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By R. Adsero

The volume of data produced by operating mines has increased substantially over the last 10 years. However, the volume of data and analytical capability has been negatively correlated to equipment productivity for at least the last seven years. In simple terms, as the volume of data has increased equipment performance has declined. Table (2010) tells us that ?The calamity of the information age is that the toxicity of data increases much faster than its benefits?. More data does not guarantee improving productivity; but more data is also not the cause of declining productivity. Similarly, when equipment performance does start to improve, (it must ? there really is no option if mines want to remain competitive), it will not be the data nor analytics which causes it; it will be the people using the resources at their disposal; including the data. Data and analytics can help if the toxicity of the data can be managed. The simplest form of business improvement using data is benchmarking. The objective of benchmarking is to understand and evaluate the current position of a process in relation to ?best practice? and to identify areas and means of performance improvement. The application of benchmarking involves four key steps: (1) Analyze and understand in detail existing processes; (2) Analyze and understand the processes of others; (3) Compare your own performance with that of the others analyzed; and (4) Design and implement the changes necessary to close the performance gap(s). There are however, many in the mining industries who have shunned equipment benchmarking because they believe that, ?every mine is a pilot?. In other words, the differences between mine operations make comparisons between them of little value. This paper will present a valid approach to benchmarking equipment performance and reliability, accounting for the differences and similarities between operations, producing a result which can be used to add value to mines around the world.

Feb 23, 2014

By R. S. Kalyoncu

Materials demands by the advancing process technologies, desire for higher performance and durability, and improved efficiency in combustion processes, such as applications in heat engines, heat exchanges, and batteries have added to the driving force fueling R&D efforts for the development of components with the combined characteristics of metals and non-metals. These new materials involve refined and specialized microstructures that can lead to improvements in the performance characteristics and durability new technological applications require. Fabrication and sintering methods, once believed to be sufficient, alone, have been found to be inadequate in the manufacture of such advanced components. Realization of the importance of the starting powders has led to efforts to produce materials of ultrahigh purity and ultrafine particle size with very narrow particle size distributions. Such powder characteristics are essential for the fabrication of components with high density and with the desired mechanical, electrical, or magnetic properties called for by the specific application. Novel ultrafine and ultrapure powder preparation techniques are discussed and effects of impurities on the powder characteristics, particle size and morphology, sintering behavior and properties of the finished product are elucidated.

Jan 1, 1992

By E. J. Karges

[For reasons well known to Mining Engineers, fine grinding in the wet form is quite universal inn plants engaged in the traction of metallic values from crude ore In the processing, of non-metallic and industrial minerals, however, fine grinding in dry form is the more common method. The crude materials generally contain less moisture than required for wet grinding, and the products are usually marketed or used in the dry form, most of them as powders. To grind wet would therefore entail the addition of water and the expense for drying the product, which is not justified. This paper will concentrate on the particle size reduction or fine grinding of materials to produce a dry powder]

Jan 1, 1963

By J. Bilant, B. Carlson, N. Gow

High Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) technology has been evaluated to replace tertiary cone crushing at Coeur Rochester operations (Coeur Rochester, Inc.) as an opportunity to improve silver recovery. In 2016 and 2017, onsite and third-party pilot programs were initiated to evaluate the impact of metallurgical recovery and heap leach performance of crushed product generated by an HPGR. In 2018, Forte Dynamics evaluated the HPGR laboratory metallurgical data from Coeur Rochester and all third parties to develop field-scale leach curves based on new crushing scenarios. The laboratory recovery test work data was consolidated and scaled to field conditions to determine projected heap leach performance. Based on the metallurgical testing conducted, the replacement of current tertiary cone crushers with HPGR technology has the potential to increase Coeur Rochester’s silver recovery rate by 8%, from 61% to 69%, and shorten the overall timing of silver recoveries from 20 years to just over two years. INTRODUCTION The Rochester mine, and associated valley fill heap leach facilities is an open-pit silver and gold mine located in Pershing County, Nevada, approximately 26 miles northeast of the city of Lovelock. In 2017, Rochester produced approximately 4.7M troy oz silver (Ag) and 51k troy oz gold (Au). Ore mined at Rochester is either fed directly to the primary X-Pit crusher, crushed at an in-pit crusher system, or placed directly onto a heap leach pad as run-of-mine (ROM). Both crushing circuits are comprised of three stages of crushing to produce a nominal 3/8” ore. Primary crushing consists of jaw crushing while secondary and tertiary crushing are composed of varying cone crushers. Historical recovery rates of crushed Rochester ore average 61.4% Ag and 95.9% Au over a period of 20 years [1]. These rates were derived from third party verification of in-house metallurgical test results, crusher production and heap leach production results from 1986 through 2004 in a private report for Rochester produced by KD Engineering Co., Inc. Recovery rates are regularly verified by compositing daily samples of ore delivered to each leach pad from the X-pit crusher, in-pit crusher, and/or ROM. A proportionate split of each sample is used to generate monthly composites for metallurgical analysis utilizing column leaching and bottle roll leaching. These tests are run in a manner analogous with production conditions and deliver test results that provide expected heap leach performance. As the Rochester oxide deposit has been mineralogically and metallurgically consistent, the gold and silver recovery trends have also been consistent over the life of the project. In 2016 and 2017, onsite and third-party pilot programs were initiated to evaluate the impact of HPGR technology to metallurgical recovery and heap leach performance of crushed product in an open circuit configuration, as a potential replacement for the currently in place tertiary cone crushers. During these years, HPGR was evaluated in three phases of test work.

Jan 1, 2019

By J. D. Miller, C. L. Lin

From mine to mill, the 3D characterization of particles ranging in size from meters to micrometers is now possible. A brief review of X-ray tomography for mineral processing is given with recent advances considered, such as high-speed scanning and image analysis procedures to describe important particle properties, including size, shape and composition. Considering these new 3D characterization tools, applications in mineral processing are discussed for high-resolution X-ray microtomography (HRXMT) laboratory analysis of particles ranging from 20 mm to 5 μm, with a voxel resolution of about 1 μm, including (1) multiphase particle characterization by HRXMT and comparison with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), (2) particle damage state as a result of blasting/comminution, (3) liberation characterization to describe expected separation efficiency, (4) exposed grain surface area analysis to explain the flotation of locked particles, and (5) floc size, shape and water content for polymer-induced flocculation. Finally, applications in mineral processing for plant-site analysis using high-speed X-ray computed tomography (HSXCT) are examined, including, for example, coal washability analysis, the analysis of crusher plant products, and the analysis of pebble phosphate products from central Florida. Scanning rates on the order of 1 kg/min for particle sizes ranging from 150 mm to 1 mm are possible, with a voxel resolution of about 100 μm. For coarse particles smaller than 5 to 10 mm, high scanning rates of more than 300 t/h may be possible at a voxel resolution of about 1 mm.

By Robert E. Thurmond

With modern exploration techniques, it seems likely that an increasing number of the orebodies to be found in the future will be under alluvial fans or valley fill. As a result, a larger proportion of open pit mines will be confronted with the necessity for removal of substantial quantities of alluvial overburden; whereas in the past, for the most part, the open pit mine operator has dealt mainly with hard rock. If this proves to be the case, methods, equipment, and costs for alluvium stripping will become an increasingly important factor in open pit mine planning. Several operations are now faced with this situation, and various methods and equipment are used. At Pima Mining Company's operation the stripping ratio is in the range of 6/1 Well over half of the stripping volume is alluvium. The alluvium is removed almost entirely by carryalls hauling direct to a waste dump. Some removal has been accomplished by shovel and truck operation; more will be done by this means in the future. At American Smelting and Refining Company's neighboring .Mission Mine, nearly all alluvium removal is by large shovels and, trucks. U. S. Borax's Boron operation is accomplishing alluvium removal with carryalls but has been investigating other methods and equipment. The various operations in the Gas Hills Uranium District in Wyoming are stripping mainly with carryalls, although some small draglines are employed. The M. A. Hanna Company in the Mesabi Range employs large draglines and conveyor systems for removal of glacial fill. Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines in Northern Rhodesia strips overburden with a large excavating wheel and conveyor system. There are no doubt other open pit operations with which the writer is not familiar, that are handling large quantities of alluvial overburden.

Jan 1, 1963

By Ihsan Berk Tulu, Gaobo Zhao, Deniz Tuncay, Syd S. Peng

Longwall mine instrumentation for measuring abutment stress distribution, mining induced immediate roof stress change and deformation, and primary/secondary support loads and deformations provides critical guidance for the design of gateroad chain pillars and roof support. Field measurement results are also recognized as the best way to calibrate numerical models that have been used to study the failure and support mechanisms. International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (ICGCM) started in 1981 and since then, there were 26 papers published in the proceedings discussing the stress and load measurements as the face advanced using various field instrumentation techniques. The focus of this paper is on summarizing the analyses of the data published in these papers. Stress/load change monitoring included the following categories: gateroad chain pillar, abutment pressure, bolt load, and pre-driven recovery room. The data shows that the magnitude of stress changes as the face advances varies considerably from panel to panel and mine to mine. However, regardless of types of stress changes, pillar stress, abutment pressure, and bolt load, there exists a rough trend of stress increase as the face advances, generally consisting of three stages, i.e., stress/load (1) initially increases steady or slowly, (2) increases rapidly, and (3) increases reaching the peaks and dropping down slowly or sharply. The stress/load increases start earlier during the second panel mining and are larger than the first panel mining. This review makes it easy for the interested persons to find valuable data for other similar projects.

By Jian Wang, Xiaoming Sun, Ming Jiang, Fuxin Shen, Chengyu Miao, Wenchao Zhao, Yong Zhang

The increased thickness of the coal seam leads to higher goaf roof collapse height. In contrast, the dynamic pressure from the mining of ultra-thick coal seams generates higher abutment pressures around the mined area and may affect the stability of roadways servicing these panels. To mitigate the deformation and damage issues in the roadways during the extraction of ultra-thick coal seams under a high depth of cover, researchers have proposed combining high prestress constant resistance support and roof-cutting technology (HPCR-RC). The deformation and failure mechanisms of the roadways during the extraction of ultra-thick coal seams under a high depth of cover, along with the mechanisms and field control effects of the combined support system, have been analyzed through theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and field experiments. The research findings reveal that the high in situ stress, initial excavation disturbance, rotation, and subsidence of the fractured roof of the extra-thick coal seam led to significant deformation and damage in the roadways. High prestress constant resistance support compensates for the initial stress loss, reduces initial stress concentration, and absorbs deformation energy. Moreover, the roof-cutting technology severs the connection between the goaf roof and the roadway roof, disrupts the path of stress transfer, raises the level of roof backfilling in the goaf, and provides support to the roof, effectively alleviating the pressure on the coal pillar ahead and adjacent to the working face. Field experiments have confirmed the effectiveness of HPCR-RC, as indicated by a substantial decrease in surrounding rock deformation and support pressure within the roadways.

Sep 25, 2023

By Clinton Birch

The multiple-criteria decision analysis is a technique that helps to find an optimal solution by evaluating conflicting criteria. In this study, an approach to perform multiple-criteria decision analysis for cut-off grade optimization, which considers the diverse stakeholder groups prevalent in the mining industry, is presented. The optimization model developed in this approach links the resource block model to the financial model, enabling the process to either maximize profit, net present value, revenue to the State, or extend the mine's life. To identify the optimal cut-off grade in each case, the Excel Solver function is utilized. Although it has limitations, the Solver function can still be modified to handle models with thousands of block values for determining input variables based on the target value. Following stakeholder engagement and dialogue, a single weighted average cut-off grade can then be determined. This approach is demonstrated for nine South African Witwatersrand gold mines.

Jun 25, 2023

By Wayne A. Van Voast

Many coal beds that will be mined in southeastern Montana are aquifers that provide essential local water supplies. Mine cuts along aquifer outcrops create almost imperceptible piezometric changes. Monitoring near such operations at Colstrip has detected almost no water-level declines in observation wells. Mine cuts between outcrops induce rapid storage depletion and associated piezometric depressions. One such cut near Decker induced 1,250 m3/day of flow from storage and created a piezometric depression of 3 meters or more as far as 1,500 meters from the mine. No wells have yet become non-productive but losses of some are inevitable as operations expand. Alternative supplies are available from aquifers stratigraphically below the disturbed materials. Effluents from active mines are chemically similar to other area waters because they are mixtures or ground waters entering the mine cuts. Occasional high concentrations of nitrate do occur, however, as residuals from explosives. Spoils generally consist of confined aquifers of wasted coal and coarse rubble at their bases, overlain by finer-grained sand, silt, and clay. Hydraulic conductivities and storage coefficients are comparable with those of undisturbed confined aquifers. Water quality in mined lands is highly diverse because of diverse spoils lithologies and poorly-established ground-water circulation. Ground water in spoils is more mineralized than in the coal beds and chemically resembles waters from sandstone aquifers. Hydrologic effects of mining will not be catastrophic or widespread but may have local significance. Most notable changes will be in water quality; availability will not be permanently reduced.

Jan 1, 1978

By Patrick Ph. D. Kennedy, Osvaldo A. Ph. D. Bascur

With the revolutionary progress in information and computer technologies, applying the latest information technologies in metallurgical complexes has become a serious challenge to both a major opportunity and a serious challenge to both management and technical teams. The emerging component and object technologies are changing the way everyone can beneficially use their computer and networks to add to their corporate bottom lines. Most mining and metallurgical plants use predictive maintenance policies based on statistical analysis and special techniques, like vibration analysis and oil and lube analysis for critical equipment. Process control strategies are installed in several metallurgical sites. All process equipment and control strategies require maintenance from local personnel at the mine. Integrated use of existing and emerging technologies is making it possible to implement an overall process effectiveness control index. This index is based on key indices such as losses due to plant availability, performance efficiency and rate of quality. The availability of real time and process history to identify the most critical part of the processing system from mechanical integrity is highlighted. An emerging plant integration paradigm is described to simplify the implementation of business enterprise resources management and distributed plant management systems.

Jan 1, 1998

By A. B. Cecala, G. W. Klinowski

Introduction The US Bureau of Mines has designed and evaluated total mill ventilation systems (TMVS) at two mineral-processing operations. Both systems have proven proficient at cost-effectively reducing respirable dust levels throughout the mills. An 11.8-m3/sec (25,000-cfm) system installed at a clay-processing mill provided about 10 air changes per hour (acph). This system reduced respirable dust concentrations by about 40% throughout the mill building. The second evaluation was performed at a silica sand operation. Tests were performed with 23.6 and 47.2 m3/sec (50,000 and 100,000 cfm) of ventilation to the mill building, corresponding to 17 and 34 acph. Average millwide respirable dust reductions were 36% and 64%, respectively. This work was done to determine general guidelines and design criteria for operations that may be interested in implementing TMVS. TMVS should be designed to draw clean make-up air in near the base of the mill. This air provides general purging and may clear some dust-laden areas throughout the mill structure. It is discharged at or near the top of the structure. Without the TMVS, dust can exit the building through open doors, windows, etc. and contaminate outside plant workers. This dust can also be recirculated back into the mill building causing additional contamination problems. TMVS is not a stand-alone system. It is a supplemental technique to assist other localized dust control systems (Mody et al., 1987). Testing Total mill ventilation systems were evaluated at two processing operations. For both tests, the primary goal was to determine the reduction in respirable dust throughout the structure. Test site No. 1. The first evaluation was performed at a clay-crushing and screening mill in New York. The mill's base dimensions were 39.6 x 9.8 m (130 x 32 ft), giving a volumetric capacity of 4250 m3 (150,000 cu ft). The TMVS was designed to provide 12 m3/sec (25,430 cfm) of ventilation air to the mill, representing about 10 acph. This was accomplished by three 4 m3/sec (8475 cfm) roof-powered exhaustors that were evenly spaced across the roof. Three wall louvers provided inlets for make-up air at the mill's base. Two evaluations were performed at this mill. The first occurred for two days in December when outside air temperatures ranged from -12.2° to 4.4° C (10° to 40° F). Temperatures with the wind chill factor dropped as low as -34° to -40° C (-29 to -40° F) during the early morning. The second evaluation was in April when outside air temperatures ranged between 10° to 26.7° C (50° to 80° F). These two evaluations verified the effectiveness of TMVS in lowering respirable-dust concentrations throughout the mill. Gravimetric-sampler respirable-dust concentrations in December ranged from 0.22 to 2.39 mg/m3 under normal conditions, compared to 0.13 to 1.55 mg/m3 with TMVS. In April, respirable dust concentrations ranged from 0.29 to 4.84 mg/m3 under normal conditions compared to 0.21 to 2.37 mg/m3 with the system on. TMVS also increased visibility throughout the mill building. Dust reductions for gravimetric and RAM-I instruments are listed in Table 1. Each value was determined by comparing the average concentration for the entire day of testing for normal and TMVS values. The mean/standard deviation values for gravimetric and RAM-1 results were 42.5/17.6 and 37.1/16.8, respectively.

Jan 1, 1996

By B. Samanta

This paper highlights the use of an innovative mine production scheduling scheme for grade-control planning tasks that take into consideration grade-model uncertainty. The scheduling exercise has been carried out with the help of a multiobjective genetic algorithm (MOGa) for the production scheduling operations. The underlying motive behind the use of MOGa has been the generation of a set of pareto optimal solutions to meet the goals of the target-grade specifications for the considered multiple grade attributes. Several new concepts related to MOGa formulation, in particular the mutation operation and the convergence criteria of this algorithm, are proposed in this paper. The modeling of grade uncertainty into the scheduling outputs has also been incorporated through a set of conditional simulated grade maps. The proposed scheme of production scheduling operations has been applied for the grade-control planning operations in an iron ore mine to meet the targeted grade specifications of iron, silica and alumina, and a risk analysis has been performed to this end.

Jan 1, 2013

An incremental-analysis-based stope design and cutoff grade calculation method was developed for an underground metal mine project. Traditional stope design methods are typically very time consuming and lack consistency and accuracy by manually drawing stope shapes. For quick reserve calculation and economic analysis, a new method named "3D incremental analysis based stope design" was created for mine-wide stope designs. The key idea of this method is to replace engineers' manual checking of each incremental ring with one calculation of all the rings, and to build the final stope shape with the maximum values. This process was realized through a 3D ring grid setup and proper naming conventions for rapid calculations. With this unique but practical method, multiple options for a mine design were completed within a short time before the final selection of optimal cutoff grade and best stope designs for the project.

Jan 1, 2012

By R. Benito

This paper describes the development of a life-of-mine schedule (LOM) for one of the world's largest known sedimentary copper-cobalt districts located in the Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A particular feature of the Tenke Fungurume LOM schedule is the considerable number of pits/phases for scheduling, each competing to provide the best ore available to a capacity-constrained process facility. This paper discusses the LOM scheduling objectives and constraints, data preprocessing steps such as ore binning, block aggregation and clustering analysis as a scheduling aid, the mine scheduling approach and results and conclusions. Mining Engineering, 2011, Vol. 63, No. 8, pp. 39-47. Official publication of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc.

Jan 1, 2011

By B. Stewart

Recent ore pass failures have underlined the need for improved designs, standards, structural monitoring methods, and better hang up prevention and removal techniques. Researchers at the Spokane Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are investigating methods to improve safety during transport of ore in ore passes. Design criteria and hang-up prevention and remediation strategies involve studies of the effects of static and dynamic ore and waste rock loads on chutes, walls, gates, and support structures. Particle flow analysis methods were used to simulate the response of various ore pass designs to a wide range of ore loading conditions. A full-scale mock-up of actual ore pass and chute assemblies was duplicated and tested for load response. Data from a particle flow code and the mock-ups were com-pared. Loads on an active ore pass chute were measured.

Jan 1, 1998

By Vic Miller

Highly variable milling properties within a geologically complex porphyry copper deposit owned by Kennecott Corporation in Nevada made it necessary to estimate the copper recovery and concentrate grade in areas where actual test data was lacking. The estimation was made by first determining the relationships between the desired metallurgical properties and the ore's petrology (i.e. copper mineral type, rock type and copper grade). This relationship was then combined with the already estimated rock type, mineral type and copper grade data in the mineral block model to predict the milling properties.

Jan 1, 1983

By Frederick B. Brien

For many years tin mining in Bolivia has been very important to the economy of the country. In recent years the tin content of the ore reserves has been steadily declining. An improvement in concentration efficiency is highly desirable in order to increase productivity from the present-low-grade mine ores and to allow retreatment of the many millions of tons of tailings from past operations, some of which equal the present ores in tin content. A number of investigators have been or at present are working on various phases or approaches to the problem. Gravity concentration is used in Bolivia today as it has been in the past to recover tin minerals from the mine ores. An objective of the work reported in this paper was to examine the possibility of treating present low-grade ores and sink-float tailings products, at a relatively coarse grind, in order to produce a higher grade feed material to the present gravity concentration plants. The possibility of using heavy liquids in cyclones to treat large tonnages with a minimum of outlay presented itself and is of particular interest since appropriate heavy liquids are available and with physical properties which lend themselves to simple recovery methods. Tests were carried out using a closed circuit laboratory cyclone assembly. It was desirable to determine the value of using the SG50 concept and Tromp curves for analyzing the cyclone concentration test results. The effects of entrained water on the behavior of ore particles in the cyclone were examined.

Jan 1, 1964

By M. Scaggs, L. R. Mendoza

"On January 9, 2014, a large chemical spill occurred on the bank of the Elk River near Charleston, WV. Within hours, the potable water supply for more than 300,000 people was contaminated, and the incident captured national headlines for weeks. Although the primary chemical, crude 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, or MCHM, is deemed nonhazardous, the impacts of the spill are significant – with all stakeholders, including the public, members of industry, and relevant government agencies experiencing losses. This case highlights the need for a more proactive approach to environmental management, shifting from crisis control and remediation to crisis prevention and risk management. INTRODUCTION On the morning of January 9, 2014, approximately 10,000 gallons of crude 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) leaked from a 48,000-gallon storage tank sitting on the bank of the Elk River near Charleston, West Virginia (WVDEP, 2014; CSB, 2014). MCHM is a chemical commonly used in preparation of fine coal, and is deemed nonhazardous in terms of transportation and storage regulations and also toxicity (CDC, 2014a). Freedom Industries, Inc., a producer and vendor of specialty chemical products, had acquired the storage facility where the spill occurred from Etowah River Terminal, LLC just a few weeks prior in December 2013 (WVDEP, 2014; Freedom, 2005). The direct cause of the spill was ultimately determined to be two small holes in the base of the 76-year-old tank, which were created due to corrosion damage (Bauerlein & McWhirter, 2014). The spill site was located just over a mile upstream from the intake of a municipal water treatment facility operated by West Virginia American Water (WVAW), which serves a population of 300,000 across nine counties in central West Virginia (CDC, 2014a). In a matter of hours, the leaked MCHM made its way through the treatment facility and into the water of nearby homes and businesses, where its strong smell was noticed almost immediately. On the evening of the spill, WVAW concluded that its conventional treatment processes, which include carbon filters to remove a variety of contaminants from water, were not capable of fully removing the MCHM and a “Do Not Use” order was issued for all customers (WVAW, 2014a). With little information readily available regarding the potential human health effects of MCHM, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quickly issued an advisory ruling that set a maximum screening level of 1 ppm for safe drinking water (CDC, 2014a). Based on this recommendation, the “Do Not Use” order remained in effect for a total of eight days, until January 17, when the WVAW distribution water was confirmed to have MCHM concentrations below this level (WVAW, 2014a). However, due to the pungent odor of the chemical, its presence was still recognizable in the WVAW facility and in consumers’ tap water after the order was lifted (Manuel, 2014). Recent studies have shown that the chemical can be detected in water at concentrations as low as 0.55 ppb by individuals experienced in odor identification (Rosen et al., 2014); and even individuals with no such training can detect pure MCHM at just 7 ppb (WVTAP, 2014). The fact that this chemical can be sensed at such low levels – indeed far below those considered safe – undoubtedly added to growing public concern. In response to numerous complaints and demands, WVAW continued flushing the treatment facility and pipes until February 25 when MCHM levels were measured below 2 ppb (WVAWb, 2014), and eventually replaced the affected filter media (WVAWc, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Charles T. Holland

INTRODUCTION Insofar as I am aware, the term rock mechanics was not in the English dictionary in 1930 when I started my graduate program at West Virginia University. Hence, I never thought that I was undertaking studies in rock mechanics when I undertook to write a thesis on the physical properties of West Virginia coal. In this case, the subject was primarily concerned with the compressive strength of coal, the elasticity of the coal, the physical weathering properties of the coal and its friability. These days investigations of rocks pertaining to such properties are included in the term "rock mechanics". Other than this aspect, the principle interest in this part of my program was that I became interested in the strength of coal from the standpoint of structural purposes, and also became cognizant of its elastic properties as well as its energy storing properties. This research also tied in with a remark that Professor Lawall made in a Mining Methods class in 1928 when he remarked that a peculiar thing was happening in the southern part of West Virginia, namely, in the Pocahontas coal field. His remarks were to the effect that pillars were blowing up in the mines and when asked why he replied the cause was not known. The failure of three-inch coal specimens, especially those in stronger coal, in non-hydraulic actuated testing machines was reminiscent of his description of those pillar bursts or bumps.

Jan 1, 1971