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By Donald W. Jenkinson

Many types of gravity concentration equipment have been employed throughout the years since beneficiation of materials has been practiced. These include jigs, concentrating tables, vanners, sluice boxes, heavy media cyclones, and static heavy media separators or sink-float separators. In the beneficiation of coarse aggregate for concrete mixes, static heavy media separation employs the same principles of gravity concentration involved in separating lead-zinc ore, dolomite, limestone, diamonds, manganese, iron, and many other minerals. In aggregate beneficiation, as in most metallurgical operations, sink or heavy fraction is the product. The undesirable portion of coarse gravel is usually much lighter than the desirable particles, allowing most aggregates to be amenable to gravity concentration methods.

Jan 7, 1960

The income of the Institute is derived from dues, subscriptions to MINING AND METALLURGY and sale of publications. These sources are fortunately supplemented by the interest from invested funds now amounting to over $500,000, a considerable portion constituting endowments for especial purposes. Aside from the medal funds the principal endowments are the James-Douglas Fund for support of the Library, the Rocky Mountain Fund and the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund. The income from the two last named is available for the support of research and a variety of other purposes. It is allocated by the Board of Directors upon recommendation of standing committees in each case. An active effort is being made to increase the endowments of the Institute, it being felt that unusual opportunities exist for research and public and professional service through the organization.

Jan 1, 1934

The income of the Institute is derived from dues, subscriptions to MINING AND METALLURGY and sale of publications. These sources are fortunately supplemented by the interest from invested funds now amounting to over $500,000, a considerable portion constituting endowments for especial purposes. Aside from the medal funds the principal endowments are the James Douglas Fund for support of the Library, the Rocky Mountain Fund and the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund. The income from the two last named is available for the support of research and a variety of other purposes. It is allocated by the Board of Directors upon recommendation of standing committees in each case. 'An active effort is being made to increase the endowments of the Institute, it being felt that unusual opportunities exist for research and public and professional service through the organization.

Jan 1, 1934

By K. H. Nimerick, G. P. Laflin

Laboratory data and field tests indicate that substantial losses of valuable coal can be caused by wind erosion. Wind tunnel tests show the effects of wind velocity and particle sizing on the amount of coal lost while in transit. Different coals were evaluated to determine the variables associated with wind erosion. The erosion losses can be substantially reduced by using a binder, or crusting agent, to consolidate the surfaces of the coal into a solid mass which resists erosion. This not only reduces economic loss but minimizes polllution.

Jan 1, 1980

By F. H. McDowell

About a year ago Dr. Raymond, as engineer of Messrs. Cooper, Hewitt & Co., together with Mr. Rothwell, was considering the removal of the ore-floors and pillars from the Peters Mine at Ringwood, N. J., where the limit of profitable working by the old method of mining had been very nearly reached. Mr. Ferdinand Ruttmann was engaged to make the survey which forms the basis of the accompanying diagrams. At first it was thought that some method of mining and filling might be introduced with advantage; but after a careful study of the operations at the Tilly Foster it was decided to adopt the system of stripping.

Jan 1, 1890

By T. N. Singh, B. Singh

SUMMARY. The supports account for over 501 of the total expenditure for a longwall face. The success and economics of a face depend upon the optimum selection of type and density of the supports. Empirical solutions involving uncertain safety factor are replaced by a geo-mining approach developed at OMRS in which the support resistance is defined by the stability index of the roof rock mass and the failure pattern of the immediate roof. The paper gives the methodology adopted to define the support resistance for Alkusha colliery longwall face of Jharia coalfield (India). The stability index of the roof mass varied from 218 to 520 for the individual beds and 1100 to 1374 for the immediate roof mass. The exact support resistance for the condition was found to be 42 t/m2.

Jan 1, 1982

By Pierre de P. E. M. Ricketts

HAVING had occasion while in Europe during the past summer to visit some of the foreign mints and assay offices connected with the same, I thought a brief description of the general process of coining employed, and such items connected with assaying as were new, might prove interesting to the Institute. The principal foreign mints are: the Royal Mint, London; and the mints in Paris, Brussels, Utrecht, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan, Rome, and Constantinople. My time only permitted my visiting a few of the principal and largest given in the list, and for a description of the remainder I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. James M. Napier, who in company with the deputy master, and chemist of the Royal Mint, made a complete inspection of all the European Mints in 1870.

Jan 1, 1876

By C. H. Ault, D. D. Carr

Four counties in Indiana- LaPorte, Vigo, Vanderburgh, and Switzerland-have potential for deep underground limestone mining because they are in or near high population areas and have no surface-mineable limestone deposits. The principal markets are Gary-South Bend, Terre Haute, Evansville, and Cincinnati. Mineable seams suitable for aggregate are 120-150 m (400-500 ft) below the surface in LaPorte and Vigo Counties, about 90 m (300 ft) below the surface in Switzerland County, and about 600 m (2,000 ft) below the surface in Vanderburgh County. Some deposits are also suitable for high-purity uses or for cement raw materials, which enhances their potential for exploitation.

Jan 1, 1983

Discussion of the paper of Blarney Stevens, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 79, July, 1913, pp. 1285 to 1303. F. L. GRAMMER,Leesburg, Va. (communication to the Secretary*):¬ Mr. Stevens refers to an explanation of parallel jointing by W. 0. Crosby, which I noted when reading one of his excellent text books. It seemed to me earthquakes were not a satisfactory explanation, and I looked up several authorities; but I never realized how small the usual amplitudes were until Mr. Stevens presented his paper. Several letters to the U. S. Geodetic Survey showed me there were very few records of tidal movements of earth crust in the United States. Altitude and latitude would be influencing factors; but this diurnal movement must exceed earthquake amplitudes, besides being more nearly universal. My inquiries brought the answer that the major directions of jointing had not been extensively tabulated. If major directions of jointing were recorded-with notes as to angle with mountain chain, or North Star, and distance between joints, with nature of rock and maximum and minimum tidal up-heaval-some interesting relations might be made manifest.

Jan 11, 1913

By T. F. Witherbee

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) THE subject of an article in the Engineering and Mining Journal for October 13th, 1877, namely, Blast Furnace Treatment of Silicious Iron Ores,, is of great interest to myself, and doubtless to many others who have been troubled with a seemingly unaccountable percentage of silicon in their pig iron. It is to be regretted that the author of the article did not give us complete details of his charges, and thus prevent a possibly fatal error in the very beginning of the discussion of the points raised in his communication. As it now stands, I think we will have to fall back upon the statement that, "every conceivable mixture of fluxes and ores (A and B) has been used." Let us first, in order to simplify the calculations, do with the

Jan 1, 1878

By R. P. Smith

THE carbon content of iron-silicon and of iron-manganese alloys at fixed activities of carbon has been reported previously.' It seemed desirable to investigate a system which allows a more extended range of alloy composition within a single phase region. The iron-nickel system is ideal in this respect, in that all alloys from 100 pct Fe to 100 pct Ni are face centered cubic ("austenitic") at 1000 °C. The experimental procedure was similar to that previously described.1,2 The alloys, in the form of pieces about 2 by 2 by 0.2 cm thick, together with a similar specimen of pure iron, were equilibrated with each of a series carbon monoxide-carbon dioxide tnixtures of fixed composition, quenched in the carburizing gas in the top of the furnace and then analyzed for carbon. The carbon content of samples containing more than 0.3 wt pct C was determined by the usual combustion method; those with less carbon

Jan 1, 1961

By T. M. Anderson

From the start of production in 1915 until 1948, underground block caving operations accounted for all of the ore production of Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. Open pit development work began in 1947, and ore production from the open pit commenced in March 1948. Thus began the transition from underground to open pit mining which continued until August 1954. Since then, open pit mining has accounted for all ore production which presently averages 105,000 tons of ore and 75,000 tons of waste rock each week. Open pit mining operations at Inspiration is carried on in two separate pits-the Live Oak Pit and the Thornton Pit. The Live Oak Pit covers an area of approximately 1500x3000 ft and the Thornton Pit, 2500x2000 ft. The geographic centers of the two pits are 4000 ft apart and, at their nearest point, the surface slopes are 500 ft apart.

Jan 1, 1961

By E. H. Rutter, J. Hadizadeh

The development of microcracking with progressive strain through failure in an orthoquartzite has been studied by means of optical and electron microscopy of specimens deformed experimentally at 200 MPa confining pressure, 20°C. Microcrack maps and statistics have been prepared. The rock fails through the development of arrays of microcracks which form around grain boundaries and are initiated at notches on pore spaces. No special microstructural characteristic appears to be associated with the peak strength, and axially oriented cracks do not begin to develop until well past the strength peak. Axial microcracking is a precursor to shear fault localization. Because most cracks form in highly shear stressed orientations, it is inferred that most of the work done in rupturing the rock is against the frictional forces on crack surfaces. An attempt is made to integrate the work done in this way, to compare it with the work done by the external forces.

Jan 1, 1982

By Lawrence Dykers

The paper presents a generalized history of the growth and utilization of electronic data processing in a medium- size, mining-oriented company. A brief narrative outlines a corporate wide data gathering system, its hardware and application. Responsibility areas for corporate accounting, operations control, engineering, and research program development are defined. A Synopsis of programs within responsibility areas is presented along with a review of program language requirements for each of these areas. Anticipated additional uses of computers and the programs being developed for these uses are outlined. The scope and growth of an Information Systems Department within Duval Corporation is briefly discussed. Suggestions are presented which should help minimize the problems and avoid some of the pitfalls of program development for those contemplating the initiation or revision of an electronic data processing system. The importance of lucid and comprehensive program documentation is stressed.

Jan 1, 1969

By Frank L. Bazzanella, Paul A. Weyler

A brief introduction to gravity concentration is presented, including some discussion on the more common minerals currently recovered. The important considerations in basic design of a gravity plant are mentioned and four currently operating flowsheets are presented. The plants discussed in detail include the Climax Molybdenum Co. By-Product Plant and the Canada Tungsten Ltd. Plant. Plants briefly highlighted include the Palabora Mining Co. Uranium Recovery Facility and the Bridge Hill Ridge Heavy Mineral Recovery Plant of Mineral Deposits Ltd.

Jan 1, 1978

By F. Valton

(Read at the Wilkes-Barre Meeting, May, 1877.) IN the number of the Engineering and Mining Journal for April 7th, 1877, Mr. W. P. Ward, of Cartersville, Georgia, explains in a very interesting manner, the results he obtained in the manufacture of ferromanganese in the blast furnace. These results may be summed tip as follows : Production in the blast furnace of an alloy containing 67.2 per cent. manganese and 3 per cent. of carbon at most, with a utilization of the manganese amounting to 58 per cent. With the exception of the indicated proportion of carbon, which should be almost doubled to express the true state of facts, we would have had no observations to make on Mr. Ward's paper had he taken into account the results obtained in the same line in other centres of production. Before 1870, spiegel with 8 or 10 per cent. manganese only was known among blast-furnace products. In a journey to Sweden, in 1871, I ascertained that the Schysshyttan works manufactured regularly a spiegel with 18 per cent. manganese. Later, at the Vienna Exhibition, in 1873, the Sava and Jauerburg works, in Carniola, presented to the jury a ferromanganese, obtained in the blast fur-

Jan 1, 1878

By Edward Nichols

These deposits, which are found in James County, Tennessee, differ both in their mode of occurrence and in their chemical constitution from any other ores belonging to the same geological horizon which are known to the writer. Taylor's Ridge, or White Oak Mountain, is a long monoclinal ridge, which starts from a point near the Tennessee River in Meigs County, and, following a southwwt .course, extends unbrokenly into Cherokee County, Alabama, where it finally disappears. It is made up of strata of the Upper Silurian rocks, which dip to the southeast. To the eastward of this ridge, which is generally several hundred feet high, are a series of low foothills or knobs, composed of Clinton shales carrying seams of fossiliferous hematites. In the neighborhoud of the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad, where it crosses the ridges, considerable ore has been milred from these seams during the pst ten years. Most of the workings have been superficial, and the ores mined, with one exception,,carry a silicious and nod-calcareous gangue, and contain from fifty to sixty per ceut. of iron.

Jan 1, 1882

By F. C. Blake

THE test of the English cupellation furnace should be so supported that the cupeller can change readily the elevation of the test, and at the same time watch the litharge channel. It is also important to raise or lower either side, independently of the other, in me of uneven wear of the side walls or of the breast. If the refined silver is poured from the test, it is much better to control the lowering of the test from the front than to raise the back by screws or a lever. In order to enable the cupeller to manipulate the test with one hand, when the litharge is running, and to pour the refined silver from the test without aid, I have altered the common support to the test, as shown in the accompanying drawing. The common method of supporting the test is by four screws, working in cross-bar nuts beneath the test. The points of the screws set, into the test plate upon which the test rests. These screws are usually worked by pounding or pulling upon the heads, which may be either small pulleys or straight bars, as shown on the back screws in the drawing. The screws are also worked by turning a crank, which is

Jan 1, 1882

By W. N. Marchant, P. T. Brooks, P. B. Altringer, R. O. Dannenberg

The US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines conducted laboratory tests to devise a process for recovering a marketable grade of tungsten from the brine of Searles Lake, Calif. The brine contains only 56 ppm W (70 ppm W03). Using ion exchange resins synthesized by USBM chemists, 98% oft he tungsten was extracted from the brine and 92% of the tungsten was recovered as a marketable iron-tungsten concentrate containing 44% tungsten as tungsten trioxide. Although major technical problems have largely been resolved, research is progressing to escalate testing in a process research unit to provide more reliable data for an economic appraisal.

Jan 8, 1979

By Clifford C. Hanninen, Allan H. Caverson

Within the past nine years a means for measuring the distance between mine roof and floor was developed at the White Pine mine which yields relevant information utilized in the mining operation. The technique known as "convergence" is an efficient, low cost way for obtaining large quantities of data for predicting roof falls, caving activity and overall mine stability. Since 1964 the activity of convergence measurements has expanded to become a production tool found in all sections of the mine. The program involves four types of activity: 1) monthly measurements in areas known to be active and in sample blocks scattered throughout the mine for a long-term stability study; 2) semi- monthly measurements along vital travel roads, belt drifts and compressor sites; 3) weekly measurements in areas where men are working; 4) daily measurements in pillar-recovery and caving operations.

Jan 5, 1973