Search Documents

By C. M. F. Vieira

The main characteristics and physical and mechanical properties of clays from the county of Campos dos Goytacazes, located at the northern part of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are presented. The characterization included mineralogical composition, chemical composition and particle size distribution. The properties related to water absorption, linear shrinkage and flexural rupture strength were obtained in samples that were prepared by 20 MPa uniaxial pressing and fired at 950 and 1100oC. The results showed that the clays are predominantly kaolinitic with high percentage of clay minerals. The kaolinitic structure associated with a small amount of fluxes confers a refractory behavior which makes difficult the sinterization and impairs the ceramic consolidation.

Jan 1, 2009

By H. M. Ziesemer

PRIOR to 1909 that mountain of porphyry, known as. Sacramento Hill, had remained hardly touched but had always aroused suspicions as to the presence of ore within.. During that year, exploratory work was started by underground methods; drifting and raising continued until 1913. It was proved that a mineralized zone existed, the limits of which had not been determined; so, because of the lower costs of exploratory work and the greater desirability of vertical sections, it was decided to prove the extent of the ore zone by churn drills. Drilling continued until the year 1917, when it seemed almost certain that the horizontal limits of the orebodies had been determined. Ore continued in depth in one direction beyond a point where it was economical to explore by churn drilling; this extension is still being developed by underground methods. The irregularities of the boundaries of the ore zones, together with the variable grades of ore encountered, made it necessary to drill on the corners of 100-ft. squares. Two ore zones were proved, known as the East and West Orebodies. The Sacramento Hill porphyry stock intruded into the Dividend fault. The fault ran roughly east and west with a dip to the south, having pre-Cambrian schists on the north against Paleozoic limestone on, the south. This intrusion was accompanied by a silica breccia on the south periphery, along the limestone contact side. The ore lay in the silica breccia and in the porphyry, some distance from the breccia. No ore was found in the heart of the porphyry mass on the north side, along the schist contact. The West Orebody is elliptic in shape, having a major axis of 1200 ft. (366 m.) and a minor axis of 800 ft. (244 m.); these diminish with depth until, at 300. ft., the axes are 500 ft. and 300 ft., respectively. The ore consists of chalcocite, some bornite, chalcopyrite, and considerable pyrite in a silicious gangue. About 30 per cent. of the copper is caused by

Jan 2, 1922

By J. G. Kirby

According to the annual Bureau of Mines survey of refinery capacity, there were 343 petroleum refineries in the United States as of January 1, 1953, with a total daily crude-oil throughput capacity of 7,638,661 barrels. Compared with the previous year, this represents a decline of 7 in the total number of refineries, but a gain of 305,776 barrels in daily crude-oil throughput capacity. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude oil increased to 22,270 barrels, a gain of 1,319 barrels during 1952. All refining districts reported increases in installed capacity for the year, with Texas Gulf Coast accounting for 28 percent of the increase; California, 21 percent; and the Indiana-Illinois-Kentucky district, 18 percent. Additional crude-oil capacity under construction January 1, 1953, was 60 percent greater than at the beginning of 1952. The total reported, 509,721 barrels daily, is a record high for refinery expansion. In addition to the new facilities under way, facilities for 127,755 barrels daily are being installed to replace those that are obsolete. Four new refineries were under construction at the beginning of the year, and three of these are now in operation. Plans for five' new refineries have been announced, but actual construction has not been started.

Jan 1, 1953

By David Field, David Powell, Richard Hulsen

The Mission Valley Light Rail will loop through San Diego State University (SDSU)and to minimize the impact of construction most of the works will be underground. The project will require construction of a 330-m long (1080-ft), 11.24-m wide (36.9-ft),single twin track tunnel through Stadium Conglomerate, a poorly cemented dense sandy gravel with cobbles. Key technical issues are discussed including the ground conditions and predicted ground response, the use of sequential excavation methods to control deformations and specific construction concerns such as instrumentation and monitoring. Management of the construction process to minimize risk is particularly important in this environment and the strategy selected to control the works is also considered.

Jan 1, 2001

By W. H. Stheeman

"The high rock pressures at the deeper levels of the Tsumeb Mine have necessitated the changing of the mining methods and the introduction of cable bolts. After two rockfalls in the cable-bolted stopes, the mechanics of cable bolting were investigated. Practical methods were developed to find the best grout mixtures, the bond stresses between cables and cement, the bond stresses between rock and cement and the load on the cable bolts, which was mathematically calculated from data observed underground. The design of the cable bolt support system as used at the Tsumeb Mine is explained. GeneralThe Tsumeb Mine is in northern South West Africa/Namibia, approximately 400 km by road from the capital city, Windhoek, at an elevation of 1300 m above sea level. Mining operations in Tsumeb were started in 1905 by the Otavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft and continued, with an interruption during the Depre ssion, until 1940, when the mine was closed and taken over by the Custodian of Enemy Property. The present owner, Tsumeb Corporation Limited, obtained the mine in 1947 and restarted the underground mining operations in 1949 after the mine was dewatered. Currently, the stoping operations are between 26 Level (840 m below surface) and 38 Level (1260 m below surface). In addition, the mine is an important silver producer and has produced 670,100 kg of silver since 1947."

Jan 1, 1982

By Ernest R. Dickie

BRIEFLY, the ore body of the Bagdad Copper Corp., Bagdad, Ariz., is a monzonite porphyry carrying copper values fairly evenly distributed from the surface down through the primary zone. Tabular in shape, the ore body extends over several hundred acres. The oxidized zone averages about 60 ft thick and assays about 0.50 per cent copper. Under this is the chalcocite zone, or the zone of secondary enrichment, which averages about 100 ft in thickness and assays about 1.4 per cent copper. Under this zone lies the primary zone which extends in places to a known depth of about 150 ft and averages in grade about 0.60 per cent copper. Several years ago the block-caving method of extracting the ore from the chalcocite zone was installed. Then it was necessary to draw only about 250 to 300 tons per day, the capacity of the old milling plant. Early in 1943 the new 2500-ton concentrator was put into production. Drawing ore from the developed stopes in sufficient tonnage to furnish the mill at capacity proved unsuccessful in more ways than one. First, drawing the ore at an accelerated rate caused a large amount of dilution, there-by lowering the grade, and also caused funneling through to the surface. The surface material was detrimental to milling metallurgy and development of these stopes was costly per ton of ore extracted. The grade of ore decreased. making it impossible to maintain a mill head of over 0.9 per cent copper. The

Jan 1, 1947

About 74% of global seismic energy release occurs in the Circum-Pacific zone. Worldwide, about 71% of seismic energy release is in the form of shallow earthquakes, 27% as intermediate, and 2% as deep earthquakes. Seismic energy release is variable in time and has been shown to correlate with the amplitude of the Chandler wobble. It was high during the period 1949 to 1967, and is now at a rather low level, with the latest earthquake over M = 8.0 having taken place in Indonesia in 1971. The average worldwide recurrence rate for the expected largest magnitude earthquake (M "9.5) has been estimated as several tens of years, in marked contrast to the several tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years separating the largest volcanic eruptions. Geological studies are needed to establish reliable mean intervals between large earthquakes, and to detect the e;:istence of long-term fluctuations in the ste of occurrence. Seismic gaps have proved seful in static forecasting of large earthquakes, by identifying places where closer study of the variation with time of seismicity, deformation, and other parameters, may lead to the dynamic p_ediction of time, place and magnitude of earthquakes. The model of stress concentration at asperities explains the main features of seismicity in the Circum-Pacific. Slow earthquakes have been detected instrumentally, notably an event immediately preceding the 22 May 1960 Chile earthquake, the largest this century. It seems likely that this type of deformation may explain both instrumentally detected and macroscopically observed pre-seismic deformation, as well as unusual animal behaviour reported before some earthquakes. Seismic and volcanic events are interdependent, with large earthquakes commonly triggering eruptions. Melting of rock and intrusion of magma is likely to accompany many earthquakes.

Jan 1, 1987

By A. Raman, P. P. Singh

The constitution of the La-Rh system was studied by powder X-ray diffraction, metallopaphic, and differential thermal analysis techniques and an equilibrium diagram is presented. Eleven intermediate phases occur in the system and the crystal structural data for nine of them were determined. La3Rh crystallizes in an orthorhombic structure of undetermined type, whose unit cell is obtained by doubling the 'a; and 'c,,' edges of an FesC type unit cell. The other intermediate phases of the system are LarRh-3( undetermined structures also occur in the system. LaRh, undergoes a polymorphic phase transformation at 1240°C. LaRh3 and La2Rh7 also exhibit polymorphisnz. The phases Laah and LazRh7 melt congruently. The latter undergoes a eutectoid transformation into LaRh, and Rh at 1205°C. Laah3 is formed by a peritectoid reaction between Laah and La,Rh,,. The other Phases result from peritectic reactions between the liquid and the adjacent rhodium-rich phases. The intermediate Phases of the La-Rh system are compared with those of the La-Co and La-Ni systems. DURING the course of a detailed investigation to study the occurrence of CrB, FeB, A1B2, and related structures in the rare earth alloys it was found that much information is lacking for the rare earth noble metal systems. Although the structures of several rare earth alloys containing the noble metals at the AB and AB2 stoichiometries have been reported, the occurrence of related structures at other stoichiometries has not been studied. We have initiated a project to study the crystal structural features of selected rare earth-rhodium alloys and to map the equilibrium diagrams of representative systems with conventional methods. The results of our investigation in the La-Rh system are presented in this paper. Two phases were known in the La-Rh system. LaRh has the CrB-type structure.' LaRhz is a MgCu2-type Laves phase.z EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Alloys weighing less than 1 g were prepared from commercially pure lanthanum (99.9 pct +), supplied by Lunex Company, Pleasant Valley, Iowa, and rhodium (99.92 pct +), supplied by Engelhardt Industries, Newark, N.J., in a conventional arc melting furnace under argon atmosphere. The buttons were turned upside down and remelted three times to insure homogeneity in the samples. Since negligible loss of material was encountered during melting, a chemical analysis of the alloy buttons was not undertaken. Powder specimens for X-ray diffraction studies in the as cast state were then prepared. The buttons were wrapped in thin molybdenum foils and homogenized by heating in vacuum at suitable high temperatures for more than 1 week. They were then broken into three or four pieces for annealing experiments. The pieces were wrapped in molybdenum foils and annealed at various temperatures in evacuated quartz capsules. The annealing was carried out for 2 hr at or above 1200°C, 1 day at temperatures close to llOO°C, 2 days at 1000°C, and for 1 week at temperatures below 1000°C. After annealing the alloy pieces were again broken and powder specimens for X-ray diffraction were prepared. The powders of the lanthanum rich alloys with more than 80 at. pct La were prepared by filing. The filings were sealed in molybdenum tubings and stress-relieved at 600°C in vacuum. It was not deemed necessary to stress-relieve the powders of the other alloys, since the alloys were very brittle and were ground easily. POWDER X-RAY DIFFRACTION X-ray diffraction photographs of powders (-325 mesh size) of the alloys in the as cast and annealed states were prepared in a Guinier-de Wolff focussing camera with copper K, X radiations. These patterns were studied to identify the stoichiometries and the crystal structures of the intermediate phases. The lattice parameters of the phases were calculated after minimizing the differences between the observed sin2 6 values, calculated from the diffraction angles 8, and the sin2 8 values, calculated using approximate lattice constants obtained from a few lines. These differences were minimized manually to less than 0.0005. The latLice constants are judged to be accurate to *0.005A for values less thp about 10A and to k0.01~ for values greater than 10A. The relative intensities of the lines were calculated using a computer program written by Jeitschko and Parthk.~ No attempt was made to refine the atomic positional parameters in the phases. METALLOGRAPHY The phase equilibria in the investigated alloys in the as cast and annealed states were also studied by metallographic examination. The polished specimen surfaces were etched with 10 pct picric acid in alcohol (alloys up to 25 pct Rh), concentrated picric acid (from 25 to 37.5 pct Rh), 2 pct nital (40 to 50 pct Rh), 10 pct nital (from 50 to 66.7 pct Rh) and with concentrated 48 pct HF for the other rhodium-rich alloys. Selected microstruture~ were then photographed using a Po-laroid Land camera. THERMAL ANALYSIS Differential thermal analysis of the alloys was carried out in DTA-668 Stone differential thermal ana-

Jan 1, 1970

The value of processed materials of mineral origin was estimated to have exceeded $297 billion in 1991. U.S. raw non fuel minerals production in 1991 was estimated at $30.8 billion, a 5.8% decline from that in 1990. This estimate was based on data for the first quarter of 1991 (in some cases two quarters) for most of the 21 minerals that for many years have accounted for more than 95% of the industry's production value. The value of minerals production has increased in all but 4 of the last 30 years. The metals component of production value has fluctuated much more than the industrial minerals component, reflecting the greater volatility of metal prices. Employment in metal mining rose slightly in 1991, but this gain was more than offset by a decline in employment in industrial mineral mining, resulting in an overall decline of 3.0% to 164,600 workers in 1991. Prices of several major metals declined during 1991, reflecting weakness in the economy, causing some metal mines to shut down or reduce operations.

Jan 1, 1992

By F. A. Rutledge, H. Marstraander, J. H. Hulbert, G. A. Apell

"INTRODUCTION The inability of Alaska coal mines to supply the quantity of coal required by public and private consumers and by the armed forces in Alaska caused the Coal Procurement Section of the Alaska Department, U. S. Army, to be established. It proposed to investigate the coal deposits and to expedite production of coal. The Bureau of Mines has closely cooperated in this program and was in direct charge of exploration. As to develop and equip an underground coal mine would have taken time and the need for coal was acute, a deposit that could be prepared for mining quickly was desirable. Several such deposits of stripping coal were known to occur in the Nenana field and were examined by the Bureau. One of these, the Diamond strip mine 4 miles west of Healy, was brought into production late in the fall of 1943. This mine was operated for the Army Coal Procurement Section by the C. F. Lytle Co. and the Green Construction Co.The Roth property, or Leasing Block No. 28, in the Healy Creek Valley offered the largest available tonnage of both stripping coal and total reserves. A program of exploration by the Bureau of Mines was inaugurated in 1943 and completed in 1944. Field parties of the Federal Geological Survey mapped the area had correlated the coal beds during the 1944 and 1945 summer seasons."

Nov 1, 1946

By Charles B. Kenahan

A summary of Bureau of Mines research on utilization and disposal of solid wastes is presented, accompanied by an extensive bibliography of related publications. The Bureau's Solid Waste and Materials Recycling Program is directed toward four main areas of research, development, and demonstration: (1) extraction of mineral, metal, and energy values from urban refuse; (2) upgrading and recycling of automotive and related ferrous and nonferrous scrap; (3) utilization and stabilization of mine, mill, and smelter wastes; and (4) recovery and reuse of values from industrial waste products. A contract and grant program that supplements the in-house research and aids in the training of manpower in management of mineral-, metal-, and energy -based solid wastes is also discussed. This publication is an updating of Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8460 issued March 1970.

Jan 1, 1971

By M. E. Volin

To extend or delimit the known ore reserves of the Black Wonder manganese de-posit, the Bureau of Mines undertook an exploration project consisting of trenching, underground excavation, long-hole drilling, and sampling. The mineralization is spread over 6 square miles containing numerous small individual manganese deposits. There has been only small production from some of these deposits; however, simultaneous operations from many such small deposits could contribute considerably to the production from the district. A custom mill to treat oxide ore for battery use was built near Patterson in 1942 by the General Dry Batteries Co., Inc. It operated during World War II and was removed in 1944 when the manganese mines ceased operation. Except for some small experimental shipments, there has been no activity in the district since that time.

Jan 1, 1956

By Elliott A. Pood, Ron Gilbert

Recent advances in digital recording technology have allowed frame rate increases in video recording equipment that provide the capability for super slow motion playback of commercial explosives shots. Such slow motion playback allows for the analysis of shot patterns, cap scatter, pattern failures, etc. In addition, the availability of such materials on video tape enables commercial blasters to provide a means for training current and future staff.

Jan 1, 1996

By George B. Rice

In a recent speech in Pittsburgh, Dr. George Keyworth, the President's Science Advisor, made a statement which I believe deserves our very careful consideration. Dr. Keyworth said that there is no energy crisis. The crisis, he explained, is simply that people refuse to accept the solution. The solution which Dr. Keyworth has in mind is increased utilization of our abundant supplies of solid fuels and, in particular, uranium. I share his view concerning the solution to our energy needs. The use of uranium fuel is a safe, clean, and dependable means to generate our electric power. It is time that we addressed the real energy crisis: the refusal to accept the nuclear solution. The reason for the refusal is not difficult to find. It is nihilistic thinking about risk. Under this thinking, we assume the worst possible case and act accordingly, simply because we cannot prove to a total certainty that nuclear energy is perfectly safe. If this absolutist approach were generally applied throughout our society, there is no doubt all of us would soon be sitting around our campfires fearfully holding the wild animals at bay with our trusty spears. Today I am here to enlist your support in reversing the regulatory trend that threatens the very extistence of the nuclear power industry. As distinguished scientists, engineers and businessmen, you can use your influence to help bring rational regulation to the industry. Our industry supports strong safety and environmental protection programs. We understand the need for and do not object to reasonable regulation. Many anti-pollution measures can be practical to implement, cost effective and highly successful in minimizing environmental impacts. However, it is a fact of life that in the field of health and safety regulation, the law of diminishing returns operates with a vengeance. Absolute or near-absolute safety is impossible and any attempt to achieve it is intolerably costly. Fixation on absolute safety is particularly acute in the regulation of the nuclear power industry. Government Agencies, overly anxious to allay the irrational fears of those opposed to nuclear power, are literally regulating the industry to death - exactly the result sought by the anti-nuclear groups. Dr. Robert L. DuPont wrote in a recent issue of [Business Week]: "The nuclear power industry has been virtually stopped in the U.S. [because of fear]. This is true despite the fact that for more than 20 years the commercial nuclear industry has operated under unprecedented public health scrutiny and that to date there have been no radiation-related injuries, let alone deaths, suffered by any member of the public."1 I believe a useful way to convey the nature of the problem faced by the nuclear industry is to review an example of [unreasonable] regulation. While the example relates to our domestic industry, I am certain there are similar situations in other countries. For the example I will use the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recently issued regulations governing the stabilization of uranium mill tailings.2 These regulations, known as the Uranium Mill Licensing Requirements, specify, among other things, that radon emanation from uranium mill tailings be limited to no more than 2 pCi/m2-sec. First, one must understand that this standard will have virtually no impact on the total amount of radon to which the public is exposed. Radon emitted from even completely unstabilized tailings piles is a tiny fraction--much less than 1%--of the amount of radon released from natural soils in the United States.3 In fact, it is far outweighed by natural variations in the background flux. For example, changes in the level of the Great Salt Lake in recent years have had [eight times] as much effect on the amount of radon released into the Salt Lake City regional air than the annual release from the Vitro Mill tailings pile located in that city.4 Nevertheless, NRC claims that the standard is required to protect the public. The Commission admits, however, that there are no studies which establish that exposure to radon at the low levels associated with uranium mill tailings will result in any adverse health effects.5 In the absence of actual evidence, the Commission assumes that some such effects will occur on the basis of the linear, non-threshold model.6 Employing this model, NRC calculates that the maximum hypothetical risk for the average member of the population is only about 1 in 70,000,000 from the radon that would be emitted from [three times] the number of mills now in existence, even if the tailings produced through the year 2000 are left unstabilized.7 NRC has elsewhere explained that this level of risk would be equivalent to the risk posed by "a few puffs on a cigarette, a few sips of wine, driving the family car about 6 blocks, flying about 2 miles, canoeing for 3 seconds, or being a man age 60 for 11 seconds." This level of risk is [de minimis] in comparison to other risks commonly and readily incurred in our society.9 Moreover, even this remote risk is overstated. A group of prominent health physicists, including experts from the Department of Energy, The Environmental Protection Agency, Britain, Canada and Germany recently published a study indicating that the risk to the public per unit exposure to radon can be no greater than one-third that suggested by the Commission, and [may in fact be zero].l0 Regulators routinely rationalize the need for their regulations. For example, NRC attempts to justify the radon flux standard because it is necessary to reduce the risk to someone who builds a house on top of a tailings pile. This possibility, however, is totally unrealistic because the Mill Tailings Act requires that stabilized tailings be transferred to

Jan 1, 1981

Frontino operates three underground lode mines at Segovia in the area of northwest Antioquia, Colombia, which has been an important gold producing district since the late 1800s. Auriferous pyrite, the pre-dominent sulfide, carries very finely disseminated gold. Other minor sulfides are galena, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite in quartz gangue with the host rock being granodiorite. Silver is associated with the galena and also occurs as a sulfo-salt. In 1.973 and 1974, at an annual milling rate of 145,000 mt (160,000 st), average mill heads were 7.80 g per mt (0.23 oz per st) Au; 20.0 g per mt (0.58 oz per st) Ag; and 0.37% Pb; with a production of 1,150 kg (35,700 oz) Au and 4,500 kg (141,000 oz) Ag. Over 300 mt (330 st) of Pb concentrate were shipped. The ore is crushed to minus 16 mm (5 18 in. ) and fed to a rod mill with the discharge passing over a 1.07 m by 1.07 m (42 in. by 42 in. ) jig operating in closed circuit with the underflow from a cyclone in closed circuit with two ball mills. Cyclone overflow is bulk-floated for sulfide recovery from which the tailings are sent to the river as waste with the flotation concentrate joining the jig concentrate for cyanidation. The combined gold bearing concentrates, after cyclone classification, are reground to a very fine mesh in closed circuit with cyclone classification, with the overflow going to the primary thickener. Regrinding, classification, and thickening is done in cyanide solution, and the primary thickener produces a pregnant solution for Merrill -Crowe precipitation. The thickener underflow is the feed to the agitators, thickener, and filter from which the overflow and filtrate are sent to precipitation. The washed filter cake is repulped and floated for the recovery of a galena concentrate for shipment. About 40% of the recovered silver is in this concentrate. In the refinery the precipitate is melted into a dore bullion. This 600 mt (660 st) capacity mill employs several interesting techniques. Gold recovery of 85% to 90% from a complex sulfide denotes good practice. While total power at 42 kwh per mt (46 kwh per st) is high, it would be recognized that the grinding units are small in size and the flowsheet is complicated due to the gold occurring in the sulfide minerals. The extremely low-cost electric power is generated by

Jan 1, 1981

The Gordonsville Operation of Pasminco US Inc. along with the Center for Advanced Mineral and Metallurgical Processing (CAMP) at Montana Tech studied, developed and implemented a pilot scale hydrometallurgical facility for the industrial recovery of germanium and gallium. This paper describes the joint testing and engineering program that culminated in this successful process. 1. Introduction The Pasminco US Inc. (PAS), Gordonsville Operation, has been producing zinc concentrate continuously since 1975. Within the zinc concentrate, several byproduct elements were found to be significantly concentrated including gallium and germanium. The gallium and germanium replace zinc and other metals within the crystal lattice structure of the zinc mineral (sphalerite) and are concentrated in the same manner as the zinc mineral. This concentrate is then sent to the Pasminco Clarksville Zinc Refinery for further processing. Within the hydrometallurgical zinc-processing plant at Clarksville, a residue is formed that contains a majority of the impurities that would otherwise contaminate or hinder the zinc process. Approximately 5,000 tons of residue is formed annually containing approximately 0.80% gallium and 0.60% germanium along with significant quantities of iron, zinc, silica, and lead. Pasminco currently sells this residue for the germanium value. Until recently, no revenue for the gallium was obtained from the sale of the residue.

Jan 1, 2008

By Xuemei Zheng, Aiyuan Ma, Chao Liu, Guojiang Li, Chenyu Sun, Jinhui Peng, Libo Zhang, Yongguang Luo

In this paper, the removal of fluorides and chlorides from blast furnace dusts by water vapor enhanced microwave roasting was investigated, combined with the advantages of microwave selective heating and based on a thermodynamic analysis of zinc and lead halides. According to proposed reactions in the process, detailed experiments were systematically conducted to study the effect of roasting temperature, holding time, air flow, water vapor flow rates, and stirring speed on the efficiency of the removal of F and Cl. The results show that 97.26% of F and 64.23% of Cl could be separated when the condition of the roasting temperature of 650°C, stirring speed of 80 rpm, holding time at 60 min, air flow of 350 L/h and water vapor flow rate of 8 mL/min was optimized.

Jan 1, 2016

By Michael J. Friedel

As part of a study aimed at understanding the hydrology of in situ leach mining (ISLM), the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Cyprus Casa Grande Corporation and the University of Arizona, is investigating dynamic transmissivity conditions during ISLM of a copper oxide ore deposit. Spatial and temporal variations in ore zone transmissivity during two years of ISLM operations at the Cyprus Casa Grande mine are evaluated during sixteen intervals of steady-state injection and recovery well operation. Direct inversion of an analytical hydrologic model is used to obtain estimates of transmissivity at 58 well locations during these intervals. Univariate statistical and geostatistical methods are used to describe the temporal and/or spatial relationships that exist between transmissivity and other ISLM parameters, including average well injection pressure, average sulfuric acid concentration in leach solution, and the relative configuration of injection and recovery wells. Average transmissivity during the sixteen steady-state time intervals varies between 6.00 x 10-6 m2/min. (6.46 x 10-5 ft2/min.) and 3.61 x 10-8 m2/ min. (3.89 x 10-7 ft2/min.). A trend toward decreas¬ing transmissivity is evident during two year of ISLM operations. This decreasing trend is found to correlate with a decreasing sulfuric acid concentration in injected leach solution, and suggests increasing geochemical precipitation within the deposit. Geostatistical analyses reveal a dynamic and anisotropic transmissivity structure within the target ore zone, that is dependent upon spatial and temporal changes in injection pressure and well configuration.

Jan 1, 1992

By J. D. McAteer

It is widely agreed throughout the mining community that federal mine safety and health legislation administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) deserves significant credit for the past quarter-century's remarkable improvements in miner safety and health. Recently, however, it has been suggested that the mining industry in the United States has now evolved to a point that current mine safety and health law may be obsolete. This proposition deserves attention. Today, I propose to give it the close logical scrutiny that is its due. I conclude that the obsolescence of current mine safety and health law is not supported by the evidence. The existing mine safety and health law continues to serve as a critically important supplement to mine operators' safety programs at a modest cost to the taxpayer. At the same time, trends in a changing industry do call for responsive adaptations in the Federal mine safety and health program. I will argue that timely and appropriate responses to changing needs can be accomplished within the framework of existing legislation, provided federal officials avail themselves of the flexibility provided by existing law.

Jan 1, 1996

By Marcia Harris, Richard Mainiero

The New York State Department of Transportation recently commenced highway widening and drainage improvement projects in Clarence and Amherst, NY. Drainage improvements including the installation of storm sewer lines required excavation to a depth of 2.5 m (8.2 ft). In September 2002, NYSDOT stopped further blasting when 800 ppm CO was detected in the basement of a house near the blasting site. At the insistence of NYSDOT, the general contractor developed a new blast plan with the assistance of an environmental consultant. The plan provided for the installation of multi-gas monitors in buildings of special concern and/or with basements and residential type CO monitors in all other buildings within 100m (330 ft) of the blast. The multi-gas monitors would be remotely monitored. The plan provided action levels which would ensure public safety. The blast design was also modified to allow for better venting of CO. Blasts were limited to 20 ft lengths. The overburden was to be removed from the rock and blasting mats put in place to prevent flyrock. Approximately twenty feet of trench adjacent to the blast was left open to allow ground movement and gas release. The use of CO monitors was effective to alert occupants of a building to the presence of CO. The most effective appeared to be the residential type CO alarms with digital readouts. They were simple and easy to use and allowed the public to participate in the process. False alarms were repeatedly received with the more sophisticated instrumentation. Residential type CO monitors are preferable to warn people near blast sites. More sophisticated instrumentation should be avoided unless personnel are experienced in its use. A general overview of the blasting and monitoring is presented and discussed. The use and effectiveness of residential type CO monitors and multi-gas monitors are discussed.

Jan 1, 2004