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By J. E. Zeilinger

This Bureau of Mines study was conducted to determine the sulfur reduction potential attainable when washing fine-size coal on a spiral concentrator. Crushed samples of Middle Kittanning and Bakerstown bed coals washed on the spiral provided pyritic sulfur reductions of up to 90 percent for the plus 200-mesh material. Pyritic sulfur reductions on the minus 200-mesh material seldom exceeded 30 percent; consequently, this material would require further treatment. The capacity of the spiral was 2 tph per unit when washing l4-mesh by 0 coal. The ability to remove pyrite combined with the higher-than-expected capacity makes the spiral worthy of consideration as a rougher-cleaner in new fine-coal desulfurization circuits.

Jan 1, 1976

By Frank C. Andreuzzi

The Federal Bureau of Mines conducted a demonstration project to reclaim 125 acres of abandoned strip-mined land in Lackawanna County, Pa., for public recreational, historical, and educational use as a park. The Bureau was involved in the development of the general site plan, and engineered and supervised the basic land rehabilitation. The park's Facilities include outdoor recreational activities, picnic grounds, children's play areas, primitive overnight camping, and winter sports. A major attraction is the Anthracite Museum constructed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The project may serve as a prototype for reclaiming existing and future surface-mined lands.

Jan 1, 1976

The Kaldo furnace smelting technique was developed for oxygen steel production by the late Prof. Bo Kalling, Domnarvet, Sweden. Development started in 1948, and production in 1956. Five million tons of steel were produced in TBRC's in 1973. Mainly due to high TBRC maintenance costs, the steel industry now prefers non-rotating converters. In non-ferrous metallurgy, however, qualified new applications of the TBRC technique have been realized or are being considered. Inco, Canada, succeeded to convert nickel matte to metal in the Domnarvet pilot plant in 1959, and have now installed a commercial plant in Copper Cliff. La Metallo-Chimique, Belgium, has pioneered secondary copper smelting and refining in the TBRC, operating plants in Beerse, since 1968, and Alton, U.S.A. Peko-Wallsend Ltd., Tennant Creek, Australia, was faced with the problem of producing saleable blister from concentrates containing 1.5-2.0% Bi. The flash smelting matte, containing 0.2% Bi, could not be refined to an acceptable limit of 0.03% Bi in the blister copper in a Peirce-Smith converter. Tests at Domnarvet indicated that a TBRC would achieve satisfactory bismuth elimina- tion. Two TBRC's were installed in Tennant Creek and operated for 14 months during 1974-75. The problems encountered and how they were over- come are described. Further TBRC applications have been studied in Sweden.

Jan 1, 1976

By Tatsuzo Kitamura

The tank house of Tamano refinery, that started its operation in January, 1972, was constructed incorporating the application of Periodic Reverse Current (P.R.C.) from the outset of design works. In 1973, the production of electrolytic copper came up to 8,000 mtpm, a sharp increase ds compared with the designed capacity of 7,000 mtpm, and successful operation has been achieved up to the present. P.R.C. has been employed for the purpose of raising productivity level and reducing copper inventories. Since there were various problems in P.R.C. application to such a large sized cathode as 1 m x 1 m, special attentions were paid to the following items: -Development of a unique bus bar to make an electrolytic current to each electrode as uniform as possible. -Improvement of circulating method of electrolyte. -Application of high-performance equipment to realize a uniform spacing between anode and cathode. Owing to these creative technical developments mentioned above, technical level for operation up to 350 amp per sq m of cathode current density has been established. The quality of electrolytic copper, which was a matter of interest, has been proved to be as excellent as those of conventional electrolysis products through a long term supply to the field of SCR and Dip forming where high levels in quality are required.

Jan 1, 1976

The major heavy industrial consumers of limestone are the cement, lime'and steel ind- ustries. Each of these requires large quantities of cheap raw material. Other ind- ustries such as glass and chemical manufactur- ing are significant consumers and agricultur- al and constructional activities provide additional demand which is usually more local in its occurrence. Limestone is widely dis- tributed throughout Australia but location in relation to major markets, and transport con- siderations render most deposits of no economic value. Among deposits which are sufficiently close to the major metropolitan markets many must be rejected as being unsuitable on grounds of quality, inadequate size for major.develop- ment, or other reasons such as environmental considerations. The major producing locations are sit- uated in a variety of geological environments. Most have limited reserves and require partic- ular attention to quality control. Planned extraction programmes based on detailed geo- logical investigations enable not only satis- factory grade control but also permit, by the adoption of appropriate quarry procedures, the use of sub-grade material, thus optimis- ing utilisation of the available reserves.

Jan 1, 1976

By Cavallaro. J. A.

This report presents the results of a washability study of 455 raw coal channel samples with special emphasis on sulfur reduction. These raw coals contained on the average 14.0 percent ash, 1.91 percent pyritic sulfur, and 3.02 percent total sulfur. The complete washability data are presented for each sample processed. A statistical evaluation is included for the coalbeds from which more than 10 samples were collected and for the geographical coal producing regions. A graphical summation is presented for the coal producing regions and selected coalbeds. Finally a similar statistical evaluation is included showing composited data interpolated at Btu recovery levels of 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 percent. Graphical summations are presented for the various coal producing regions. Generally, significant sulfur reduction is achieved if the coals are crushed to a finer size and the higher specific gravity increments are removed. If a 50-percent Btu recovery was acceptable, then 32 percent of the samples tested could be upgraded to meet the current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard of 1.2 pounds of S02 emission per million (MM) Btu when crushed to 14-mesh top size and separated gravimetrically.

Jan 1, 1976

By Horst Pöchhacker

The largest structure along the Tauern highway section between Salzburg and Villach is the 6.4-km-long Tauern Tunnel. The major geotechnical problems that came up surprisingly while driving the headings of that tunnel and their successful solution form the content of this article. A detailed discussion is presented of the special construction methods developed by systematic application of the principles of the New Austrian Tunneling Method with which even very heavily squeezing ground with large excavation areas can be mastered reliably and economically.

Jan 1, 1976

By J de Cuyper, G. Rinelli, A. M. Marabini, V. Alesse, W. Freyberger

Salicylaldehyde, a chelating agent for tin, has been found to function as a collector for the flotation of cassiterite. Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance studies clearly show that salicylaldehyde can form a chelate compound in bulk and at the surface. Results are also given for the flotation of a tin ore with this reagent.

Jan 1, 1976

By F. P. Haver, M. M. Wong

The Federal Bureau of Mines has developed a leach= electrolysis method for recovering lead from galena (PbS). Flotation concentrate is leached with ferric chloride (FeCl3) solution to obtain lead chloride (PbC12) and elemental sulfur, PbS + 2FeC13 -+ PbC12 + 2FeC12 + Sº. Over 99% of the P~S in the condentrate is converted to PbC12. The leach solution, composed of brine (NaC1) and FeC13, dissolves the PbC12 as it is formed, leaving a residue of elemental sulfur plus gangue. Very pure PbC12 (>99.9%).is crystallized from the leach filtrate on cool- ing and is subsequently electrolyzed in a fused-salt bath to obtain molten lead metal (>99.9% Pb). Spent leach solution (FeC12) is regenerated for further use by reaction with the chlorine obtained in the electrolysis of lead chloride, and other values, such as Ag, Cu, Zn, and Sº, are recovered by additional treatments of the leach solution and leach residue. This paper discusses results and conditions of the leaching and electrolysis operations.

Jan 1, 1976

By Robert W. Elayer

In August 1973, Fluor Utah, Inc. was awarded a contract by the Office of Coal Research (now part of the Energy Research and Development Administration), Department of the Interior, for the examination of the unique problems of large-scale surface coal mining to supply coal conversion complexes. The project consists of two phases: (I) data base development and organization and the formulation of a mathematical computer modeling system for surface mining; and (II) computer manipulation of the data base in accordance with the model to formulate several typical preliminary mine and preparation plant designs. Phase I is scheduled for completion by the end of July 1975 and Phase II is scheduled to be complete by the end of January 1977. This paper briefly discusses the effort for only one aspect of this project-the foundation for geologic modeling developed in Phase I. The Phase I task of geologic modeling can be broken down into two subtasks: (1) identify areas containing sufficient resources of surface-minable coal to support at least one large-scale mining complex, and (2) characterize the coal deposits in these areas for computer storage and retrieval. Identification of Resource Regions The basic production design criteria for large-scale surface mining, as stated in the contract, is the production of 75,000 tpd, or more, of bituminous coal. Based on a constant total Btu delivered to the preparation plant, daily production requirements for the different coals are as follows: Bituminous Coal 75,000 tons Subbituminous Coal 99,500 tons Lignite 143,500 tons Although surface mining on this scale is presently non-existent, it is deemed that future operations, in order to meet the increased energy demands, will have to look forward to much larger scale mining complexes. These tonnage requirements are meant to be used only for the delineation of general areas suitable for large-scale surface mining, termed "Strippable Coal Resource Regions." They were determined largely from the latest complete detailed coal resource estimates of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Nine strippable coal resource regions, containing over 100 billion tons of strippable coal resources, were identified [(see Fig. 1)]. The delineation of these regions was based entirely upon estimates of surface-minable coal resources and the production design criteria for large-scale surface mining. If surface-mined coal was combined with underground production, or if smaller production rates were specified, then other areas which were omitted here would be included in the regions. Changing the outline of the regions, however, would not add any new mining situations to be studied in Phase II. Characterization of Coal Deposits The second subtask involved the general characterization of the coal deposits contained in the strippable coal resource regions. The geological information gathered

Jan 1, 1976

By Richard Thomas Newcomb

Chapters 5a, 5b, and 6 discuss the long- run supply of minerals and the characteristics of reserve search and production peculiar to extractive industries. It is now necessary to complete the picture by examining supply and demand in commodity markets to show how mineral prices are determined and how both price and production trends might be predicted over long periods of time. These practical interests can be served best by reviewing first some of the characteristics of the short-run static market models familiar to all readers of elementary economic texts, and then extending the theory to models of a more dynamic nature. It is important at the outset to note that economic theory provides a wide variety of economic models based on varying assumptions concerning the behavior of economic agents, the properties of the goods, the time period considered, and so on. Each variety of model offers certain analytical advantages and suffers certain shortcomings. The art of the applied economist or practioner lies in knowing enough both about the technology and practice of his problem and about theory to select the appropriate models for his analysis. In our approach it will be useful first to consider the role of markets for minerals and mineral products in relation to the efficient determination of what and how goods are produced in the whole economy, i.e., a general system of markets, before getting down to the task of analyzing supply and demand conditions in specific markets. The former study is called general equilibrium analysis, while the latter is called partial. By equilibrium is meant a state of the sys- tem under study in which supply equals demand in each market, and the prices which equilibrate the quantities offered and asked are called equilibrium prices. The tendency of prices to return toward equilibrium values if temporarily displaced, or to converge to new equilibrium values if important new conditions for supply or for demand are placed, defines "stable" equilibrium systems. The short-run describes a period in which adjustments to fixed capital are not made, although variable factors such as labor or materials can be adjusted. The long-run envisions a period in which fixed capital and other such constraints can be adjusted. Thus, it may take a sharp increase in price to bring out additional supply of a factor in the short-run with existing plant, while new capacity might permit additional quantities in the long-run without an increase in supply price.

Jan 1, 1976

By Lloyd A. Morley, Alan M. Christman

1. Anonymous. "Getting Down to Earth," booklet 25T, James G. Biddle Co, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (1970) pp. 1-48. 2. Anonymous. "Megger Ground Tester, Special Instructions," booklet 25-J-1, James G. Biddle Co, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (1961) pp. 1-16. 3. AIEE Committee. "Application Guide on Methods of Substation Ground¬ing," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (April 1954) pp. 271-277. 4. AIEE Committee. "Voltage Gradients Through the Ground Under Fault Conditions," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (October 1958) pp. 669-692. 5. American Standards Association. "American Standard Safety Rules for Installing and Using Electrical Equipment in and about Coal Mines," U. S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8227 (1964). 6. Armstrong, H. R. "Grounding Electrode Characteristics from Model Tests," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (December 1953) pp. 1301-1306. 7. Beck, Edward. Lightning Protection for Electric Systems, McGraw¬Hill, New York (1954) pp. 281-295. 8. Bellaschi, P. L. "Impulse and 60 Cycle Characteristics of Driven Grounds," AIEE Transactions (March 1941) pp. 123-128. 9. Bellaschi, P. L. "Lightning Strokes in Field and Laboratory," Elec¬trical Engineering, Vol. 58 (November 1939) pp. 466-468. 10. Bellaschi, P. L., Armington, R. E., and Snowden, A. E. "Impulse and 60 Cycle Characteristics of Driven Grounds-II," AIEE Tran¬sactions (1942) pp. 349-363. 11. Bewley, L. V. "Theory and Tests of the Counterpoise," AIEE Transac¬tions (August 1934) pp. 1163-1172. 12. Brereton, D. S. and Hickok, H. N. "System Neutral Grounding for Chemical Plant Power Systems," AIEE Transactions on Applica¬tions and Industry (November 1955) p. 315. 13. Bruce, C. E. R. and Golde, R. H. "The Lightning Discharge," Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, London, Vol. 88 (December 1941) pp. 487-505.

Jan 1, 1976

By David Schlain

This Bureau of Mines report describes a method for electrodepositing titanium diboride from a molten salt bath. Initially, the electrolyte is a mixture of LiBO2, NaB02, Na2 Ti03 , Li2Ti03, and Ti02? The cell is operated at 900° C in a dry, inert atmosphere with consumable anodes of titanium or hot-pressed titanium diboride (TiB2) powder. Agitation of the electrolyte is essential. Current densities may be 6 to 9 amperes per square decimeter (amp/dm2) with titanium anodes and 9 to 30 amp/dm2 with titanium diboride anodes. A current density of 6 amp/dm2 is equivalent to a plating rate of about 35 micrometers per hour. The adherence of the TiB2 deposit varies with the substrate material. It is most adherent on molybdenum and on 4130 steel that has been preplated with copper and nickel, less adherent on nickel, and still less adherent on Inconel and on 4130 steel without the preplate. Cathode and anode reactions are suggested.

Jan 1, 1976

The thick coal seams of the South Maitland field are the only ones in New South Wales which have been worked extensively to heights beyond 3.8 m (nominal "thin" seam height). Under shallow cover only minor difficulties were experienced in developing first workings but later the widespread occurrence of incidents of spontaneous combustion and the growth of "creeps" extending over large areas gave the field its own peculiar problems. As the mines have driven under deeper cover extreme difficulties in forming development roadways have been experi- enced. Various methods have been adopted in an attempt to overcome the problems of the field.

Jan 1, 1976

By Chi-shing Wang

Recently the U.S. Bureau of Mines has undertaken a research project to develop the mechanical roof pulling technique as a method for evaluating the effectiveness and the comparative advantages and disadvantages of various roof bolting systems for underground coal mines, based on the characteristic responses of bolted mine roofs to a prescribed external loading system. Two preliminary experiments of the test method were conducted in the Bureau's Safety Research Coal Mine (SRCM) at Bruceton, Pa., and further trials are underway. The fundamental concept of the test method, the design of test rigs, and the experimental results are summarized in this progress report.

Jan 1, 1976

By P. Somasundaran, H. S. Hanna

The separation of minerals such as apatite and scheelite by flotation from other salt-type minerals such as calcite is extremely complex owing to the close similarity between their physicochemical properties. In this paper, properties relevant to flotation such as crystal structure, solubility, surface charge and adsorption behavior of important salt-type minerals are examined along with the role of inorganic modifying agents such as silicates and polyphosphates and organic modifying agents such as starch and tannin. Flotation characteristics of these minerals are then reviewed and selected separation problems involving salt-type minerals are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976

Illumination hardware developed in conjunction with previous Contracts H024202l, H0242049, and H0242023 had not been adequately tested in actual underground work situations. The purpose of this contract was to install and monitor this equipment on mining machines and in actual working places of coal mines to gain experience with the use of the lamps and support equipment in the abusive and critical environments for which they were intended. The equipment that was to be tested consisted of the following: a. Lamps -A variety of sizes of permissible fluorescent lamps which operate from 12 volts DC power. These include the following sizes: Model 8, (9 watts) 2" diameter; Model 15/2 (14 watts) 2" diameter; Model 15/3 (21 watts) 3" diameter; Model 20 (25 watts) 3" diameter; Model 30, (28 watts) 3" diameter; and Model 40, (39 watts) 311 diameter. Representative photographs of these lamps are shown in Figure 1-1 and 1-2.

Jan 1, 1976

By A. G. Moon

Kennecott Copper Corporation's Chino Mines Division concentrator is located in Hurley, New Mexico. Construction of the concentrator was started in 1910 and its capacity was progressively increased over the years to the present nominal 20, 425 t/d of ore (22, 500 stpd). The principal copper minerals present in the ore are chalcopyrite and chalcocite with much of the chalcotite intimately associated with pyrite. Lime is used to depress pyrite, and flotation at a high pH or alkalinity is required for optimum recovery of chalcocite with good rejection of the pyrite. Regrinding is also required to liberate chalcocite-pyrite middling grains. Accurate control of the lime addition is necessary to obtain both optimum metallurgy and minimum lime usage. At low pH levels, flotation cell control is difficult due to excess froth, but excessively high pH levels can go unnoticed because froth characteristics do not change from those experienced at the deisred pH. With manual control of the lime addition, the desired pH can be exceeded for periods of up to two hours. In 1972 a major renovation of the flotation and regrinding circuits was com¬pleted and at that time a new lime distribution and control system was placed in operation. Limestone is obtained from a nearby quarry west of Hurley. The limestone is crushed, sized and fed to a rotary kiln and the quicklime product is stored prior to slaking. The lime is slaked, as required, in a mixing tank-classifier type slaker and the lime slurry is pumped to a concentrator storage tank from which it is distributed through a conventional closed loop system. The current average lime usage rate is approximately 6 kg/t of ore (12 lb per st).

Jan 1, 1976

By P. W. Jerant

The methane emissions from an advancing coal mine section were continuously monitored for 120 days. During this time, the section advanced 2,000 feet into virgin Pittsburgh coalbed producing 54,565 tons of coal with a total methane emission of 91 million ft3. Analysis of the data gathered showed that daily methane emissions did not correlate with overburden thickness and daily coal production. A good correlation was found between the daily methane emission and the average length of rib exposed to virgin coal.

Jan 1, 1976

By Cecil E. Lester

Since the advent of coal mining, the minimal lighting in the under¬ground working place has been an obstacle to the safe and efficient performance of the miner's many tasks. Compounding this problem is the fact that the machines being operated in the working place are so large that the vertical and horizontal clearances around the machinery are severely limited. Consequently, in these poorly lighted and congested working places, the machine operator is unable to utilize his peripheral vision. He cannot see hazards as they develop and, too often, cannot react in time to avoid serious injury or death to himself or his fellow miners. The greatest hazard to miners inby the last open crosscut is from falls of roof which are often preceded by warning signs such as falling rock fragments, roof supports taking weight, or a sudden reduction in the height of the working place. These warning signs often go undectected because the machine operator's attention is focused on the small circle of light emitted from his cap lamp. Congress recognized the illumination deficiencies, and, in the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, charged the Secretary of the Interior with the authority and responsibility for development and promulgation of minimum standards for illuminating working places in coal mines. These standards have been developed and, as stated in the April 1, 1976 Notice, Federal Register, Volume 41, No. 64, will be promulgated on October 1, 1976, as mandatory regulations under Section 75.1719, Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations. The regulations require that the designated surfaces within the miner's normal field of vision be illuminated to 0.06 foot-lamberts while self¬propelled mining equipment is being operated in the working places. The term "working place" is defined in the Act as "the area of a coal mine inby the last open crosscut".

Jan 1, 1976