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By Noel N. Moebs

The U.S. Bureau of Mines is conducting research on many topics relating to the mineral resources of the United States. This is done to ensure an adequate supply of minerals essential to a viable domestic industry and a sound economy. The United States is almost totally dependent on foreign supplies for a number of minerals such as chromium, niobium, tantalum, and manganese for which there is no available substitute, while many other minerals such as titanium are abundantly distributed throughout the earth but seldom occur in adequate concentrations or useful forms. This report describes an example of a small but high-grade occurrence of titanium are in Nelson County, VA. This occurrence could be exploited under favorable economic conditions with new mining technology such as borehole slurry mining. The report demonstrates that the dikes at titanium ore, a mixture of ilmenite and apatite locally termed nelsonite, can be detected and traced along strike using magnetometer traverses. This information will aid in the selection of appropriate slurry borehole mining test sites in the area.

Jan 1, 1993

Beneficiation of Coal Fines from Tailing Ponds of Tuntbilek Washing Plant

Sep 13, 2010

By F. De Lucio

Para la aplicación de la instalación de un sistema de relleno hidráulico es necesario evaluar las funciones que el relleno debe contener y determinar si el material a usar cumpla con las funciones especificadas. En ese sentido, el objetivo del texto presenta una interpretación científica sobre tal método para especificar las funciones que el relleno deba cumplir y la metodología experimental adecuada que evalúe cuantitativamente a un relleno hidráulico.. Asimismo, se describen sus propiedades estructurales como la densidad relativa, reducción de volumen y estabilidad de tajeos contínuos, así como los métodos indirectos para inferir dichas propiedades y las posibles consecuencias secundarias que pueda generar el empleo de relleno hidráulico.

Nov 20, 1972

By Timothy Stark

Blasters are usually strictly liable for injury or damage caused by flyrock (trespassory invasion) and blast-induced vibrations (non-trespassory invasion). The application of strict liability to non-trespassory invasions has resulted in significant litigation that has hampered the use of blasting and the blasting industry. Stark (2002) proposes that blasters should not be held strictly liable for non-trespassory invasions but should be liable only if their conduct is proven to be negligent. This change in legal standard was proposed because improvements in blasting technology over the last thirty years allow blasting to be conducted without substantial risk of harm to property and thus the amount of harm imposed by a blast can be related to the level of care exercised by the blaster. It is anticipated that a negligence standard will reduce the amount of litigation because a plaintiff will have a greater burden to overcome. To facilitate the acceptance of a negligence standard by a court of law, this paper summarizes the standard of care using the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, extensive U.S. Bureau of Mines research, and current blasting techniques, such as blasting mats. It is important for the blasting industry to promulgate a standard of care so a judge can feel confident that blasting can be routinely and systematically controlled and if the legal standard is changed from strict liability to negligence a subsequent judge or jury will be able to evaluate the level of care exercised by the blaster. This paper also suggests that the industry and/or ISEE develop and disseminate a comprehensive standard of care that courts can use to further justify a change from strict liability to negligence and evaluate the standard of care.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. V. Ramani

This volume is the first of a four-volume final report on research carried out under a contract from the U.S. Bureau of Mines on the development of a computer simulation model for surface mine reclamation planning. The other volumes are titled as follows: Volume II: Dragline Model, Volume III: Mine Coordinate Generator System, and Volume IV: User's Manual for OPMHS/2. This report deals with the development of a geological model for surface mine planning. The most common orebody modeling techniques are described. A brief review of geostatistical theory and concepts is presented. A geostatistical option for orebody modeling is developed and validated. Computer programs and sample outputs are appended.

Jan 1, 1985

By G. Bacon

The past decade has witnessed unprecedented growth in the development and implementation of solvent extraction technology in the extractive metallurgy of nickel and cobalt. Solvent extraction is proving to be a powerful tool, opening new opportunities for simpler, more cost efficient and environmentally sound metal refining processes. These advances, however, could not have been possible without the cooperative efforts between the nickel industry and the people and organizations involved with reagents, materials and equipment development and supply as well as solvent extraction research, aided by the accumulated knowledge and practical experience from the copper and uranium solvent extraction operations. This paper provides an overview of these developments and some of the challenges ahead.

Jan 1, 2002

By B. McHenry, A. E. Wraith, P. J. Mackey

The Wallaroo smelter on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia commenced smelting operations in 1861 treating ores from the nearby Moonta and Kadina mines. The plant expanded and modernized on several occasions and was a leader in the successful introduction of new technology to improve operations. It operated continuously until 1923 when local mines became exhausted; in the closing stages of the 19th century it was the largest copper smelter in the world outside of those in Swansea, Wales. In 1892 a small electrolytic refinery was established at Wallaroo, the first in Australia, based on principles developed by Elkington at Pembrey, Wales in 1869. The Wallaroo refinery was specifically built to recover gold and silver from copper produced by smelting gold-containing feed materials shipped from Western Australia. This first venture into electrolytic refining was replaced in 1903 by a somewhat larger refinery which, although modest in size for its time, with a capacity of about 1000 tonnes of cathode copper per year, was very productive in precious metals. Anode copper was produced by an updated version of the reverberatory-based Welsh process until 1910 when barrel-type pneumatic converters were introduced based on American practice; subsequently, anodes were cast by tapping the precious-metals rich "bottoms" portion of converter copper as produced at about one-fifth into the copper blow. The present paper describes the Wallaroo refinery, its anode supply and products, supported by initial observations on a sample of a Wallaroo cathode held in the collection of the South Australia Museum, Adelaide SA, Australia. INTRODUCTION Australia ranked 6th in the world for copper mine production in 2018, with an output of 918,000 tonnes of mined copper, after Chile, Peru, Congo, China and the USA; about 40% of Australian mined copper was smelted in the country. Interestingly, the world ranking of Australia in mined copper has, with a few variations, remained about the same for more than 100 years – of interest, it was also the 6th largest country for copper production at 21,089 tonnes in 1899. At that time, all or most of the copper was smelted in the country (Mackey, 2016). Copper was first discovered in Australia in 1842 in South Australia not far from Adelaide; additional copper discoveries in the region soon followed. At first, copper ore was shipped to Swansea, Wales for smelting (Bampton, 2003). However, in addition to the long, 150 day one-way sea passage, it seems Welsh smelters preferred higher grade of ores – these aspects and likely a mood in the new colony to be independent of Swansea (Evans, 2014) evidently encouraged local smelting at the mine sites using small, Welsh-type reverberatory furnaces fired with hardwood as fuel and operated by Welsh and Cornish migrants. The first large copper smelter in Australia commenced in 1848 at Bremer, near Callington some 60 km east of Adelaide. With larger discoveries on Yorke Peninsula, the Wallaroo copper smelter at Wallaroo Bay on the west coast of the peninsula commenced operations in 1861 (Bell & McCarthy, 2008). Thus began one of the most successful, and in its day, one of the most advanced and innovative plants in Australia if not the world. In the late 1860s, it was considered one of the largest copper smelters in the world (Bell & McCarthy, 2008)

Jan 1, 2019

By Steven A. Hawkins

This report details the conduct and results of a 5-month study to collect data on the use of steel support for ground control in European underground coal mines. The report summarizes European steel support design practices and describes the applicability of steel supports to U.S. mining conditions.

Jan 1, 1980

By Carol E. Jones

Outline ? Reclamation is a primary mitigation. ? Understand baseline environment and land use. ? Determine reclamation goals. ? Selecting reclamation technology. ? Determine technical risk. Reclamation ? Primary Mitigation ? Through land and water disturbance, mining can have significant local and regional environmental impacts. ? Impacts can also result from associated land use changes. ? Reclamation is a primary tool that the mining industry uses to manage its environmental impacts.

May 1, 2008

Removal of Thiocyanate from Solutions by Precipitation

Sep 13, 2010

By Elmer W. Pehrson

Minerals have played a prominent role in the affairs of man and nations since time immemorial but with the advent of the industrial revolution, expanding use of the products of the mineral kingdom became synonymous with the material progress of mankind. Individuals and business groups have recognized this fact so have been aggressive in searching for and utilizing mineral resources, with notable success. Indeed, their achievements are primarily responsible for the present Machine Age. On the other hand, until recently the body politic has failed to grasp fully the essentiality of minerals although, at times, access to mineral supplies has been an important factor in the political maneuvers of nations. This chapter is concerned primarily with the broader political and economic relationships of mineral resources to the world economy, and with the internal and external actions of nations in the field of minerals. Many factors that condition the mineral economy of regions and the world as a whole, influence the internal and external affairs of individual nations. The more important of these are: 1. The nature of man's dependence on minerals. 2. The problems resulting from the unique characteristics of mineral occurrence. 3. Geopolitical concepts. 4. Minerals and world power. Actions of individual nations affecting their mineral economy seek two basic objectives: 1. Attainment and maintenance of prosperity. 2. Military security. Other objectives may be cited but on careful analysis they become integral parts or extreme phases of the two points noted above. For example, the twentieth century aggressions of the USSR, Germany, Italy, and Japan might be considered as direct bids for world power but they also can be interpreted as exaggerated or mistaken efforts toward military security and peacetime prosperity. Similarly, trade barriers, nationalization of industries, foreign exchange manipulations, taxation, monopolistic prac-

Jan 1, 1964

By O. Gunaydin

Performance measurements of large-diameter circular saws were conducted on eight different carbonate rocks in marble factories located in some areas of Turkey. Rock samples were collected from these factories for laboratory tests. Uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength and impact strength were determined in the laboratory. The brittleness of B3 (the ratio of compressive strength minus tensile strength to compressive strength plus tensile strength), the brittleness of B5 (the product of percentage fines in the impact strength test and compressive strength) and the brittleness of B8 (half of the product of compressive strength and tensile strength) were calculated from the test results. Hourly slab productions were correlated with brittleness indexes. It was concluded that sawability of carbonate rocks can best be predicted from the brittleness of B8.

Jan 1, 2004

By R. L. Gall

This report describes Bureau of Mines experiments in gasifying coal in a helium-heated tube-coil reactor. The purpose of this work was to investigate helium as a medium for transferring heat from a nuclear reactor to gasify coal or for use as high-temperature process heat. A laboratory-scale system was designed and constructed to demonstrate feasibility. In preliminary tests with this system, in which the coal was fed as a water slurry, the helium-heating and recycling equipment operated well. Considerable difficulty was experienced, however, in preheating coal slurry to the desired range of 400° - 1,000° F. without plugging the preheaters. Five different preheaters plugged with coke or with salts leached from the coal. The longest operating period wan 12 hours. These difficulties were partly due to the relatively small equipment and flow rates. The gasifier processed l pound per hour of low-rank coal at 300 p.s.i.g. and 1,800° F., with the carbon conversion limited to 20 to 30 percent by the short residence time and slow heat-transfer rate.

Jan 1, 1962

By C J. N Wilson

The central Taupo Volcanic Zone is a region of intense Quaternary silicic volcanism accompanying rapid crustal extension. Modem central TVZ is the most frequently active and productive silicic volcanic system on Earth, erupting rhyolite at c.0.28 m3 s-1. The rhyolites show no major compositional changes with time, but the total extent of magma chamber zonation has changed with the advent of rifting and crustal extension at c.0.7 Ma. At least 34 caldera-forming ignimbrite eruptions have formed a complex sequence of relatively short-lived, nested and/or overlapping volcanic centres in central TVZ. Taupo contrasts with other large silicic magmatic systems in the exceptionally high frequency, but small size, of caldera forming eruptions. This contrast reflects the thin, rifted nature of the TVZ crust that precludes the development of long term magmatic cycles at Taupo. Within central TVZ, non-rhyolitic compositions have been erupted apparently irregularly in time and space; in particular there is no evidence for a geographic separation of basalts from andesites. TVZ is a rifted arc, but its segmented nature, high thermal flux and voluminous rhyolitic volcanism make it unique on Earth.

Jan 1, 1995

By T. Patten

Inter-Mountain Labs, IML, performed a study comparing mining waste rock sample analysis by Net Carbonate Value (NCV) and Modified Sobek acid-base accounting procedures. The study looked at 468 waste rock samples and compared the data for Neutralization Potential (NP), Acid Generation Potential (AGP), Net Neutralization Potential (NNP), and the ratio of NP/AGP. The study found that a majority of the samples were below 50 Tons CaCO3/kTons. This subset of ?low-level? samples was also examined separately for Acid Base Accounting parameters. The analysis compared the NCV procedures to the Modified Sobek procedures and concludes that the NCV procedures are as protective of the environment as Modified Sobek procedures.

Feb 27, 2013

By K. L. Bainbridge

This report describes the results of a study to determine which types of, and to what extent, mining wastes can contaminate groundwater through leaching of acid-forming or potentially toxic constituents. The primary focus of this study was on coal mining wastes, especially overburden spoils and preparation plant refuse. In addition, the potential for contamination by leachates from clean coal stockpiles was also examined. The study approach included investigation of (a) the amounts and geographic locations of mining wastes in the United States; (b) the chemical character of mining wastes, especially with regard to potentially acid-firming or toxic constituents; and (c) the extent to which acid and/or toxic components are leached from mining wastes by rainwater. To evaluate the leachability of coal wastes, a laboratory waste leaching method was developed during this study to specifically simulate the leaching process over a long-term. Waste samples collected during this study were also leached by the EPA extraction procedure and ASTM waste leaching method. Results of the three leach test methods were compared to evaluate their relative capabilities to predict the leachability of mining wastes.

Jan 1, 1980

By A. Deepatana

Bioleaching of nickel laterite ores is based on the use of heterotrophic fungi organisms and their metabolites (organic acids) to dissolve nickel and cobalt from oxide minerals to form metal-organic complexes. Metal recovery from this process using an aminophosphonic acid based chelating resin (Purolite S950) was investigated as a function of metal concentrations, complexing agent including citric, dL-malic and lactic acids. Batch adsorptions were conducted using synthetic leachate solutions of nickel and cobalt with concentrations from 15 to 2000 mg/L prepared in 0.01 and 0.1 M organic acids. Adsorption equilibrium data were interpreted using the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Kagner-Radushkevich (DKR) models. The results showed that equilibrium adsorption data for nickel-organic complexes followed the Freundlich model and those for cobalt agreed with the Langmuir model. It was observed that the maximum adsorption capacities of nickel and cobalt were 3.26 and 10.48 mg/g resins respectively. These were achieved in metal complexes prepared from 0.01 M lactic acid. Metal elution was conducted using 2 M nitric acid. High metal recoveries were achieved from low metal concentrations but were found to decrease with increasing metal concentration. The results suggest that effective recovery of nickel and cobalt from low concentration of metals, such as those generated from bioleaching operations, can be achieved suitably using chelating resins.

Jan 1, 2006

By A. D. Davis, C. J. Webb, C. S. Johnson

The Belle Eldridge Mine is an inactive lead-zinc mine in Spruce Gulch south of Deadwood, South Dakota. Acidic mine drainage (AMD) produced at the site drains into Spruce Creek, a tributary of Whitewood Creek. The site is on U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property. Extensive fieldwork was done at the Belle Eldridge Mine through the cooperation of the BLM and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The site was extensively mapped to identify physical and environmental hazards such as tailings, waste rock, collapsed buildings, adits and workings. An exhaustive search of the historical records of the Belle Eldridge Mine was conducted. Maps of the under-ground workings of the Belle Eldridge dating from the 1930’s and 1940’s were found. The maps were used to correlate currently collapsed features to old adits and tunnels. Using hand corers and a portable drill rig, waste rock, tailings and soil core samples were collected and depth to bedrock was determined and the total volume of waste and tailings pile were determined. Related work examined the hydrology of the site. The site is very complex hydrogeologically. Numerous underground and surface workings and tunnels add to the complexity. Several seeps are located at the site, one of which is producing AMD. Recharge to the site was studied, and a 100-year flood plain map was produced.

Jan 1, 2000

By Pedro Vargas Gálvez

El presente texto señala la metodología de selección del software de mantenimiento respecto a este mismo y a la Planta. Para ello, se detalla las condiciones que deberán considerarse en la Organización de Mantenimiento y la aplicación del Software de Mantenimiento MP2 a una empresa. Asimismo, se presenta el Plan de Implantación, los inconvenientes que se han encontrado así como los resultados obtenidos por la utilización del Software MP2.

May 25, 1998

By John Ward Smith

Dawsonite-bearing oil shale of Colorado's Green River formation offers a unique and vast (more than 5.9 Gt of A120 j) resource of easily extractable alumina. The processing methods required by the thermal reactions of dawsonite and its oil-shale carrier also require production of shale oil, soda ash, and nahcolite as marketable coproducts. These production methods are presented. The alumina production process is contrasted with the Bayer process to describe technical advantages of extraction of alumina from oil shale which may offset the problems associated with processing a relatively lean ore. While alumina production from oil shale requires development of new technology, the technical problems appear solvable. Only the political problems arising from the now onerous and completely unnecessary federal oil-shale withdrawal appear less solvable.

Jan 1, 1982