 2016), the allowable deduction has been extended to include expenditure incurred on infrastructure in terms of Social and Labour Plan (SLP) requirements as per the MPRDA. Interestingly, what necessitated the amendment was the need to recognize SLP requirements and to circumvent administrative difficulties for mining companies and the South African Revenue Services (SARS) in differentiating the use of developmental infrastructure by employees or the community. The successful implementation of such a deduction hinges on a sound SLP system. However, given the challenges within the current SLP system, this amendment could be considered somewhat premature. IntroductionSection 36(11) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (Tax Act) enabled mining companies to deduct certain capital expenditure in lieu of its other sections. In particular, it made provision for mining companies to deduct capital expenditure incurred pursuant to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA), but excluding capital expenditure incurred in respect of infrastructure or environmental rehabilitation. As such, mining companies could only deduct such capital expenditure that related directly to their employees and not to the wider community (Clegg, 2018).In terms of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2016 (TLAB, 2016) (South Africa, 2016a), the recent amendment to Section 36 extends the relief provided under section 36(11)(e) to include capital expenditure incurred on infrastructure in terms of the Social and Labour Plan (SLP) requirements of the MPRDA. In other words, the capital expenditure incurred by the mining company for the benefit of the people living in mining communities. To qualify for such a deduction, the infrastructure erected or developed by the mining company should reflect what was agreed between the mining company and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) as per the SLP requirements of the MPRDA (TLAB 2016)."

May 1, 2019

By John S. Berber

Acids, neutral oils, and pitch were produced by distillation of low-temperature lignite tar and processed to upgrade them into more valuable products: The acids were separated from the distillate and catalytically dealkylated to produce phenol, cresol, and xylenol. Aromatic and naphthene fractions of the neutral oil were converted into phthalic and maleic anhydrides by catalytic hydrodealkylation and vapor- phase oxidation. Paraffins and n-olefins from the neutral oil were processed into alkybenzene sulfonate, a biodegradable substance. Aromatic materials from the neutral oil were also extracted with organic compounds and the extract hydrogenated under pressure to produce jet fuel. The pitch was processed by various means to change its characteristics and make it suitable for similar applications as high- temperature tar pitch, including preparation of carbon black and metallurgical electrodes. In most cases, products obtained from the low-temperature tar were examined for physical and chemical characteristics and for potential commercial utility. Information obtained from this research would be helpful if a new coal- chemical industry based on tar utilization were established.

Jan 1, 1973

The panic bars (and associated linkage's and electrical circuitry) that are defined in this document are a machine operator-actuated control for the emergency deenergization of the tram motors on Self-propelled, electric and diesel face equipment; including haulage equipment such as shuttle cars. There are nine basic types of panic bars (and several variations) that are recommended in this document, but all of the panic bars are characteristically of the "fire door" type that is frequently encountered on outside exit doors of many public and soma commercial buildings. It is also the intent of the following panic bar designs that, when emergency brakes are added to the face equipment machinery for which they are required, that they be designed and hooked up so that actuation of the panic bar will result in automatic application of the emergency brakes (immediately following the deenergization of the tram motors). The following panic bar design requirements are a restatement of the proposed requirements defined in the Federal Register, requirements cited in 'Guidelines for the Design and Installation of Devices for Deenergization of Self-Propelled Electric Face Equipment/Automatic Emergency Brakes" by C. E. Lester and J. D. Greenhalgh of MESA, and Bendix recommendations that were formulated as a result of discussions with personnel at the various machine manufacturers and underground coal mines that we surveyed, discussions with G. L. Judy (our consultant), etc:

Jan 1, 1974

By Francisco Alberto Marreiros da Rocha Filho

No processo de laminação a quente ocorre ocasionalmente a perda de ductilidade a quente que pode causar o fenômeno denominado como “abertura de cabeça” da barra durante a sequência de passes. Essa perda de ductilidade a quente pode ser severa e causar interrupções no processo produtivo. Esse fenômeno pode estar associado a diversos fatores entre eles: composição química do aço; defeitos presentes no tarugo; condições do processo de laminação; e temperatura do aço durante o processo, principalmente nos passes de desbaste e intermediários de laminação. No processo em estudo, a perda de ductilidade a quente ocorre associada à laminação de vergalhões a partir de tarugos oriundos diretamente do lingotamento contínuo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar a influência da temperatura e da microestrutura formada ao longo do processo na perda de ductilidade a quente das barras através de um exame comparativo entre os vergalhões laminados com e sem o uso da etapa de reaquecimento.

Oct 30, 2017

By Wei Victor Liu, Omer Faruk Ugurlu, Chengkai Fan, Bei Jiang

The accurate prediction of truck productivity plays a pivotal role in improving the efficiency and profitability of open-pit mining operations. However, predicting truck productivity is challenging owing to the complex nature of the working conditions of the mine site. This paper proposes a deep neural network model to overcome the challenge of predicting truck productivity in open-pit mines. The prediction model was built using eight variables and was optimized by considering different train-test split ratios, numbers of hidden layers and neurons, and activation functions. The proposed model's performance was evaluated using various metrics and was compared with other commonly used machine learning algorithms. According to the results, the proposed model outperformed traditional machine learning algorithms by achieving higher accuracy and lower error rates, with the best-performing model having four hidden layers with 70 neurons per layer and a scaled exponential linear unit activation function, resulting in a coefficient of determination value of 0.89. This demonstrates the potential of deep neural network models for predicting truck productivity in open-pit mine sites. Moreover, a single variable sensitivity analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of input variables on truck productivity. The results show that haul distance is the most influential variable for the prediction of truck productivity.

Feb 12, 2024

By Gordon S. Farnham

THIS paper summarizes the results of investigations carried out at Sydney Mines, N.S., and at Ottawa, following the disaster at Princess colliery, December 6th, 1938. The Honourable Minister of Mines for Nova Scotia appointed A. E. Cameron special investigator to enquire into and report upon the cause of the rope failure. Public hearings were held in Sydney Mines and evidence taken from many witnesses. The site of the accident was examined in detail and investigations made of the rope layout and colliery practice. At the request of the special investigator, the Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa, kindly undertook technical and scientific examination of the broken ends of the rope. These investigations were carried out in the Metallurgical Laboratories of the Department of Mines and Resources, under the supervision of G. S. Farnham, Metallurgist for the Department. Valuable assistance in interpretation of many features of the investigation was received from other sources. Acknowledgment is due to Messrs. Stuewe, McCall, and Gordon, and other members of the staff of the Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation; to Messrs. Morrison and Scott, and other members of District 26, United Mine Workers of America; and to Messrs. Timm, Parsons, Haycock, Haanell, and other members of the staff of the Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa, for helpful ad vice and technical assistance in assembly of information, and preparation of material and interpretation of evidence obtained.

Jan 1, 1939

By L. E. Young

MUCH has been said and written on this subject and probably little new can be said. However, the point of view of the operating company changes from time to time, and more stress may be laid upon a subject today than was done some years ago, and it is with this changing point of view that the following observations are presented: The writer wishes to limit the discussion to views of a company mining bituminous coal, particularly to what the production department expects of the college grad¬uate. In an editorial in MINING AND METALLURGY for February, 1929, entitled "Is. Mining Engineering Passing?" it is stated that: It is not by accident that mining engineering courses have been general rather than special and form even today the only general engineering courses widely offered and followed by engineering students.'* * * even in this age of specialization, the mining engineers remain a body characterized particularly by broad knowledge.

Jan 1, 1929