Search Documents

By D. J. McAdam, G. W. Geil, R. W. Mebs

As shown in previous papers by the authorsg-17t the resistance of a metal to fracture, like its resistance to plastic deformation, is a function of all three principal stresses. A technical cohesion limit is the technically determined resistance to fracture under a specific stress system. The technical cohesive strength thus comprises an infinite number of technical cohesion limits corresponding to the infinite number Of possible com-binations of the principal stresses. The technical cohesive strength, therefore, may be represented by a surface in a diagram with the three principal stresses as coordinates. As shown in previous papers,'-'' the technical cohesive strength increases with plastic deformation, with decrease in temperature, and with increase in the strain rate. The technical cohesion limit, therefore, is affected by the same factors that affect the flow stress,$ namely, the stress system, plastic deformation, temperature, and the strain rate. More- over, the influence of each of these factors on the technical cohesion limit has been shown to be qualitatively similar to the three of the same factor on the flow stress.9-18 Advance of knowledge about the conditions determining fracture of metals has been retarded by the reluctance of some investigators to abandon preconceived ideas about how metals ''should,, behave. The incorrect idea is still prevalent that the conditions determining resistance to fracture are very different from those determining the flow stress. Attempts are still being made to express resistance to fracture in terms of a single parameter, such as a limiting value of the greatest principal stress, the maximum shearing stress, or the volume stress (one-third the algebraic sum of the three principal stresses). In these attempts, a sharp distinction is sometimes made between a ductile or ,plasticdeformation, fracture,, and a "brittle frat-ture.H In making this distinction, however, the meaning attached to the term "brittle fracture" sometimes is not made clear. The term could mean fracture after very little plastic deformation or it could be used to designate the type of fracture. An ordinary fracture of a ductile metal at room temperature starts as a cleavage, generally transverse to the direction of the greatest principal stress, but eventually changes to a shearing fracture' In some conditions, however, the metal fractures entirely by cleavage, with no evidence of plastic deformation during the fracture; the surface of such a fracture may have a

Jan 1, 1948

Thank you chairman, good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. In my talk this afternoon I intend to cover a brief history, some of the recent experiences and an overview of the McArthur River project.If we consider the themes of this forum, Obstacles and Opportunities, I can confidently say that in attempting to develop the McArthur River deposit Mount Isa Mines Limited (MIM) must have encountered almost every obstacle that can be imagined. However the large size and the high grade of the deposit has ensured an opportunity, from which it is very difficult to walk away from.The McArthur River Here's Your Chance (HYC) Deposit is located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was discovered by Mount Isa Mines Limited geologists in 1955 and is one of the largest known sedimentary stratiform zinc-lead-silver deposits. The deposit has been the subject of numerous investigations and considerable expenditure culminating in a major feasibility study in 1979. There were a number of factors which prevented development, these being the size of the project, the fine grained mineralization, geographical location, market, social and capital cost. The latter had been estimated in the 1979 study to be $800 million at that time.

Jan 1, 1993

By John R. Don

In the South Island of New Zealand an unusually favorable opportunity is offered for the analysis of the older crystalline rocks, underlying the sedimentary rocks which form the "country" of the gold-deposits. The Manipori formation of this island, comprising the greater part of the mountainous district west of lakes Manipori and Te Anau, in Otago, consists of an enormous thickness (estimated by Professor Hutton1 at 160,000 ft.) of crystalline schists, gneiss, syenite, and syenitic gneiss, with associated masses of granite; the whole forming the most picturesque fart of New Zealand. The famous West Coast sounds occur in this formation. No paying auriferous lodes have been discovered in it; and for this reason an examination of the rocks is specially interesting here. Stelzner, Posepny, and others, who have criticised the conclusions of Sandberger, have laid great stress on the fact that all the silicates analyzed by him were taken from the vicinity of orebodies containing those heavy metals which he notes as occurring in the silicates of the country-rock; their contention being that these metals, supposed to occur as silicates in gneiss and other crystalline rocks, were really contained as sulphides, and were therefore impregnations from the neighboring orebodies. The same objection, whatever be its weight, might be urged with equal justice against Mr. Becker's derivation of the mercury and gold of the lodes of the Pacific Coast from' the granite underlying their country-rock. In the case of the

Jan 1, 1913

By L. K. Jetter, J. C. Ogle, C. L. McHargue

The preferred orientation developed in extruded aluminum rods has been studied as a function of extrusion temperature, extrusion speed, and position in the rod. Duplex <111> - <001> textures were developed for slow extrusion speeds at temperatures of 75° to 850° F and for fast extrusion speeds at temperatures of 75° to 450°F. The <001> texture component was shown to be primarily due to re crystallization occurring during fabrication. At fast speeds and billet temperatures of 650° to 850°F, complete recrystallization occurred and <115>or<118> textures were found. The nature of the structure has proved to be an important variable in the production and use of extruded products. Data on the flow of aluminum and aluminum alloys summarized by Smith,&apos; Hardy,&apos; and Locke3 show that the extruded product may possess a deformed, a partially recrystallized, or a completely recrystallized structure, and there may be important variations in the structure from surface to center and from front end to back end of an extrusion. This inhomogeneity in grain structure and preferred orientation affects both the mechanical properties of the extruded section and its response to subsequent heat treatment. Among the fabrication variables causing these differences are temperature, extrusion ratio, and extrusion speed. Preferred orientation which develops during the extrusion of rods is of the fiber-type and, in general, has been assumed to be similar to that developed in rods or wires fabricated by drawing through dies, rolling, or swaging.4 Because of the nature of the flow of metal being extruded, this assumption may be valid for material near the center of the rod but probably is not valid for the outer layers. In most face-centered-cubic metals a duplex fiber texture has commonly been reported in which the grains have either <Ill> or <001> directions parallel to the longitudinal axis. Sachs and fichiebold5 reported cold-drawn aluminum (99.6 pct pure) to have a single <Ill> fiber texture, and this observation was confirmed by Schmid and Wassermann.6 Hibbard, on the other hand, observed a minor <001> and a major <111> texture in 99.994 pct A1 cold drawn to 98 pct reduction in diam.7 He concluded that the <001> component resulted from a small amount of room-temperature recrystallization. Dayal8 concluded that the <001> component was an intermediate component which disappeared at high reductions in 99.5 pct pure Al. Kostron and schippers9 found duplex <111> — <001> textures in extruded 99.5 pct Al, as did Gow and cahnl0 and GOW11 for extruded rods of commercial and superpure aluminum. Similar duplex fiber textures have been reported for aluminum alloys by Kostron,= Unckel,13 and Van Horn.14 The present paper is concerned with the variation in texture with fabricating conditions and with the nature of the texture components in extruded aluminum rod (99.99 pct pure). EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Ingots were chill-cast in cast-iron molds and machined to 3-in. diam by 6-in. long extrusion billets. These billets were upset to 3.125 in. diam and extruded through a flat-face 0.690-in. diam die. Quenching of the rods was accomplished by a water spray at the die face. The combinations of fabricat-

Jan 1, 1960

By R. W. Mebs, G. W. Geil, D. J. McAdam

As shown in previous papers by the authorsg-17t the resistance of a metal to fracture, like its resistance to plastic deformation, is a function of all three principal stresses. A technical cohesion limit is the technically determined resistance to fracture under a specific stress system. The technical cohesive strength thus comprises an infinite number of technical cohesion limits corresponding to the infinite number Of possible com-binations of the principal stresses. The technical cohesive strength, therefore, may be represented by a surface in a diagram with the three principal stresses as coordinates. As shown in previous papers,&apos;-&apos;&apos; the technical cohesive strength increases with plastic deformation, with decrease in temperature, and with increase in the strain rate. The technical cohesion limit, therefore, is affected by the same factors that affect the flow stress,$ namely, the stress system, plastic deformation, temperature, and the strain rate. More- over, the influence of each of these factors on the technical cohesion limit has been shown to be qualitatively similar to the three of the same factor on the flow stress.9-18 Advance of knowledge about the conditions determining fracture of metals has been retarded by the reluctance of some investigators to abandon preconceived ideas about how metals &apos;&apos;should,, behave. The incorrect idea is still prevalent that the conditions determining resistance to fracture are very different from those determining the flow stress. Attempts are still being made to express resistance to fracture in terms of a single parameter, such as a limiting value of the greatest principal stress, the maximum shearing stress, or the volume stress (one-third the algebraic sum of the three principal stresses). In these attempts, a sharp distinction is sometimes made between a ductile or ,plasticdeformation, fracture,, and a "brittle frat-ture.H In making this distinction, however, the meaning attached to the term "brittle fracture" sometimes is not made clear. The term could mean fracture after very little plastic deformation or it could be used to designate the type of fracture. An ordinary fracture of a ductile metal at room temperature starts as a cleavage, generally transverse to the direction of the greatest principal stress, but eventually changes to a shearing fracture&apos; In some conditions, however, the metal fractures entirely by cleavage, with no evidence of plastic deformation during the fracture; the surface of such a fracture may have a

Jan 1, 1948

By John R. Green

ROTARY kilns, varying in construction, are used in a variety of processes. Products differ and operating conditions vary according to economic requirements. All of these variables influence the degree of instrumentation and type of control necessary or profitable to install. Products fired in rotary kilns are the results of combined temperature and time treatment and the interrelation of these two factors should be kept constantly in mind in the perusal of this paper. MEASUREMENTS OF KILN TEMPERATURE The securing of proper temperatures within the rotary kiln, either of the charge or of the kiln lining in the high fire zone, are basic objectives of kiln operation; therefore the measurement of these high-temperature conditions merits first consideration. For these measurements, radiation pyrometers, properly designed and protected, have proved adequate, particularly where records or automatic control are desired, while optical pyrometers may serve as portable indicators. Light-sensitive devices or photoelectric cells in this service are capable of producing records as well as certain forms of automatic control. High-temperature measuring devices for rotary-kiln work should have the measuring unit protected from dust, as a continued accumulation of deposit would lower the readings. Fig. I shows a typical application of radiation equipment to a rotary kiln, mounted far enough away from the sighting hole through the kiln hood to be protected from puffs or stingouts and with a sighting tube having a series of settling chambers, to prevent dust from reaching the lens. Although dust conditions inside the kiln itself usually fluctuate considerably and have their effect upon the readings at that moment, such effects are not cumulative and show as a continuous fluctuation in the temperature indicated, provided the radiation unit and recorder are responsive to such slight and rapid temperature fluctuations. The ambient temperature to which a measuring unit is subjected fluctuates from possibly 0° to over 200°F., therefore these changes should have no effect upon the final reading or upon the life of the measuring unit. A very narrow sighting angle is desirable, so that measurement of temperature may be made as far as possible into the high fire zone without effect of the flame temperature. There should be some sighting means on the measuring unit, so that the proper field may be viewed. Measurement of wall temperature taken at a point where the charge has just left the wall is less affected by dusting conditions than when taken elsewhere. Factors Influencing Temperature Table I gives an outline of the factors that produce kiln temperatures and comments on the possibility of measurement and control. Of greater number and of varied influence are the factors that control when, where and how the heat is delivered to the kiln, the type of flame and the rate of

Jan 1, 1941

By H Catchpole, L FontbotT, J PTrez, M Ageneau, A Bendez·

In the world-class mining district of Morococha, epithermal polymetallic replacement bodies and veins overprint porphyry mineralisation and skarns related to subvolcanic intrusions of Miocene age, thus indicating ore formation in two different environments, separated in time or forming a continuum. The district covers an area of about 70 km2 in the north-western part of the Domo de Yauli complex in theWestern Cordillera of central Peru and is part of the Miocene polymetallic belt, also hosting the deposits of Colquijirca (Bendez· et al, 2008b) and Cerro de Pasco (Baumgartner, FontbotT and Vennemann, 2008). Multiple late-Miocene porphyry stocks intruded Permian, Triassic-Jurassic and late-Cretaceous sedimentary carbonate and volcano-sedimentary formations, as well as large mid-Miocene barren intrusions. Extensive field work and detailedmapping of different styles of orebodies suggest that ore formation in the area was related to the late-Miocene magmatism. Good outcrop conditions and superimposing of different mineralisation styles make Morococha an ideal location for studying ore-forming processes in a complex porphyry-related magmatic-hydrothermal system in which porphyry-to-epithermal transition occurred. An&nbsp;EXTENDED ABSTRACT&nbsp;is available for download. A full-length paper was not&nbsp;prepared for this presentation.

Jan 1, 2008

By David R. Mitchell

This paper is limited primarily to a description of dry coal-cleaning processes in which air currents are used to effectuate a separation between coal and refuse. Processes depending mainly on differences in the coefficient of friction, resilience and shape are not described unless the use of air is necessary for the proper functioning of the process. The air cleaning of coal is of primary importance to the coal industry of the United States. From figures presented in the 1941 edition Mechannual, it is estimated that at least 12 million tons of bituminous coal was cleaned in the United States during 1940 by machines using air as the separating medium. One of the current problems confronting the coal-preparation engineer is the dry cleaning of small sizes and slacks. Progress in machine development for the cleaning of small sizes has been slow in recent years in the United States of America; it has been much more rapid in Britain and on the European continent. This paper does not attempt an exhaustive survey of all these developments, and only machines and processes that have found considerable commercial application are cited. Further, no critical analysis has been made of the theory involved in the separation of coal from refuse by processes using air as the separating medium other than that necessary for an understanding of particular machine designs and applications. The possibility of using air for the separation of coal from refuse was recognized early by mining men and many attempts were made to develop commercial machines. The ingenuity of the early experimenters is to be marveled at in view of their lack of knowledge of the theoretical principles involved. As in other arts, practice has largely preceded theory. Yet, science and practice play a game of leap frog, now one ahead, then the other; the careful experimenmenter governs his efforts along practical lines by adapting his experiments to the limits prescribed by scientific laws. By first studying developments and the theory involved, it is not only possible to adapt processes to new uses but also to reduce materially operating cost and to build larger units without costly failures. Although many inventors have applied for patents for separating minerals by the use of air currents, the literature in regard to coal is meager. Berrisford2 describes briefly some of the early attempts to clean coal without the use of water. Several of the examples cited by him are reproduced herein. Fig. I shows a machine used for grinding and; izing, in which rollers running in a pan with a perforated bottom and fan opening on the side crushed the coal, which was then carried by the air currents to a settling chamber. The heaviest particles dropped out first and the light ones farthest away, as shown. In the year 1864, a machine was made that could be used as a sizer or to separate dirt from coal with a sized feed (Fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1942

By Dr. O’Neil Thomas J., Donald W. Gentry

The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth. LaRockefoucauld INTRODUCTION The primary reason for performing a feasibility study on a proposed mining venture is to investigate all phases of the proposal in as much detail as necessary to justify either dropping the project or continuing expenditures through the next stage. The economic evaluation component of the feasibility study, therefore, must ultimately be based on information which provides an answer to the question, "What is it going to cost?" Unfortunately engineers preparing feasibility studies never have all the engineering or economic information they would like or need. Consequently, the economic portion of the analysis can only be performed if estimates of the various costs associated with the project are made. Project cost estimates, in turn, require estimates of all the physical factors affecting cost components, including anticipated performance of plant and equipment as well as all pertinent geologic, mineralogic, and metallurgical variables. Before useful cost estimating procedures can be applied considerable data must be collected, compiled, and organized. Preparatory work typically includes organization of cost data available for estimating purposes, development of techniques for updating historical costs, and establishing methods of forecasting prices and costs over the duration of the project. Cost estimates for mining and mineral processing projects involve so many features and variables that it is absolutely essential to have some means by which the vast amount of detail can be organized. It is very important to identify, in as much detail as possible, all the cost data available (historical and developed) to the estimator. These costs, after being properly identified in detail, should be com- piled, stored, updated regularly, and made readily available for use in developing new cost estimates Accessing files of current cost information requires a standardized numerical system of classifying cost data. When uniform definitions and procedures are used, every project record contributes to the common store of estimating data.

Jan 1, 1984

By Brian Hall

For some years, the mining industry has been consistently delivering returns below the market average. One of the causes is a disconnect between what is perceived to drive value creation by many industry analysts and senior corporate executives, and what actually drives the intrinsic value of mining operations. The perverse effect is that strategies that should increase value are perceived to have the potential to drive share prices down, and vice versa. This paper challenges common perceptions of what drives a mining company?s value. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the key drivers of value in the market, and hence in many boardrooms, are such things as increasing the reserves and production rate, and reducing unit operating cost. However, while the quoted reserves may satisfy ore reserves reporting code requirements to be economic, this does not imply that they are optimal. Often, a proportion of the quoted reserve reduces the potential value of the operation. Metal price increases, increased production rates, and operating cost reductions are all seen as conditions or actions that can improve value, and lead to cutoff grade reductions, thereby increasing ore reserves. However, modern cutoff theory and studies conducted by the author and his colleagues show clearly that, while breakeven cutoff grades will fall in these circumstances, optimum cutoffs may be much less volatile, and may even increase. Results from case studies indicate that value is maximised by right-sizing, not maximising, the production capacities, and by optimising the cutoff strategy. Values of many existing underground mining operations can be increased significantly by a substantial cutoff grade increase. Also, an increase in downside risk, and hence reduced returns, can occur using typical life-of-mine planning strategies if prices received are lower than predicted. Since this is often the case, low industry returns may be a direct result of typical strategic mine planning processes. Relatively simple cost-effective techniques are available to provide senior decision makers with information needed to assess the tradeoffs between their many conflicting corporate goals, and the balance between risk and reward. Often this information is not being generated at all. If it is, decisions affecting the value of the company are occurring by default at relatively low levels within the hierarchy, with senior executives apparently unaware of them or their potential impact. The paper concludes that without a re-evaluation of the way mining projects are valued, to demand proven value optimisation from mining plans by boards and mining analysts, the industry will continue to deliver below average returns.

May 1, 2003

Discussion of the paper of John H. Hall, presented at the New York. Meeting, October, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 79, July, 1913, pp. 1247 to 1256. WILLIAM &apos;R. WEBSTER, Philadelphia, Pa.:-I would like to call ,attention to the fact that the results of the ordinary tension and bend tests do not always give us the information we want even if we figure out the amount of work done. You want a bending test of sufficient width and full thickness. In the case of eyebars, for instance, I have had experience with a 10- by 1-in. eyebar which gave perfectly good results in a full-size test of the finished bar. The 10- by 1.5-in. and 10- by 1.75-in. eyebars from the same heats-of steel were absolutely worthless in full-size tests. The narrow bending tests from all these bars gave good results. Bat after going into the matter fully, we found that if pieces about 3 in. wide and full thickness were used for the. cold bending tests, the heavier material would not stand this test, but failed. That is, in order to check the quality of the rolled bar you should have a wide piece of full thickness for cold bending, as the narrow pieces give misleading results. J. E. JOHNSON, JR., New York, N. Y. :-I would like to ask if there have been any tests made to compare the results of Charpy tests with the true dynamic test similar .to the Wohler test, except that the piece is subjected to a tensile or compressive stress and to alternating stresses in addition, at the same time. This seems to me to approach more nearly than any other test to the conditions of actual service. where the piece is under a fixed initial stress plus a highly variable and often alternating stress. Some tests were made on this plan in England within a year or two. The test piece was Subjected to either a tensile or compressive stress of known amount and simultaneously to alternating stresses in addition. Such a. test as this gives information which we cannot get by a tensile test or even from the tensile strength multiplied by an. elongation. Such tests, however, are exceedingly tedious and require long periods of time in order to obtain valuable results. If material could be subjected to these dynamic tests and the same material to the. Charpy shock test, and if some reasonable qualitative relation could be established between the results of the two tests, then we could assume that the shock test, which is so simple and easy to make, was a measurably accurate test of the dynamic qualities of the material. At present it does not seem

Jan 12, 1913

By Shu DM, Moxon P

Subsidence profiles over longwalls at West Cliff Colliery (WCC) are predicted by three methods, NCB Emperical Method, Salustowicz&apos;s Profile Functions and Superposition of Two Critical Profiles. A method of deriving maximum subsidence using local data is also presented. For the first four longwalls, the results are compared with those from the subsidence surveys conducted during and after the extraction of each longwall. Longwall V has not yet been extracted, so the results are for the predicted subsidence profile. Superposition of two critical profiles is carried out in an attempt to check the principle of superposition. In addition, strata movement above the extracted longwalls is discussed.

Jan 1, 1986

By H. H. Smith, G. J. Danek, M. R. Achter

Nickel, Type 316 stainless steel, and copper show decreases in reversed bending fatigue strength with increases in air and oxygen pressure. The leveling off of the log N us log p curve for nickel at 300" and 816°C is discussed in terms of a model in which surface saturation gives rise to a critical pressure. A metallographic study indicated that the effect of environment on crack initiation and growth rates is a function of temperature. It is shown that small amounts of impurities in inert gases may substantially reduce the fatigue strength of nickel. 1n a previous investigation1 of high-temperature bending fatigue in air and in vacuum, reversals in the effect of environment with changes in test conditions were atrributed to a mechanism consisting of two processes acting in competition. One of them, oxidation strengthening, has been demonstrated in a straightforward manner by measuring the rupture strength of a sintered nickel-oxide bond.&apos; The detailed operation of the other process, facilitation of crack propagation by surface absorption of oxygen, is uncertain. Thompson et UZ advanced the possibility that the formation of an oxide layer prevented rewelding of cracks during the compressive part of the cycle, while Wads worth and Hutchings4 further proposed that the reaction of oxygen with atoms at the tip of the crack helped the metal to break there, a possibility which has also been advanced to explain crack formation in creep.5 A difficulty in arriving at a mechanism for this lowering of fatigue strength in air is the inconsistency of some of the data. For example, Wadsworth and Hutchings4 found an approximately linear decrease of log cycles-to-fracture (N) with an increase of log pressure-of-air (p) for copper and aluminum at room temperature, while snowden,&apos; although finding a similar linear dependence for aluminum, observed a stepped curve for lead. Between l0-&apos; and 10"1 torr there is a sharp decrease in the fatigue life of lead with increasing air pressure, but plateaus, signifying no dependence on pressure, are found at higher and lower pressures. If, as discussed elsewhere: these environmental effects arise from the adsorption of gas on crack surfaces, it would be expected that as the pressure is increased a saturation point would be observed, beyond which there is no further effect. To gain further information about the form of the log N vs logp curve, it was decided in the present investigation to repeat this type of measurement at elevated temperature on nickel, copper, and Type 316 stainless steel. An additional object of this program was

Jan 1, 1963

By Roe-Hoan Yoon

INTRODUCTION In 1960, coal accounted for 49% of the world energy consumption, an amount that was reduced to 29% in 1973 because of the availability of cheap oil. At that time, it seemed that oil would remain available for a long time in unlimited quantities. However, this situation changed drastically in 1973/74 when a series of closely spaced price increases from $3 per to $12 per bbl by mid-1974 hit both industrialized and developing countries. Another sharp price increase in 1979/80 to the $34 to $38 per bbl level also hit the world economy hard and, at the same time, set in motion powerful technology development forces for increased coal utilization. At this point, the price of coal was approximately $1.50 per MM Btu, while that of oil approached $6.00 per MM Btu. This huge price differential offered an incentive for developing new coal technologies including liquefaction, gasification, fluidized bed combustion, coal-water mixture (CWM), etc. The CWM technology was of particular interest to the utility industry, which consumes more than 80% of the coal mined in the US for power generation. In this technology, a powdered coal is mixed with water to produce a stable slurry that can be stored for an extended period of time without settling and is readily pumpable. Various reagents in the amount of approximately 1% by weight of the coal are added to inhibit sedimentation during storage and to reduce the viscosity for atomization in burners. The coal loading is in the range of 50 to 80% solids, depending on the particle size and its distribution. With very fine particles, it is difficult to increase the coal loading above 50%, and a binomial distribution helps increase the coal loading. The presence of water consumes a relatively small amount of the heating value of the coal during combustion; for a coal-water slurry containing 30% water, less than 5% of the calorific value of coal is usually consumed due to evaporation. The major advantage of burning coal as a slurry is that many of the oil-burning furnaces can be converted to coal-burning with a minimum retrofit cost. Considering the substantial price margin between coal and oil, the pay- back period for retrofit costs can be relatively short. Nevertheless, the retrofit cost can be further reduced if low-ash coals are used as feedstocks for CWM; there will be savings in the capital cost of installing bag filters or electrostatic precipitators that are designed to remove the ash from the combustion gases. Furthermore, the use of low-ash coals can minimize derating of boilers because the velocity of the combustion gases can be maximized without creating erosion

Jan 1, 1991

By H Holmstr÷m, A Widerlund, M Lindvall

At the Kristineberg mine in northern Sweden sulfide-rich, poorly buffered tailings have been deposited in five impoundments located along a valley. The tailings area has been remediated by applying a combination of till cover and flooding. A new method that has been applied to parts of the tailings area is to raise the groundwater table to saturate the tailings. By increasing pH by liming, thereby reducing metal mobility, a water-covered downstream impoundment is functioning as a trap for metals released from the till-covered impoundments upstream. In this paper the efficiency of the system approach used at Kristineberg is evaluated. Progressive changes of water quality from groundwater in the upstream till-covered impoundments via surface streams within the pond system to the water in the flooded downstream pond and its outlet are described. The results show that the system approach used in the design of the remediation programme of the tailings works as planned. The sulfide oxidation rate has decreased in the till-covered impoundments, and, as predicted, there is an out-flush of old weathering products which will continue for at least five years before equilibrium is reached. The groundwater in the till-covered impoundments has high concentrations of Fe, S, Mg and Zn, but the concentrations of metals such as Cu, Cd and Pb are much lower than before the till cover was applied. The limed pond is an efficient metal trap, with concentrations as high as 2.76 per cent Zn and 0.28 per cent Cu in the calcite-gypsum sludge developed on the tailings. The outlet from the flooded pond, and thus from the whole mining area, releases small amounts of metals to the recipient in comparison to the amounts that are in movement within the mining area. During the period May to November, 13 kg dissolved Zn and 111 kg particulate Zn was released to the recipient, whereas a total of 27 000 kg was transported by surface water within the impoundment system during the same period. The results from Kristineberg show that when planning remediation of complex mining areas, it is useful to adopt a system approach in which different methods are used on different parts of the area along the flow path of the drainage water, whereas flooding of the downstream pond is the key to the performance of the entire system.

Jan 1, 2003

By G. W. Neighbor, M. S. Abrahams

The actice slip plane in InSb is found to be of the {111} type by using the method of two-tmce anulysis. Measurements of the rotation of the tensile axis with increasing plastic shear strain indicate that the tnacroscopic slip direction is a <110>. Recrystal-lization is first observed at a sheav strain of about 70 pct for a crystal deformed at a temperatzcre of 473° C and at a shear strain rate of 2.90 times 10- %ecc-I; the dislocation density corresponding to this value of the strain is 1 x 108 em-&apos;. At a shear strain of about 170 pct, the recrystallization process is complete. This appears to be the fimt time re-crystallization has heen observed in a semiconductor. V HE operation of the {Hi} glide plane in Ge was first noted by Gallagher.&apos; This finding was confirmed by Treuting who also extended the result to Si. Using X-ray techniques, Treuting3 demonstrated that the macroscopic slip direction in Ge was of the <110> type. The choice of the (111) <110> slip system in Ge is exected since in the diamond-type structure the {Ill7 plane is the plane of highest density and the <110> direction is the direction of closest packing.4 There is little reason to expect that the glide elements of InSb are different from those of Ge, since the zinc-blende structure characteristic of InSb is quite similar to the structure of Ge. With regard to InSb, Allen5 has indicated that the glide plane is the {111} type. There appears to be no quantitative determination of the glide direction, however. The present work was undertaken to establish both the glide plane and glide direction in InSb and also to see if recrystallization occurs at large shear strains. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Mechanical Deformation. The single crystals of InSb used in this investigation were deformed in uni-axial tension. The tensile axis of the specimens was [145] and the periphery was bounded by (111) and (321) planes as shown in Fig. 1. The metallographi-cally polished specimens were deformed in a dynamic atmosphere of He, using an Instron machine. The tensile tests were performed at temperatures in the range of 300°C to the melting point (525OC) and at shear strain-rates varying between 1.94 X 104 sec-&apos; to 1.94 x 103 sec-&apos;. Additional details concerning the preparation and deformation of the specimens have been presented previously.&apos; Analysis of the Glide Elements. The traces of the active slip plane in both (111) and (321) planes were analyzed according to the usual method of two-trace analysis." The macroscopic slip direction was determined by measuring the rotation of the tensile axis as a function of plastic strain,8 These measurements were made from Laue back-reflection X-ray photographs. The X-ray beam was perpendicular to the (111) plane. A given crystal was used for only one measurement of the rotation of the tensile axis after it had been strained to a predetermined value. Therefore, care was taken at all times to insure that the X-ray beam was parallel to the [Ill ] direction of all the samples. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Glide Plane. After 3.4 pct plastic shear-strain, at a temperature of 369°C and a shear strain-rate of 1.94 x 104 sec-&apos;, the slip traces on the (111) and (3.21) planes appear as in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b), respectively. The results of an analysis of these glide markings demonstrate that the slip plane is (111). The operation of this plane is expected on the basis of the orientation of the specimen, since glide on this plane and in the [I011 direction will result in

Jan 1, 1962

By L. C. Raymond

Valuations in the mineral industry differ from those of other enterprises because mines and oil wells have a definite life so cannot be considered a perpetuity. This requires that in any mineral-property evaluation the recovery of invested capital is necessary during the life of the property. Capital write-offs for nonextractive industries are assumed to be continuously plowed back to sustain the operation and produce yields on the capital invested. The extractive or mineral industry, however, generally attempts to return to the investor both interest and principal during the life of a property. Normally this is done currently and the dividend includes both items. Where the mineral property possesses large reserves and the life factor approximates a perpetuity, the return on investment is generally comparable to that of industrial stocks. The valuation of a mineral property, at best, is based on educated estimates and judgment factors. This is particularly true as it relates to estimating selling prices over a long term or assessing the quality of management. Also, it is possible to make various assumptions as to rapidity of working out the deposit, varying time for start-up of operations, varying earning rates, so as to obtain different results with the same basic facts. Thus it is not surprising that two engineers, irrespective of their abilities, may not agree exactly even when given the same facts, but their results should be close enough to be used in establishing a fair value for trading purposes. The valuation is no better than the source of basic data and the soundness of judgment factors. Fundamentally the basic principles of mineral valuation are similar for base metals, sulfur, oil, or any other mineral. Each mineral, however, requires an engineer to have a knowledge of such factors as its occurrence, distribution, mining and processing methods, and marketing problems in order to gather and analyze all the facts and data that have a bearing on the earning potential of the property. Present Value of a Mineral Property In essence the present value of a mineral property is a sum of money in today&apos;s dollars that future income from the property are worth. It differs from the total anticipated earnings by the amount of the interest that the unrecouped investment could be expected to earn during the period of recoupment. Thus, if one could accurately estimate what a mineral property will earn during its life, after deducting all operating, administrative, capital, interest, and tax charges, the determination of present value would be a relatively simple mathematical calculation. Normally, where the expected life of the mineral property extends beyond 20 or 25 years, the discounted value of earnings beyond this period is relatively small. The petroleum industry generally discounts the annual cash flow of an operation rather than earnings since, for tax-saving purposes, earnings are kept

Jan 1, 1976

By W. M. Phillips

Processing kaolin clays from the sedimentary deposits of Georgia and South Carolina is described in this article. While the major processing steps are touched on briefly, emphasis is given to the dewater-ing of the clay-water slurries (slips) formed in the processing of kaolin clays. The dewatering steps discussed include gravity settling, centrifugal dewatering, vacuum filtration and thermal drying. Particular attention is given to vacuum filtration and the variables affecting filtration of these kaolin clays. Kaolin consists essentially of the mineral kaolinite, which is a hydrated aluminum silicate (Al2O3 . 2SiO,). Commercial deposits of kaolin occur in several areas of the U. S., but approximately 90% of the kaolin produced in this country comes from Georgia and South Carolina. These deposits are of sedimentary nature and occur in a geological fall line in the Tuscaloosa formation at elevations between 300 and 450 ft above sea level. Over two million tons of kaolin clays are used by industry in the U. S. each year. A big percentage of this tonnage is used in the paper industry for coatings in making glossy and high quality grades of printing papers. In addition, large tonnages are used as pigments; as fillers for rubber, plastic and fertilizers; and in ceramics. Properties of kaolin that make it widely used in the above applications are its particle size fineness, natural whiteness, chemical stability and non-abrasiveness. In addition to these desirable properties, it is relatively inexpensive. The finer coating grades of clays range in price from $15 to $28 per ton while the coarser filler grades sell within a range of $7 to $13.50 per ton. Pure kaolin particles are small hexagonal flat platelets. Above the 2-p size, the particles usually consist of stacks of plates, while below the 2-p particle size they occur as individual flat, hexagonal plates. Since these individual platelet particles provide the most desirable coating and flow characteristics, major importance is given to particle size fractions of 2 p and smaller. Generally, coating grade clays are those with all particles smaller than 15 p and at least 70% of the particles less than 2p. These coating grades also have 50% or more of the particles smaller than 1 µ in size. The extremely fine grades of coating clay currently being produced approach the range of 100% smaller than 2p. The filler grades of kaolin have 100% of the particles passing 325 mesh but have less than 70% of their particles below the 2-p range. Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the major processing steps involved in preparing kaolin clays for marketing. MINING All kaolin mining is open pit. The ratio of overburden to clay will average 3:1, but this ratio can, of course, be much higher depending upon the grade of the clay and the size of the deposit. Most of the commercially mineable deposits occur from 20 to 120 ft below the ground surface. Both draglines and pans are used in removing the overburden and mining the clay deposit itself. After mining, the most common method of transporting the clay to the processing plant is by blunging or re pulp-

Jan 1, 1963

By W. S. Ayres

The construction of a new breaker at the Cranberry Colliery, Hazleton, Pa., was forced upon the operators, A. Pnrdee & Co., by a fire which destroyed the entire plant early in January, 1896. The loss included, in addition to the breaker, three boilerhouses and three engine-houses. The boilers were not injured, but the steam-pipes and connections were all broken and warped by the fire. The boilers were probably saved from injury by the presence of mind of the fireman., who started all his feed-pumps and filled the boilers with water. The hoisting-engines were more or less warped and cracked, but by patching and replacing the injured and broken parts, they were made to do satisfactory service in the new plant. It may be worthy of mention that the wrought-iron shaft of one of the hoisting-drums, 12 inches in diameter by 17 feet long, was so heated in the fire that the weight of the drum caused it

Jan 1, 1899

By Xiaoqi Sun

"Rare earth elements (REEs) have a series of specific properties making them invaluable in products including lighting, electronics and magnetism. The elements have been used in many commercial products, for example, turbines, electric vehicles, batteries, lighting, computers, cell phones and lasers. Heavy REEs are attracting the interests of scientists from many countries, and these elements have become critical to develop high-tech materials. Ion-adsorbed rare earth deposits were first discovered in China. The minerals are also called weathered crust elution-deposited rare earths. The particular types of deposits are distributed throughout southern China. The ion-adsorbed deposits are rich in medium and heavy REEs, accounting for more than 80% of the world’s total medium and heavy REEs production. However, the separation of heavy REEs from ion-adsorbed deposit is difficult owing to their similar chemical properties. The conventional separating technologies have caused serious pollution. A novel extraction strategy has been developed in this laboratory and is presented herein.INTRODUCTIONThe unique properties of rare earth elements (REEs) render them important in high-strength magnets, lighting phosphors, polishing compounds, and ceramics. Especially for applications that take advantage of the f-orbital electrons, substitutions outside the REE family are often difficult to impossible (Nassar, Du, & Graedel, 2015). Extracting and separating individual elements from mined ore is not easy, requiring lengthy operations to separate them, and this results in high costs and adverse effects on the environment. The low concentration of REE in the earth’s crust makes economic exploitation difficult (de Boer & Lammertsma, 2013) and the sustainability of the REEs separation industry has aroused considerable attention (McLellan, Corder, Golev, & Ali, 2014). To eliminate protons and break the dimmers in organic phosphonic acids or carboxylic acids, the saponification of acidic extractants by acid-base neutralization reactions are widely used in industrial REEs separation (Sun, Luo, & Dai, 2012a). The saponification procedure contributes to increased extractability and selectivity of acidic extractants to a considerable extent. The common industrial saponification mechanisms and technological processes are shown in Figure 1 and include ammonium saponification (saponified by NH3·H2O), sodium saponification (saponified by NaOH), calcium saponification (saponified by Ca(OH)2), and magnesium saponification (saponified by MgO). These inevitably result in wastewaters containing NH4 +, Na+, Ca2+ or Mg2+ because of the cation-exchange extraction mechanisms (Xiao, Long, Huang, Feng, Cui, & Wang, 2013; Song, Fu, Wang, Liu, Zhou, & Li, 2014; Sun & Waters, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2016