Search Documents

By Clyde E. Williams

THIS review of the progress made in iron and steel metallurgy during the past year is confined to developments in this country. It attempts to give examples to illustrate progress made rather than to appraise results. As a result of the gradually diminishing supply of rich iron ores and of predictions made as to the probable life of the iron-ore reserves of the Lake Superior District, attention of iron and steel executives was directed to the question of beneficiation of iron ores. Laboratory and plant-scale experimental work was conducted on the wash ores .of Minnesota and an investigation, was, begun on the Old Range low-grade ores.

Jan 1, 1931

By J. B. Sellers, G. R. Haworth, F. W. Brackebusch, P. G. Zambas

Results of large-scale mining experimentation carried on in Stage II of the Anvil Points Oil Shale Research Program, Rifle, Colo., are reported. After a new adit was excavated, over 500,000 tons of oil shale was extracted during a 13-month period by a modified room and pillar method. Experiments in drilling and blasting headings, benches, and crosscuts are reported. Roof-bolting procedures, loading and hauling, and ventilation design are discussed. Results of the extensive investigations carried out by the cooperative industry group and earlier work by the U.S. Bureau of Mines indicate that mining oil shale is technologically feasible.

Jan 1, 1973

By AIME AIME

AMONG the recent mining and metallurgical developments in England great interest has been shown in the development of an iron-ore field covering 26,0.00 acres in Northamptonshire, containing 500,¬000,000 long tons of ore; and the erection at Corby, by Stewarts & Lloyds, of a modern basic bessemer steel plant and tube works. The entire project was planned to cost about £3,300,000. Many improvements have been made in the varied equipment that is being installed, some of which has set mew records for massiveness. There is, for instance, a new roll crusher, which has been manufactured by Hadfields, Limited, of Sheffield, the largest ever built in England, and weighing 130 tons. This machine, shown in Fig. 1, as erected at the Hadfields shops, is primarily designed to take blocks of iron ore as they come from the steam shovel. The maximum size is 54 by 48 by 36 in., hut occasional pieces slightly larger than this may be accommodated. The capacity is upwards of 500 tons per hour, the product passing to a secon-

Jan 1, 1934

With the signing of the armistice on Nov. 11, the direction of the main concentration of effort of the United States was changed. In order to win the war, all industrial efforts had to be organized and centralized. With the war won and peace in sight, this centralization of effort stopped and the full play of individual initiative was allowed to resume its sway in the community. During this period of reversal of direction of effort, there was a natural loss of momentum and the United States, as well as the rest of the world, is in for a period of readjustment. The immense progress that was made in one direction under the stress of the necessities of war, which focused the energies of a nation in one direction, is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished if a community with many varying interests can be united on one objective which it desires to attain. The realization that the fusing of many interests into one stream of effort is difficult should not prevent us from taking the long view ahead that is necessary in order to be able to measure the progress made. If we don't have a mountain peak to guide us, we are very likely to run in circles in the plain without reaching the goal to which we strive. The most efficient development of natural resources is an ideal that, from a material point of view, appeals to the engineer. This ideal includes giving of opportunities to everyone to take a share in the development of these resources.. It also contemplates rewarding foresight

Jan 4, 1919

By W. A. Weimer

Australia, the land of the kangaroo, koala, and the platypus, is often referred to as "down under" by people of the Northern Hemisphere. It is a tropical land and has very little freezing and thawing; consequently the in-place rocks are near the surface, exposing some of the unaltered mineralization. This type of geology induces the prospector and miner to search for minerals which lie at his feet (or not far under them), and it is adapted to open cut surface mining. Some of the rules and regulations applicable to exploration and mining in Australia will be interesting and helpful towards understanding acquisitions and control of minerals. They are common and basic to the United Kingdom. Throughout Australia practically all minerals are the property of the Crown (government), and their exploration and exploitation are administered by the state Department of Mines. Surface owners, or land lessees, do not control the minerals. Their mining codes protect the prospector. If a prospector obtains a permit, "miner's right," it entitles him to search for minerals any place within the state, only holding him responsible for damages he may incur in his exploration. If he finds something of interest, he may then apply for an authority to prospect, which gives greater latitude and protection in his work to develop the find. However, he will be obligated to spend a minimum specified amount to exclusively hold an area. He will be required to furnish maps, analyses, and geological data to the Mines Department. Presuming that he has located something economically valuable for mining, he may then apply for a mining lease or be granted a franchise to produce a specific material. It will contain a quantity clause so that the area cannot be held indiscriminately without production of the mineral. The states have Bureaus of Mineral Resources, Geology, and Geophysics that keep constantly abreast of the search for minerals and often do much of the drilling and deep boring to promote geological study for the states.

Jan 1, 1969

By Harry Perry

In the United States the state mining laws enacted in the late 1800s were the first laws to recognize that an employer had a responsibility to provide the employee a place to work that met at least some minimum safety standards. The coal mining industry was also the first major industry in the United States to be regulated in 1952 by federal safety laws, although federal inspectors had the right-of-entry as early as 1941. Within recent years, however, the Congress has enacted a number of federal safety regulations for a variety of industries, such as the Aviation Act (1958), National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act (1966), National Gas Pipeline Act (1968), and Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act (1968). The fatality and injury experiences of the mining industry in the United States, while at a significantly higher rate than for industry as a whole, showed a continuous improvement until the last decade or two-at which time the rate leveled off. Although fatality and injury rates in foreign countries have been generally lower than in the United States, further improvement in those countries also has been difficult to achieve in recent years. It appears, therefore, that some major change in mining laws, combined with a radical improvement in mining technology and a more effective labor-management safety program, will be needed if further reductions are to be achieved in fatality and injury rates. At the same time, there is a growing awareness by society that an employee's place of work, where he spends nearly half of his waking hours, should be made as safe as possible. As increased consideration is given to means for achieving greater safety in all industrial situations, it is becoming apparent that more is required than merely providing physical safeguards on tools and machines. Rigorous, strictly enforced safety standards are useful, but more important is the desire of labor and management to make certain that industrial accidents are prevented. The pressure to achieve increased productivity, and thus receive higher wages, can be a significant deterrent to safe working practices. The temptation can be great to "take a chance" or "cut a corner" in order to speed up production. Public concern over all types of industrial safety in the United States was reflected by the introduction of a number of general occupational health and safety bills in Congress for the first time in 1968. While no legislation resulted, the hearings revealed that, although there were differences in how standards should be set and who should administer them, there was agreement on the need for adequate laws. Since the mining industry has been subject to safety standards longer than other industries, it is not surprising that advanced safety concepts for mining are being explored by the industry and the enforcing agencies. More complete and sophisticated accident reporting is being planned that will reveal the

Jan 1, 1976

By Lloyd R. Jackson

IN the past 15 years there has been a great deal of interest in the fundamentals of plastic flow and rupture in metals and a number of papers have presented substantial advances toward a fundamental insight into the mechanism of these two processes. This paper is an appraisal of the present position with respect to the following: I. The relative importance of shear and hydrostatic stresses in controlling the plastic flow of metals. 2. The relative importance of shear and hydrostatic stresses in determining the amount of flow before rupture in metals. 3. The use of generalid strains in determining the effect of plastic flow on the work-hardening of metals. FUNDAMENTALS INVOLVED IN PLASTIC FLOW In attempting to devise a quantitative description of plastic flow in metals, it has been customary to assume that metals are homogeneous and isotropic. The fact that neither of these assumptions is correct complicates the experimental appraisal of relations developed. Never- the less, as will be shown, metals are close enough to being isotropic and homogeneous so that considerable insight into the mechanism of plastic flow can be obtained. The assumptions of .isotropy and homogeneity allow both the elastic and plastic behavior of metals to be described in terms of 12 variables-six being stress variables, and six being strain variables. ) From this viewpoint, it should be possible to represent the stress-strain relations in the plastic range for metals by a surface in 12 dimensions. One boundary of this surface would be the surface of transition from elastic to plastic behavior; the other would be the surface of rupture. These two surfaces would be joined by the surface of plastic flow. The shape of this composite surface would depend on the test temperature and speed of straining. This paper is concerned only with results obtained at constant temperature and constant speed of straining. While such a representation is conceivable, the demonstration of such a surface would present almost insurmountable obstacles. The most fruitful simplification of this concept has been the recognition that the behavior of metals in the plastic region is primarily a result of shear stresses and strains. Based on this viewpoint, it is possible to utilize stress and strain invariants that are independent of hydrostatic components to define an effective stress and strain. In effect, this amounts to reducing the task of representing stresses and strains in 12 dimensions to one of representation in two dimensions. The two invariants (one for stresses . and one for strains) that have received most attention are the following: [ ]

Jan 1, 1946

By H. L. TERWILLIGER

THOSE of us who have been following rock drilling work for the last 15 or 20 years can recall some of the problems that were encountered with the old piston type of rock drill and the solid steel which it used. There was frequent trouble in keeping a straight hole in badly broken ground when using the ordinary four- point bit that had a flare on the wings of about 14". The drill steel, when pounding down its hole, would follow the line of least resistance and draw away from the desired line when it encountered a weak side in the ground through which it was drilling. Some would overcome the difficulty by making long winged bits to prevent the steel crowding over; this would relieve the troubles to a great extent. There was trouble with the rifling of drill holes and inability to drill round holes in some ground. The cure for these ills was to use the "X" bit, rather than the crossbit. The "2" bits were brought out in an effort to make it easier to drill a round hole in bad ground. Most of these troubles were before the days when the mechanical drill sharpener was in as common use as it is today. It was not until the introduction of the Leyner type of rock drill, requiring hollow steel that the users of rock drills found themselves confronted with more difficult prob- lems than they had ever encountered before with drill steel because the steel had to stand more severe service.

Jan 1, 1924

By Colin Fink

TANTALUM and columbium occur together in tantalite and columbite ores, which may be considered as ferrotantalate (FeTa206), with part of the iron and tantalum replaced by manganese and columbium respectively, the general formula, therefore, becoming (Fe, Mn)O.(Ta, Cb)205. The ratio of tantalum to columbium is not fixed; the amount of tantalum may vary from one-third to three times that of columbium. Minerals having a high content of tantalum are called tantalite, while those possessing larger amounts of columbium are classified as columbite ores. These minerals are found in pegmatites and often occur in veins associated with cassiterite and wolframite, and may contain small amounts of tin, tungsten, titanium and silica.1

Jan 1, 1931

By Thomas T. Read

THE benefits derived from stabilization of industry that might possibly be attained through some scheme of centralized economic planning have been much discussed of recent months, and opinions on the subject range from those who believe that some agency like the War Industries Board would be practicable to create and wholly beneficial in effects, to those who are equally convinced that none of the suggestions so far advanced are at all practicable, or likely to be productive of more of good than of evil. The discussion has been on the general topic, but-many of those who have written or spoken on it have introduced economic problems of the pinera1 industry; for example, Newton D. Baker, who referred to the coal industry in his address on economic planning at the Williamstown Institute of Politics on July 31, and then went on to say, "Industrial progress is made by the development of new things, but new things upset the equilibrium of any plan. Who could have planned the industrial effects of the development of the railroads, or the economic changes which you have seen attend the development of the internal combustion engine. Obviously, unless we are prepared to put world economics in a strait-jacket and, like the encyclopedists, write its full history on the theory that further progress is impossible, no such plan could be made for nations which are forging ahead as is entirely rational for nations which are still catching up."

Jan 1, 1931

By Freeman Bishop

Copper production has been under Government scrutiny for many years because it's known as a concentrated industry which in turn creates what many economists label administrative prices. Neither of these conditions is illegitimate, per se, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have said time and again. But Justice spoke up once more. This time over a Puerto Rican copper development planned by American Metal Climax, Inc., and the Kennecott Copper Corp. Bureaucratic Dichotomy Creates Confusion and Conflict In the Copper Industry Ian MacGregor, chairman and chief executive officer of Amax, said Justice in a recent communique questioned the propriety of the proposal of a joint copper venture in Puerto Rico. At the same approximate time, Dr. Hendrik S. Houthakker, chairman of the President's Commission on Copper, was urging copper producers to expand production to help hold down prices by making more copper available to all consumers. This, Mr. MacGregor said, is creating confusion and conflict, since the Administration from one source is chastising the industry for doing what another branch requests.

Jan 1, 1970

By C. G. McLachlan

ONE phase of the treatment in sulphide flotation, covered generally in a review of pulp pretreat-ment by S. A. Falconer,' is the matter of grinding mills as conditioners, a subject on which further study could be advantageous. Flotation with few exceptions is preceded by grinding, and the grinding and flotation capacity required for the treatment of an ore is based generally on laboratory or pilot mill tests. The results of such tests, it then is assumed, will be duplicated in practice, and a flowsheet is prepared on that basis. This assumption may be too broad, because in several instances laboratory flotation tests made on massive sulphide copper ores could not be duplicated in plant operation without the introduction of an aeration step, either in closed circuit with the grind-inging mills, or between grinding and flotation.~' " The differences between laboratory and plant grinding practice are considerable, and may be summarized as follows: 1—In the laboratory a relatively fine charge is ground in a batch mill. In the plant, the feed, usually considerably coarser than the ore tested in the laboratory, enters the grinding mill continuously and more often than not, oversize material in the mill discharge is retained in the grinding circuit by a classifier until the required degree of reduction has been effected. 2—The rate of grinding in the laboratory is slower than in plant practice. 3—The percentage of volume occupied by the pulp in a laboratory mill rarely approaches that of a continuous overflow type mill. This does not apply if the comparison is made with grate type mills, but in that case an even wider discrepancy between the relative rates of laboratory and mill grinding almost invariably exists. The present trend in grinding is toward larger mills to reduce the number of operating units. This accentuates the foregoing differences. It is believed that the trend toward larger mills is sound, but that when large mills are used, metallurgists should check their flotation circuits carefully to determine whether laboratory tests are being reproduced in

Jan 1, 1952

By C. H. Bushell, M. Malnarich

REAGENT control in flotation is more an art than a science. Operators vary the amount of reagents used according to the metallurgy obtained. The amount of collector may be increased, for example, if tailings losses are high and decreased if concentrate grades are low. Often control decisions are based on only one assay, such as the tailings analysis by microscopic or quick assaying techniques. This method of control has given reasonably satisfactory results but is clearly far from perfect. No adjustment in reagent addition can be made until information is received that metallurgy has deteriorated, that is, until the optimum time for adjustment has already passed. The first adjustment probably will be an overcorrection or an undercor-rection, and time will be required to establish the best new addition rates. The seriousness of the problem depends on variability of the ore. In ore of continually shifting composition and complexity, mill results will shift back and forth from excessively high concentrate grades and high tailings losses to excessively low concentrate grades and low tailings losses. Economic incentive for improved control also increases with increasing size of mill. Even a small improvement in percentage recovery in a large mill pays for expensive control equipment. The Sullivan concentrator of The Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada Ltd. at Kimberley, B. C., treats 11,000 tpd of complex lead-zinc ore, a scale of operations which justifies an extensive research program on automatic control. Work has followed two separate lines: 1) development of faster analytical methods for pulps, and 2) study of metallurgical control by measurement and control of reagent concentrations in flotation solutions. Although work is incomplete in both phases, a progress report can be given on the development of reagent control. The primary requirement in flotation is selective attachment of particles of one mineral to air bubbles while the other minerals remain detached. Hydrophobicity of mineral surfaces is established by the collector, which coats the minerals by adsorption. The requirement of selective affinity for air bubbles is therefore equivalent to requiring selective adsorption of a collector. Adsorption theory, supported by abundant experimental evidence, shows that the amount of a reagent adsorbed at a surface must be a function of its residual concentration in solution. As the concentration in solution rises, the amount adsorbed increases, usually following some type of logarithmic curve. Selective adsorption must depend on a natural difference in the minerals, but ordinarily the differences in affinity are not great enough to obtain complete coverage of one mineral while the others are completely uncoated. An optimum concentration will exist, below which coverage will not be great enough to float enough of the valuable mineral, and above which too much unwanted mineral will float. All other reagents, except some frothers, affect the amount of collector adsorbing at constant residual collector concentration in solution, either by adsorbing competitively with the collector, or by a

Jan 1, 1957

By Bernard H. Coyle, Robert N. Anderson, Judith A. Koperski

Between 6 and 8 million cars are shredded annually in the U.S. This shredded material is magnetically separated leaving a mixture of nonmetallics and nonferrous metals which can be further separated into its metallic and nonmetallic constituents. The metallic portion is a mixture of metalr; and alloys containing predominately zinc, and some aluminum, copper, and residual iron. Hydrometallurgical strategies are proposed for recovering the aluminum, copper, and zinc. The thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of the most promising alternatives to separation are discussed.

Jan 1, 1978

By Kenneth E. Kulp, Theodore Botinelly, George J. Neuerburg

Distribution of hypogene iron oxides may be useful in prospecting the Montezuma district, central Colorado, for certain metals, some of which have not been mined or sought in the district. The depletion of accessory magnetite in fresh rocks of the Montezuma stock identifies sources of ore minerals for the pneumatolytic metals, locates probable areas of possible contact-pneumatolytic deposits, and, in the altered rocks of the stock, identifies rock through which hydrothermal ore fluids have passed. Specularite veins are located in structures through which pneumatolytic ore fluids have passed and thus indicate optimal areas for prospecting. The presence of unusual amounts of vicarious metals such as bismuth, mercury, tin, and tungsten serves to identify magnetite and specularite that were involved in the pnematolytic ore process.

Jan 1, 1972

By D. F. Coolbaugh

Asia, the largest and most populous continent, has had little political influence on world affairs until very recently. The picture is rapidly changing. Although the cultures of various Asian countries differ widely, today they are united in their desire to industrialize. This desire is the key for expansion of Asian mineral production. The following discussion deals primarily with the situation in the south and southeast Asian countries -India, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam, Malaya, and Indonesia.

Jan 10, 1960

By David M. Parkes

This paper outlines the achievements to date at the British Columbia mine of Kaiser Resources Ltd. Almost one million raw short tons (855,000 metric tonnes) are now produced per year from a single monitor operation working 15 short shifts per week. Progress has been made in reducing the angle at which coal will flow in flumes by modifying the shape and the plastic linings. Improvements have been made in transporting coal from heading machines, and in the design of the present and future coal: water circuits. The development of hydraulic mining is still young and many improvements are being made.

Jan 1, 1976

By Charles H. Mitchell

British Columbia is enjoying a period of sustained high-level activity in all aspects and sectors of its mining industry. The total value of mineral production for 1962 was in excess of $229 million. This was the greatest total value attained for any year to date, exceeding the previous record year of 1956 by more than $40 million. It appears reasonable to expect that value of production for 1963, stimulated by increased production attained during the year, and by improved metal prices for some of the major products, will be substantially in excess of that recorded for 1962. Elsewhere in this issue appears a detailed report of prospecting and exploration activity in the Province. For the purposes of this review it is sufficient to state that the level of prospecting and exploration activity during the past several years has been greater than at any previous time and that there does not appear to be any slackening in activity or interest.

Jan 12, 1963

Jan 1, 1947

Jan 1, 1947