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By J. S. Murty

In this paper, a report is given of studies undertaken in a laboratory rod mill to obtain the optimum conditions for the desired particle size distribution for long-distance transportation of coal through slurry pipelines.

Jan 1, 1987

By M. King Hubbert

In 1856 Henry Darcy described in an appendix to his book, Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon, a series of experiments on the downward flow of water through filter sands, whereby it was established that the rate of flow is given by the equation: q= - K(h2- h2)/I1 in which q is the volume of water crossing unit area in unit time, I is the thickness of the sand, h1 and h2 the heights above a reference level of the water in manometers terminated above and below the sand, respectively, and K a factor of proportionality. This relationship, appropriately, soon became known as Darcy's law. Subsequently many separate attempts have been made to give Darcy's empirical expression a more general physical fornzulation, with the result that .so many mutually inconsistent expressions of what is purported to he Darcy's law have appeared in published literature that sight has often been lost of Darcy's own work and of its significance. In the present paper, therefore, it shall be our purpose to reinform ourselves upon what Darcy himself did, and then to determine the meaning of his results when expressed explicitly in terms of the pertinent physical variables involved. This will be done first by the empirical method used by Darcy himself, and then by direct derivation from the Navier-Stokes equation of motion of viscous fluids. We find in this manner that: q = (N4(p/p)[g - (l/p) gradPI = WE, is a physical expression for Darcy's law, which is valid for liquids generally, and for gases at pressures higher than about 20 atmospheres. Here N is a shape factor and d a characteristic length of the pore structure of the solid, p and IL are the density and viscosity of the fluid, a = (Nd2)(pip) is the volume conductivity of the system, and E = [g - (l/p) grad p] is the impelling force per unit mass acting upon the fluid. It is found also that Darcy's law is valid only for flow velocities such that the inertial forces are negligible as compared with those arising from viscosity. In general, three-dimensional space there exist two superposed physical fields: a field of force of charucteristic vector E, and a field of flow of vector q. The force field is more general than the flow field since it has values in all space capable of being occupied by the fluid. So long as the fluid density is constant or is a function of the pressure only, curl E = 0, E = - grad F where F = gz + dp/p The field of flow, independently of the force field, must satisfy the conservation of mom, leading to the equation of continuity div pq = — f ap/at , where f is the porosity, und t is the time. For steady rnotion ap/at = 0. and div pq = 0 .

Jan 1, 1957

By C Chambers

"AustraliaÆs mining sector faces challenges to its competitiveness; operating costs are being adversely affected as a result of volatile commodity prices and growing international market pressures.Diesel fuel-generated power used in typical remote mining projects is generally reliable and quick-to-deploy; however it is ongoing expensive operating cost.Many mines and communities in remote locations source electricity from diesel generation, and often pay over $300/MWh in fuel and carbon only (i.e. excluding CAPEX). These costs are expected to rise over time and are vulnerable to price shock events or supply chain interruptions in international markets.Solar photovoltaic (PV) and other renewables can be integrated with existing diesel units to provide a highly reliable power supply. Such renewables now provide a cheaper source of electricity while maintaining the mining industryÆs stringent reliability requirements; some renewables are now cheaper than diesel power ù supplying electricity at approximately $226/MWh.Also, significant funding and concessional rate financing have recently become available to support the development of remote solar-diesel (or solar-wind-diesel) hybrid systems, including: up to $2.2 billion of as-yet uncommitted grants through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and is now seeking mining industry partners, up to $10 billion of concessional financing for emerging renewable technologies through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and this commences July 2013, ongoing revenue support through the Renewable Energy Target scheme, and other regional support programs administered by various governments.This paper explores: the business case for renewables - what applications and when to consider them, the potential operating cost savings if solar was integrated, the technical challenges and common pitfalls, and how to overcome them, and the upfront investment costs and whether the site is eligible for Government subsidy programs.CITATION:Chambers, C, 2013. Off-grid solar in the mining sector - Can renewable energy reduce your operating costs?, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013, pp 71-85 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 15, 2013

Consolidation Coal Co. is solving the abrasion problem and cutting maintenance costs at its Georgetown preparation plant by using ceramic alumina tiles from The Carborundum Co. The Georgetown complex handles the output of four deep mines and three strip mines in the Cadiz, Ohio, area-washing about 73 000 tons (80,000 st) weekly. Plant superintendent Duke Zinko is using wear-resistant Dura-frax® tiles in several applications, replacing wear plates, profile rubber, and other materials he has tried over the years.

Jan 7, 1979

By W. J. Weymark

"The Gregg River project is located 40 kilometres southwest of Hinton, Alberta, adjacent to and east of Jasper National Park. This metallurgical coal mine has been developed as a joint venture between Gregg River Coal Ltd. (a subsidiary company of Mana/ta Coal Ltd.) and seven Japanese companies. This 200-million dollar project consists of a conventional truckshovel open-pit operation and a coal preparation plant rated at 2.14 million tonnes of clean coal per year. Mining operations started in October 1982 with plant start-up following in April 1983. Introduction This paper is an overview and update of the Gregg River project, a metallurgical coal mine being developed as a joint venture between Gregg River Coal Ltd. (a subsidiary of Manalta Coal Ltd.) and seven Japanese companies. The Gregg River Coal leases cover 3440 hectares and are located 40 kilometres south of Hinton, Alberta, adjacent to and north of Cardinal River Coal Mine (Fig. 1). This 200-million dollar project consists of a conventional truck-shovel operation and a coal preparation plant rated at 2.14 million tonnes of clean coal per year. A total of 31.5 million tonnes of clean metallurgical coal will be sold to the Japanese over a fifteen-year term. At present, mining operations are ahead of schedule and the plant started up on schedule in April 1983. Access and Climate An all-weather road, Highway 40, connects the minesite with Hinton (the nearest commercial centre) and a Canadian National Railway (C.N.R.) spur line connects the minesite with the C.N.R. main line in Edson. Hinton is accessible by road chartered airline and rail. ' ~h~ rug~ed and varied topography in the area creates large vanations m temperature and precipitation over short distances. The region is characterized by precipitation throughout the year long cold winters and short cool summers. The mean temperatur~ of the area range from a low of -14°C in January, the coldest month, to a high of 12°C in July, the warmest month. Long-term precipitation data indicates a mean yearly precipitation of 870 mm of which 620Jo occurs during the summer months."

Jan 1, 1985

By M. C. Malamphy

A general description of the activities and results of bauxite investigation by the Bureau of Mines at its bauxite project in saline and Pulaski Counties, Ark., has been given in Report of Investigations 4251. The factual data obtained during the project are reported in a series of Reports of Investigation beginning with No. 4251, of which this is the eleventh. The-data are accompanied by maps showing the location of holes drilled and the deposits developed. Each area upon which work was done is reported by half townships. Each bauxite deposit investigated was assigned a name and a number for ready reference and identification, and its location and name are shown on the appropriate half-township map. The description of each halt township is followed by a description of each deposit developed in that halt township. The 14 halt-township maps and 77 detail maps of the bauxite deposits in this series at reports give the locations and numbers of all the holes drilled on the project, except the deep holes drilled to test the geophysical anomalies. The locations of those holes show on figure 13 in volume 1. The descriptions of the deposits developed are followed by complete detailed logs of the drill holes. Many of the widely spaced exploratory holes did not discover bauxite of minable thickness and grade. The pertinent information obtained tram the widely spaced exploratory drill holes has been summarized and tabulated, and a table for each halt township is given with the discussion of that area.

Jan 1, 1948

By R. D. Carnahan, J. E. White

ThE use of strain gages in the measurement of microplastic behavior of materials is well-known.'-3 Recently it has been suggested that similar techniques might be useful for determining stress relaation. It is the purpose of this report to comment on the use of strain gages in the measurement of strains in the vicinity of 10"6. We will also discuss observations of an anomalous anelastic behavior apparently associated with small temperature changes, which accompanies the unload portion of a load-unload microstrain test. The key to successful strain determinations at levels below 1 pin. per in. is a good gage-mounting technique and either precise ambient temperature control or a set of matched temperature-compensated gages. The importance of good mounting cannot be overemphasized, for example, as in the use of Eastman 910 contact cement. If the cement layer is not sufficiently thin and properly hardened, it is possible to observe anomalous negative stresses when small loads are removed, which relax back to zero in an orderly way with time. Such anomalous behavior, thought to be due to gage bonding, has been reported in microstrain experiments by Thomas and verbach' who observed a negative strain of -3 X lo-' upon unloading. This kind of behavior severely limits the over-all strain sensitivity which can be achieved in such tests. The relaxation of a small positive strain subsequent to unloading in a load-unload experiment is quite normal, however, and is to be expected. The occurrence of an apparent negative strain is also encountered in those instances where the elasticity of the bonding cement is exceeded—for example 0.5 pct or 5000 pin. for cured Eastman 910. An elastic strain of this magnitude can be encountered during load-unload type testing particularly in higher-strength materials (-150,000 yield strength). During the course of microplasticity studies on pure nickel and nickel alloys,' the authors have made the following observation. In a four-point bending test, two active gages are mounted one on each side of the beam as arms R1 and R z of a conventional strain-gage bridge circuit shown in Fig. l(a). This technique provides two advantages: the sensitivity is doubled because R1 and Rz experience opposite strains and temperature compensation is provided automatically because any ambient temperature change would cause both gages to see a strain of like sign whose signals would cancel in the circuit.

Jan 1, 1964

By Michel L. Bilodeau

The objective of delineation drilling is to provide a data base for the tonnage and grade estimates required to evaluate the economics of mine development. As drilling information is accumulated, geological risk is reduced and more reliable estimates of tonnage and grade are obtained. Investment in drilling is justified by the benefits which result from improving the reliability of the economic criteria evaluated. These benefits are subject to diminishing returns, i.e. as drilling information is accumulated the reliability of the economic criteria evaluated is improved but at a decreasing rate. At the same time, costs are incurred -- the direct investment cost associated with additional drilling and the time cost of delaying possible production revenues. The economic sampling limit is de- fined by the point at which the marginal benefits from drilling investment just balance the marginal costs. The paper describes the formulation of an economic model to optimize investment in delineation drilling. The model is applied to a simulated mineral deposit to illustrate the economic effects of a sequential drilling program.

Jan 1, 1977

The American Federation of Labor adopted 'the following resolution at its Atlantic City convention: "WHEREAS, scientific research and the technical application of results of research from a fundamental basis upon which the development of our industries, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and others must rest; and WHEREAS, the productivity of industry is greatly increased by the technical application of the results of scientific research in physics, chemistry, biology; and geology, in engineering and "agriculture, and related sciences; and the health and well-being not only of the workers but, of the whole population as well, are dependent upon advances in medicine and sanitation; so that the value of scientific advancement to the welfare of the nation is many times greater than the cost of the necessary research; and WHEREAS, the increased productivity of industry resulting from scientific research is a most potent factor in the ever-increasing struggle of the workers to raise their, standards of living, and the importance of this factor must steadily increase since there is a limit beyond which the average standard of living of the whole population cannot progress by the usual methods of re-adjustment, which limit can only be raised by research and the utilization of the results of research in industry;. and

Jan 8, 1919

By David J. Selleck, Eugene P. Pfleider

9.61. Introduction. Open pit mining methods produce more than 80% of all raw materials today in the United States. Much of this comes either from properties that formerly employed underground methods and were converted to open pit or from mines that ultimately must go underground when the economic stripping limit is reached. Generally the ores are transported over large vertical distances and techniques have been developed to do this economically. One approach is to combine conventional surface trucking, over relatively level roads, with the use of gravity and underground facilities. There are various modifications, depending upon the character of the orebody and the topography. Several schemes, as used in Sweden, Canada, and the United States, merit describing. One of the critical problems involved in the transference of ores from surface to underground is that of flow of bulk solids. Must it be crushed? Will it hang up in the transfer? What size and inclination of ore pass are required. How is the ore best fed onto the transporting device underground? As an example, the planning engineers for the Carol Project of the Iron Ore Company of Canada faced these problems in making their designs for the production and transportation of some 55,000 tpd from their Smallwood Mine in Labrador. Other operations, facing somewhat similar conditions, used other approaches of interest. This chapter describes some of the factors involved in the design, construction, and operation of a combination surface underground transportation system as applied to open pit mining operations. 9.62. Tunnel-Ore Pass Systems. The type, shape, dip, and size of the orebody, as well as the surface topographic features, generally estab-

Jan 1, 1968

By Peter W. Lipman

In the Rocky Mountain region, variations in Tertiary mineralization correlate with changes in tectonic setting and associated igneous activity that can largely be related to tectonics along the west boundary of the American plate. Successive settings include compressional tectonics and associated continental-arc igneous activity; transitional igneous types associated with intra- and back-arc extension; and basaltic or bimodal basalt-rhyolite assemblages associated with Basin and Range extension in- ward of a growing transform boundary between Pacific and American plates.

Jan 1, 2013

The total crude production from the Dutch East Indies, and the British Protectorates of Sarawak and Brunei for 1932 is given in the following table: Production, which had shown a rapid increase from 1921 to 1929, has since been reduced. Exploitation drilling in the majority of the larger fields was suspended and existing production kept within predetermined limits by beaning. Most of the smaller fields were shut down entirely. The depth of producing levels varies widely in the different fields. Shallow fields with drilling depths to 500 meters (1650 ft.) are still numerous as well as those with depths between 500 and 1000 m. (3300 ft.). A few of the newer fields reach greater drilling depths up to 1600 m. (5250 ft.). The deepest exploration well drilled to date (Djambi field, South Sumatra) reached a, depth of 2332 m. (7650 ft.) before abandonment in March, 1930. The specific gravities of the various crude oils produced range between 0.65 (86.2° A.P.I.) and 0.95 (17.5° A.P.I.). The lighter crudes have a high gasoline content and fuel oils are derived from the heavier crudes, which usually are rich in paraffin. Producing companies are: De Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (Royal Dutch-Shell combine in Dutch territory); The Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co. Ltd. (Royal Dutch-Shell combine in British territory); De Nederlandsch-Indische Aardolie Maatschappij (De Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij-Dutch East Indian Government combine); De Nederlandsche Koloniale Petroleum Maatschappij (Standard Oil Co. of

Jan 1, 1933

By H. Maleki, G. Tetreault

This study was initiated by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to develop guidelines for determining the maximum economic recovery of resources in coal mines. The work was in response to a requirement in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and Federal regulations. The intent was to address the economic rainability of small, irregular reserves in existing longwall mines. In particular, there was a need to determine if room- and-pillar mining using a continuous miner (CM) was economically sound or whether unconventional (short or odd-shaped) longwalls could be used to recover small coal reserves economically. Small reserves, called "widgets " are left in longwall mines on one side of the mains near outcrops and adverse geological conditions or near any other location where reserve geometry does not lend itself to mining with a rectangular longwall panel. The work included the analysis of the geologic, geotechnical and economic factors that influence the recovery of small coal reserves; the analysis of historic changes in supply, demand and coal prices; the development of typical cost models for room-and-pillar and longwall mines; and the development of a practical methodology for determining maximum economic recovery. The methodology included an evaluation of the ratio of coal mined during longwall mining to that mined for development (LDR), as well as costs of maintaining coal quality depending on market conditions. The LDR is a good indicator of mine efficiency and overall coal recovery in modern longwall mines and, thus, is used to evaluate the increased costs associated with adding new development sections for extraction of small reserves. The study examines the economic feasibility of using unconventional longwalls for the recovery of medium-sized reserves, depending on site-specific geologic and geometric conditions.

Jan 1, 2002

By Richard A. Walker, John P. Hager

The thermodynamic properties of the Pb-Au system have been determined between 750" and 1075°C by means of the cell Mo, Pb(1) |(PbO-SiO2){l) , SiO2(s) |Pb-Au(1), Mo The activities of lead and gold exhibit negative deviations from ideal behavior; the values of ? pb and ? the raoultain activity coefficients at infinite dilution, being 0.24 and 0.25, respectively, at 1200°K. The liquidus curve for the gold-rich region of the Pb-Au phase diagram has been determined from measure-ments on seven alloy compositions in the two phase region (liquid + Au(s)). The standard free energies of formation of Au2O(l) and Ag2O (1) have been estimated from cell measurements obtained by replacing the alloy electrode with pure liquid gold and silver. A new integral molar heat of mixing curve for the liquid Pb-Au system is presented and the results of previous studies discussed. The contribution of HM to FE was found to be small relative to TSE. THE use of galvanic cells of the type A(l) |A+Za|A - B(l) [I] provides an accurate means for the thermodynamic study of liquid alloy systems. In Part 1&apos; it was shown that cells of type [I] may be extended to higher temperatures and to a wider range of alloy systems if the ion A+Za is incorporated in an appropriate molten oxide phase, rather than in the classical fused salt electrolyte. In the following investigation the experimental method is extended to an investigation of the thermo-dynamic properties of the Pb-Au system by use of the cell: Mo, Pb(l) | (PbO-SiO2)(l), SiO2(S) |Pb-Au(l), Mo [] Previous measurements on liquid Pb-Au alloys were obtained by Kleppa2 by electromotive force measurements on a galvanic cell involving a molten chloride electrolyte. These measurements were confined to temperatures less than 830°C and compositions with X Pb > 0.2 because of the instability of the cell at higher temperatures. Later measurements by Kleppa3 on the heats of formation in the composition range 0.67 < Xpb < 0.98 were not consistent with the results by electromotive force measurement. The purpose of the present study is to extend the temperature and composition range of the thermodynamic properties and to obtain an independent measure of the integral molar heat of mixing over the entire composition range.

Jan 1, 1970

By Rethel L. Hubbard

Fourteen straight-run asphalts were prepared in the laboratory from bitumens obtained from three sources: (1) native bitumen from Rozel Point, Utah, (2). bitumen extracted from Athabaska bituminous sandstone at Canada, and (3) bitumen extracted from Edna bituminous sandstone outcropping in San Luis Obispo County, to seven asphalts with penetrations ranging from 19 to 287 at 77 F. were prepared from each of the bitumens. The yields of the prepared asphalts ranged from 74.5 percent for a 27-penetration asphalt from the Athabaska bitumen to 99.5 percent for a 271-penetration asphalt from the Rozel Point bitumen.

Jan 1, 1949

Jan 1, 1930

By B. Panton, J. Carvalho, E. T. Brown

High-capacity, post-tensioned anchors have found wide-spread use in initial dam design and construction, and in the strengthening and rehabilitation of concrete dams to meet modern design and safety standards. Despite the advances that have been made in rock mechanics and rock engineering during the almost 80 years in which post-tensioned anchors have been used in dam engineering, some aspects of the rock engineering design of high-capacity rock anchors for dams have changed relatively little over the last 30 or 40 years. This applies, in particular, to the calculations usually carried out to establish the grouted embedment lengths required for deep, post-tensioned anchors. These calculations which involve a number of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties, usually make simplified assumptions about the distribution and values of rock-grout interface shear strengths, the shape of the volume of rock likely to be involved in uplift failure under the influence of a system of post-tensioned anchors, and the mechanism of that failure. The resulting designs are generally conservative. These aspects of the rock engineering design of large, post-tensioned rock anchors for dams could be improved by making greater use of modern, comprehensive, numerical analyses in conjunction with 3D models of the rock mass structure, realistic rock and rock mass properties, and the results of prototype anchor tests in the rock mass concerned.

Jan 1, 2015

A study was made to determine the effect of increasing concentrations of dissolved oxygen on the floatability of galena pyrite and chalcopyrite. Adsorption, flotation and contact-angle tests were done in deoxygenated, in air-saturated and in oxygen-saturated solutions. The results showed that the adsorption of collector increased as the concentration of oxygen increased. Adsorption followed the exponential law r = kC'/"• Discontinuities in the curves were observed after the adsorption of several monolayers of collector. Although adsorption increased with increasing oxygen concentration, the floatability of the pyrite minerals did not increase, because oxidation had adverse effects on the floatability of these minerals. The floatability of galena was maximum in oxygen-saturated solutions, pyrite was depressed and chalcopyrite was also slightly depressed. Contact-angle tests proved that a bubble could not be attached to large flat surfaces in deoxygenated solutions, because sufficient surface free energy was not available for adhesion after the deformation of the bubble. In the presene of air, all the minerals yielded the same maximum angle of 72 degrees, characteristic of isopropyl xanthate.

Jan 1, 1970

By E. G. King

In continuation of the study of thermodynamic properties of the common interoxidic compounds of ferroalloy elements, this report gives the results of low-termperature heat-capacity measurements and entropy evaluations of the monotungstates of sodium, magnesium, and calcium. Previous reports4 5/ of this laboratory dealt with low-temperature heat capacities, entropies, and heats of formation of the sodium vanadates. Heat-capacity measurements of the monotungstates of sodium, magnesium, and calcium (Na2W04, MgW04, and CaW04) were conducted throughout the temperature range 51° to 298° K. The entropies at 298° K. were evaluated and then combined with entropy data for the elements and oxides to obtain entropies of formation. This information is an essential part of the data needed for thermodynamic appraisals of chemical reactions of these substances. No similar data for any tungstate are to be found in the literature.

Jan 1, 1961

Jan 1, 1920