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By E. E. Malouf

Leaching is rapidly becoming an important adjunct to mining operations. A summary of various leaching operations is presented showing the role of these activities to the successful operation of the mining venture. The summary will include recent developments in dump, heap, and in situ leaching of copper and uranium ores. It will include a discussion on the expanding impact of industrial and academic research on leaching as a mining tool, showing the interplay of chemical kinetics and biogenic activity.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. H. Waller, C. H. Brehaut

At the Jeffrey mine of Canadian Johns-Manville Co. in Asbestos, Que., automatic batched concrete from surface is placed underground pneumatically for distances of 2500 ft directly into forms or to a second placer for greater distances, through 6-in. pipe of high carbon steel. The use of Celite C-4-C in addition to the usual aggregates achieves greater compressive strengths, lowers cost, reduces segregation, and improves workability and placeability results. Each year 25,000 cu yd of concrete are placed without interrupting production and development work in the mine, making possible a cheaper concrete that can be poured wherever and whenever it is needed. In about 90 pct of the underground openings in the Jeffrey mine concrete is necessary to preserve them in their original sizes and shapes for production. In the remaining 5 pct, the greater portion is united with or without steel support. When large quantities of concrete were forecast for underground use at the Jeffrey mine, preliminary and first hand information regarding pneumatic placing was acquired from articles by Bernhardt and Swanson and visits to their respective mines.

Apr 1, 1956

By Johanna I. Wong, R. John Caulfield, Victor S. Romero

The existing Hetch Hetchy water system, owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), serves 2.4 million people within the San Francisco Bay Area. The system has existing 1920s-era pipelines crossing under the Bay that are vulnerable to seismic damage from the nearby San Andreas and Hayward fault zones. The SFPUC plans to replace the pipelines with the first TBM-driven tunnel underneath the San Francisco Bay. The tunnel will be constructed using an Earth Pressure Balance machine. The new tunnel will pass under environmentally sensitive habitats and will be approximately eight kilometers (five miles) long with no intermediate shafts. The project challenges will include tunneling through a prominent buried bedrock ridge that transects the alignment and through soft soils under the Bay. Seismic performance criteria include maintaining service flows after a large earthquake on one of the active faults in close proximity to the project site.

Jan 1, 2007

By Florian Kongoli

The production of a homogeneous self-fluxing sinter is an important step in iron making processes. A good sinler should have good permeability and reducibility and has to keep those characteristics for a certain time. An early melt down of the sinter in the blast furnace, where its solid state reduction is essential, would cause many problems such as low permeability and reductibility. Nevertheless, the important factors that influence these characteristics, such as the chemistry of the sinter and the fluxing effect during sintering and sinter reduction conditions have not yet been clarified, In today's new reality where many new minor components such as Al2O3 and MgO enter to the sinter through raw materials, the quantification of the fluxing effects during sintering becomes even more important. In this work, the liquidus surface and phase relations of the sinter primary melts in the CaO-FeO-Fe203-Si02 system at sintering conditions have been quantified. The fluxing effect of oxygen potential, Al2O3 and MgO has also been quantified by the means of some practical diagrams that can directly help the optimization of the sintering processes.

Jan 1, 2003

By M. R. J. Wyllie, P. F. Southwick

The importance of the so-called "dirty sand" or "conductive solids" problem in electric log interpretation was first stressed in a paper presented in 1949. Since that time the problem has been generally recognized as a most serious one. Several research papers bearing on the theory of the effects of clay contaminants on reservoir rock resistivities have appeared. These papers, while contributing to the theory of the problem, have not offered any practical solution. In the present paper an experimental investigation has been made of the effects of ion-exchange materials on the electrical properties of natural and synthetic porous media. The method used to make synthetic dirty sands is entirely novel and has proved a valuable guide to a better understanding of the properties of dirty sands generally. The effects of ion-exchange materials on both the resistivity and self potential (S.P.) logs have been examined. From the data obtained it has been possible to formulate a simple, practical method whereby electrical logs of dirty sands can be qualitatively interpreted. The method is in all essentials identical to that presently in use for interpreting clean sands. New light has also been thrown on the significance of the term formation factor when it is applied to dirty sands. In 1949 a paper was presented1 which showed that the presence of so-called "conductive solids" introduced considerable complexities into the analysis of the resistivities of dirty sands, i.e., permeable formations containing clay. The reduction of the self potential (S.P.) resulting from the presence of interlaminated shale or interstitial clay in permeable formations has been discussed by Doll.2,3 Noteworthy papers which dilate further upon the effects of shale and clay on the resistivity of permeable formations are those of deWitte,4,5 Berg,6 Wyllie,7 and most recently, Winsauer and McCardell.8 The last authors have endeavored to elucidate the chemistry of the resistivity phenomena in dirty sands in terms of an adsorption hypothesis. Specifically, they attribute the electrolytic conductivity of shales and clays within a permeable formation to an ionic double-layer effect and, for this reason, regard the term "conductive solids" as a misleading one. Some consideration has been given to the effect of dirty sands on the S.P. by Wyllie7 and by McCardell, Winsauer and Williams." Published work to date has cast light only on certain theoretical aspects of the problems created by the presence of clays and shales within permeable formations. One object of this paper is to describe experiments which serve to elucidate further the theory of the dirty sand problem and particularly the significance of the term "formation factor" as applied to dirty

Jan 1, 1955

By Hermsdorf, Richard P. E.

AMONG the newer lead smelting and refining plants of the country is that of the United States Metals Refining Co., at Carteret, N. J. Not only is the technical practice here modern and efficient, but exceptional care is taken to assure healthful operating conditions for the employees. One large building houses the entire department, which includes, as its chief units, one reverberatory smelting furnace, one blast furnace, two softening furnaces, one utility reverberatory furnace, two Faber du Faur retorts, five 120-ton kettles, three 60-ton antimouial lead kettles, and one 5-ton kettle for experimental purposes. There is a 10-ton overhead crane in the kettle aisle, which is also used for shipping lead. Other auxiliary equipment is referred to in the outline of operations. A general plan of the plant is shown in Fig. 2, and a general view in Fig. 1. Primary smelting operations are conducted in a 30 by 11-ft. reverberatory furnace with bottom, roof, and upper walls of clay brick, magnesite

Jan 1, 1934

By H. Blaha, H. Wagner

"Room and pillar workings in salt mines are preferred sites for underground waste disposal. A critical issue in selecting waste disposal sites is long-term behaviour of such workings. The long-term behaviour of salt pillars is controlled by the pillar geometry, i.e. the height, width and length of pillars and the level of pillar stress. The latter has a strong influence on creep characteristics of salt pillars whereas the width to height ratio of salt pillars determines the strength of pillars and the deformation characteristics of salt pillars.Three different regimes of pillar creep behaviour of salt pillars can be distinguished, namely a stress level below which the rate of creep approaches a value of zero, a stress range where the rate of creep is constant and finally a stress level above which the rate of creep accelerates. Long-term stability of room and pillar workings can be assured only when the pillar stress level falls within the first stress regime. Strength and creep tests on model salt pillars have shown that at stress levels below 40% of pillar strength the rate of creep approaches a value of zero, between stress levels of 40% and 65% the rate of creep is constant but increases with stress level. Above pillar stress levels of 65% the rate of creep accelerates.Long-term measurements of pillar deformation and surface subsidence above relatively shallow room and pillar workings in salt mines have confirmed these observations. Long-term strength of salt was found that be between 60% and 65% of short term strength. The evaluation of salt pillar behaviour on the basis of critical pillar stress levels was found to be superior to the traditional factor of safety concept because it allows relating pillar deformation measurements to actual pillar conditions. The approach described in the paper was used successfully to evaluate the stability of room and pillar workings in a salt mine and to design strategies to stabilise critical pillar workings."

Jan 1, 2015

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Jan 1, 1938

Batterham and Algie began their paper on: `The role of technology in the minerals industry' (1995) by noting that while: it is often stated that innovation is central to the economic survival of mining and minerals processing in the face of global competition, .. . technology is often far from a core strategy in our industry. This point is correct. Throughout the world, as a broad generalisation, mining companies do not value technology development as a principal means of gaining competitive advantage. It is important to understand why this is the case. Batterham and Algie address this question by making distinctions between innovation, technology and research. They note that while: all successful (mining) companies are good at innovation . . . that innovation can proceed without any research and development and that it is innovation that generates the competitive advantage, not research and development per se. In this paper we accept these arguments. However, our focus is somewhat different. Whereas Batterham and Algie took a mining company's perspective on the technologies of mining and processing, we take a broader view of the opportunities for technology development for company Australia but, in order to focus the argument, we restrict our discussion to the area of mining (rather than processing); we focus particularly on mining systems and mining equipment. We begin by looking at the motivation of companies operating in any industrial sector to invest in research and development. Figure 1 recognises four levels of industrial maturity. For companies in the embryonic and growth stages R&D often is essential to initiating and developing the business. Mining, on the other hand, is a mature industry. In mature industries the conventional roles for R&D are to reduce costs, to extend product differentiation, or to develop new technology with the aim of rejuvenating the business. Next we ask whether these general-industry arguments apply to the mining industry. If they do then the mining industry should value R&D more highly; after all cost reductions and business rejuvenation are goals that are worth achieving. On the other hand if, for whatever reason, these general arguments do not apply to mining then this may lead the mining industry to invest only modestly, or not at all, in R&D. In this event, while this may be a rational decision for the mining industry, it may not be in the best interest of a nation like Australia where revenues from the sale of mineral products represent an important part of the country's economy.

Jan 1, 1997

By Charles C. Peterson, Ronald E. Enstrom

Significant improvements have been made in the ursine systern for epitaxial vapor gvowtlz of Gds. The electron concentration has been reduced to below 1015 cm-3 with electron-mobility values as high as 7200 sq on per v-sec at 30PK and 60,000 sq cw7 per v-sec at 77°K. These high-purity layers have been successfully gvown on n&apos; layers with thicknesses as snzall as 1 p and as large as 125 p. Furthermore, high-purity layers have been incorporated into an structure without degradation of electrical properties. Different impurity gradients at the n&apos; to n interface were achieved. Using these structures, Gunn oscillators have been operated at frequencies as low as 0.4 GHz and as high as 40 GHz, which equals the highest valzle yet reported. The frequencies nleasured are in reasonable apeenlent with those calculated fron7 the n-layer widths and the transit times. CW operatiolz has been achieved from 3 to 20 GHz. In Gunn devices for >40 GHz operation (i.e., witk an n-layer tkickness below 2.5p), the n layer has been generally too pure to permit oscillations to occuv. ThE mechanism of the Gunn oscillator&apos; is now generally understood.2-5 Electron transfer from the (000) minimum to the ( 100) minima leads to a voltage-controlled negative resistance, which results in the formation of domains of high and low electric fields which travel through the crystal with a characteristic velocity of about 107 cm per sec. When a constant voltage is applied to the sample, this domain motion generaliy leads to oscillations at the transit time frequency, fT = 107/L, where L is the thickness of the active n layer.&apos; In this case, a single high-field domain is nucleated at the cathode and grows until it reaches the anode, where it is absorbed; a new domain then forms at the cathode.5 There are related modes of oscillation of the same device in which a tuned circuit causes a periodic variation of the voltage across the device. The frequency then may be either above or below fT. It has been shown that oscillations will occur when n • L 2 1012 cm"2, where n is the carrier concentration in the active region. At lower doping densities, 10" 5 n . L 5 lo&apos;&apos;, the doping is said to be subcritical for oscillation and the description of the device operation changes since the domains become comparable in thickness to the device thickness, L. Nevertheless, such devices have been found to be "active" and, in fact, are useful as amplifiers.778 For CW operation, one wishes to minimize the power dissipation, which is related to the electric field, E, and the low-field resistivity, p. Below threshold, the power dissipation density is approximately Typically, at threshold where E -- 3 x 103 v per cm, the dissipation density is 107/p watts per cu cm, p in ohm-cm. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide good conduction of the heat generated in the active region. The temperature rise, AT, across the active layer of a sandwich structure, with a heat sink on one side, is given by AT = (E&apos;/P)(L~/~~) where it is assumed that the thermal conductivity, u, and resistivity, p, of GaAs do not vary appreciably over the range of temperature and electric fields existing in the layer. This expression shows that, subject to maintaining an appropriate (n . L) product, CW operation is favored by a higher resistivity, a lower threshold field, and a thinner device. The above device requirements place some severe restrictions on the materials to be used, especially for high-frequency (>10 GHz) operation. Here, it is necessary to prepare very thin (<10 µ) layers of GaAs, in a state of high purity (-1 ohm-cm), complete with very low-resistance ohmic contacts. Problems of handling such thin and fragile samples become inereasingly severe as the frequency is raised. Furthermore, while good low-resistance ohmic contacts are easily applied to low-resistivity GaAs, contacting difficulties are encountered for these higher-resistivity materials.

Jan 1, 1968

By W. B. Lilienthal

A considerable saving in time and money has been effected by use of a specially designed stainless steel container for laboratory drilling mud test work. This container involves use of a standard tall-form stainless steel beaker for service in which the mud sample is heated to an elevated temperature and maintained there for protracted periods of time, while undergoing agitation to facilitate mixing of mud components. Agitation is accomplished by rotating the filled containers on motor-driven rollers within an oven. Several porcelain balls are generally placed in the containers to further improve agitation. Soft glass containers (.Mason jars) were used in this service in early work, and were found to be unsuitable for the following reasons: 1. Poor resistance to thermal shock. 2. Containers could withstand only relatively low pressures. 3. Accidental breakage in handling. 4. Chemical deterioration and subsequent mud contamination from reaction of high pH muds with the glass at elevated temperatures. Pyrex containers were also considered, but, inasmuch as they provided improvement only in items 1 and 4 listed above the additional cost was not believed to be justified. A scale drawing of the container is shown in the figure illustrating details in cross-section. A pressed stainless steel lid was fabricated to match the rolled edge of the beaker

Jan 1, 1950

By George W. Lower, Robert B. Booth

The use of cyanides in the extraction of gold and silver is well known1 Such extractions employ concentrations of cyanide in the range of 0.02-0.25% sodium cyanide equivalent in leaching cycles of 24-48 hr and frequently longer. Copper minerals, even though minor components of precious metal ores, dissolve in these cyanide leaching solutions, consume cyanide, cause fouling of mill solutions, and thus interfere with the precipitation and recovery of gold.2,3,4 This paper presents a summary of laboratory investigations on the use of cyanide solutions as extractants for copper from various copper-bearing ore fractions. In view of the metal contents involved, it will be apparent that larger quantities of cyanide are required to extract copper than for the extraction of precious metals. In cyanide solutions of concentrations generally favorable to copper extraction, sulfide and oxide copper minerals were found to dissolve rapidly at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

Jan 11, 1965

By Noris Costa

La posibilidad de construir presas hechas con los propios relaves que van a ser contenidos posteriormente, es una alternativa común en la minería. Sin embargo, durante el levantamiento histórico de estas estructuras, se identifican diversas rupturas, liberando las masas contenidas en las presas y contaminando el medio ambiente. En este sentido, el presente trabajo señala los geoindicadores como herramientas de monitoreo de presas de relaves -en tanto el estudio de estas características ha posibilitado discusiones al respecto de la seguridad de estas estructuras, así como propuestas de medidas de control.

Sep 9, 2007

By R. F. Campbell, R. F. Miller

SIXTEEN steels containing different combinations of chromium and molybdenum, in amounts up to 5 per cent of each element, were examined for microstructure and hardness after air cooling and after furnace cooling from suitable austenitizing temper- [ ] atures. Diagrams summarizing the structures and hardness resulting from these two cooling rates are presented (Figs. 3, 4, 7).† Data were also obtained on the influence of these two elements, individually and in combination, on the depth 0f decarburization observed after furnace cooling (Fig. 8). COMPOSITION OF MATERIAL The chemical composition of the steels investigated is given in Table I. The plain carbon steel was made in a 25-ton Heroult electric-arc furnace, while the alloy steels were made in a 4.5-ton Ajax-Northrup elec- [ ] tric induction furnace. The cast ingots were hot-rolled to I.75-in. bars. AIR-COOLED SERIES The I.75-in. bars were forged to flat plates, 0.25 in. thick, from which specimens 0.5 in. wide by 2 in. long were cut. The specimens were pretreated to improve their homogeneity by heating to I830°F. (1000°C.) for 20 min. and oil quenching. They were then reheated to I740°F. (950°C.) for one hour and air-cooled, after

Jan 1, 1941

By S. Bargigli, S. Ulgiati, M. Raugei, F. Cherubini

Metallic magnesium is mostly used in lightweight alloys in order to decrease fuel consumption in automotive applications. Several different production processes are currently used worldwide, and the magnesium production scenario is changing rapidly, with Chinese production increasingly dominating the world market. For the purpose of this paper, a novel approach to Life Cycle Assessment was applied, in which Material Flow Accounting and energy-based methods (Embodied Energy, Exergy and Emergy Analyses) are integrated and complemented, with a detailed description of the environmental hazards associated with emissions from all the different processes.

Jan 1, 2005

By D. Groenveld, M. Rozou

"Recent trends move towards automation, smart sensors, internet of things, powerful DCS, and more data. Are those trends already utilized in a real time production environment? Today operators still have to monitor several complex processes at the same time and predict their behavior based on an overwhelming amount of data available.The fact of the operator being overloaded and humans being unable to process multivariable problems shows the need of a tool merging essential data and providing consistent, sound decisions for long-term profitability.This paper shows a successful execution of ABB’s process improvement services in Aitik (Boliden SA), a copper mine located in Sweden. Soft sensors, fuzzy rule blocks and model predictive control were seamlessly integrated in the control system of the grinding area, resulting in proper control of mill loads and particle size without violation of any constraints.INTRODUCTIONDepending on the ore characteristics and the targeted plant capacity, the design of the grinding circuit may vary significantly. Typically, the circuit consists of several mills (rod, ball, SAG, AG) in series and/or parallel with a number of classifiers and sumps at appropriate locations. The goal of the grinding section is to reduce the ore particle size to a level that enables efficient separation between gangue and precious metals in the subsiding processing step. The trade-off between quality and quantity has to be made. It is also crucial to execute this process step at the lowest possible energy and grinding media consumption.An optimal grinding process controller must manage to maintain a given fresh feed level while keeping the product size within a given range without violating any constraints such as power, torque or load limits. To accomplish the aforementioned, it is necessary to manipulate the ore feed rate, water feed rate and the mill speed. The most significant disturbances adding another degree of complexity to this control problem are ore hardness and the amount of circulating load."

Jan 1, 2016

By Carlos Soldi S

Dadoel avance de la tecnología en el desarrollo de las operaciones de la industria minera, es necesaria la adopción de métodos de minado que exigen diversos grados de mecanización en la operación subterránea. En esta perspectiva, las excavaciones subterráneas de una mina pueden perder el carácter temporal del pasado. Para evitar alguna desestabilización, se ha considerado el método de Mecánica de rocas, cuya técnica es un intento de racionalizar y sistematizar la experiencia adquirida en excavaciones subterráneas con la finalidad de explicar los fenómenos observados en la práctica y así ofrecer alternativas de solución a los problemas de estabilidad que se presentan con mayor frecuencia.

Nov 8, 1982

By Jalna R. Zatko

The Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, has developed a novel method of flocculation dewatering of phosphatic clay wastes using polyethylene oxide as the flocculant. Research was conducted to determine whether ethylene oxide gas was present in the air in the vicinity of disposed waste materials which had been flocculated with polyethylene oxide. Samples of clay waste materials containing polyethylene oxide were prepared in stoppered glass bottles in simulated disposal environments. Gaseous samples, removed over a 75-day period using an airtight syringe, were injected into a gas chromatograph that was capable of separating ethylene oxide from air. The presence of ethylene oxide gas was not detected in any sample. To determine possible degradation products of polyethylene oxide, the properties and reactions of ethylene oxide and its polymers were reviewed. Based upon the literature survey and experimental study, it was concluded that adverse environmental effects were not likely to result from the use of polyethylene oxide for flocculating phosphatic clay waste products.

Jan 1, 1980

By J. Y. Kim, S. L. Chryssoulis

Lead ions that originate from galena during the processing of complex sulfide ores migrate onto the surfaces of sphalerite and iron sulfide minerals. This results in poor selectivity during differential flotation. Generally, in sulfide ore processing, the lead-activated minerals float in the Cu/Pb rougher circuit. The surface lead complicates the zinc flotation circuit by lowering the concentrate grade. The effect of lead in the differential flotation of sphalerite from Cu-Pb-Zu and Pb-Zu ores is discussed. Plant and laboratory-test data are interpreted by determining the surface compositions of individual grains of sphalerite and iron sulfide particles. For the first time, surface compositions were determined by using laser-ionization mass spectrometry (LIMS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Cationic and cationic species on the surface were analyzed to elucidate the phenomena. It was proven that these new techniques are very useful in understanding the basic mechanisms of a sulfide mineral-flotation system.

Jan 1, 1997

By C. Pritchard

John Marks said in his acceptance of the Hartman Award in 2008, "I guess that without the occasional complaint, your mine is probably over-ventilated" (Marks, 2008). Miners are seldom in this situation and spend much of the time trying to find enough air to keep an operation running. With examination, there are usually changes that can be made to increase the efficiency of ventilation systems. Mine ventilation air is a costly commodity, especially by the time it has been heated or cooled and moved to the bottom of the shaft and through the mine airways. Modifications that result in surplus mine ventilation air could bring financial and environmental benefits. Some issues mine operators have needed to address recently are increased airflow requirements to dilute diesel particulates in metal and nonmetal mines, to ventilate reserves that are deeper, hotter, and further away from fans and shafts, and to meet demands from increased production. This paper discusses successful methods to find additional usable air when there is no extra ventilation capacity. Most of the options presented in this paper are useful for metal/ nonmetal operations but some may be applicable to coal as well.

Jan 1, 2010