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By F. T. Da Silva

Concentrates of titaniferous minerals containing around 30 wt% Ta2O5 are processed hydrometallurgically by hydrofluoric acid leaching and solvent extraction, followed by the precipitation of hydrated potassium heptafluorotantalate. A fundamental study of the thermodynamics of this precipitation and recrystallisation was undertaken to increase understanding of the conditions most conducive to the production of pure, well-crystallised K2TaF7. Activity-pH diagrams for the Ta-K-F-H2O system explained the dissolution of Ta2O5 in fluoride solutions quite well and also the precipitation-recrystallisation of K2TaF7.H2O. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the thermodynamic observations. It was concluded that the best precipitating agent for K2TaF7 from fluoride solutions is KF but a recrystallisation step in a HF environment produces purer, well-crystallised K2TaF7.H2O, eliminating oxy-salts and other impurities

Jun 21, 1905

Ore samples generally require preparation before analysis. Serious problems can occur with contamination degradation and particle size effects. Both grinding element contammation and sample cross contamination havebeen bound to be related to sample hardness and operator technique. For best results with minerals relevant to the steel industry, the use of Siebtechnik-type mills required a combination of careful planning, short grinding periods and intermediate sieving of the sample. The results may be extended to most mineral, rock, and refractory sample preparabons.

Jan 1, 1978

8186. Aquilina, C. Determinazioni relative di gravita eseguite nel 1939 (Relative Determinations of Gravity Made in 1939), Ric. Ingegn, Rome, vol. 10, 1942, pp, 6376. In 1939, the author made a survey of relative gravity in the Mediterranean-basin, 41° 35,5' to 41° 56.3' northern latitude and 0° 10,3' to 0° 28' longitude, referred to Mt. Mario. Ten stations were covered; 25 other stations had been occupied in the vicinity of Rome and in Albanian mountains during previous years. The new measurements revealed gravity anomalies ranging within the following limits: (1) With a free-air reduction, between + 29 and + 120 mgl., average + 60 mgl.; and (2) with a Bouguer reduction, between + 22 and + 87 mgl., average + 41.5 mgl. - V. S.

Jan 1, 1946

By İbrahim Alp, Emine Yoğurtcuoğlu

This article includes the application of roasting pretreatment by assisting the cyanidation process in the recovery of Au–Ag from Bolkardağ Gossan refractory ore and the characterization studies of the ore, roasting sample, and postcyanidation waste sample. While ore contained many metals along with gold and silver, the environment in which these metals were found was carbonate, sulfated, silicated, and iron oxide-containing deposits that have undergone oxidation. In mineralogical studies, there were Fe oxy/oxyhydroxides, Pb/Zn carbonates, and jarosite-bearing structures such as beudantite, calcite, dolomite, clay, and quartz in the ore. The sample used in the experiments was d80 = 29.6 μm, and the test parameters were determined by examining the TG analysis made to the ore. Preroasting experiments were carried out at a roasting temperature range of 200–800 °C, during a roasting period of 10.0 min. Three different samples were characterized by TG for temperature changes, FT-IR for bond structures and permeability, SEM/EDX for visual inspection of structural changes, and XRD Rietveld’s analysis for mineral % content differences. As a result of the cyanidation experiments carried out after the pretreatment, gold was recovered with 80–90% yields and silver with 40–48% yields, respectively.

Aug 21, 2023

By D. A. Donato

It is often necessary for a mining company to extract coal from a seam underlying a previously mined coal seam. The impact of the overlying mine workings on the stress distribution within the underlying mine workings is very difficult to assess without the use of numerical modeling techniques. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of applying numerical modeling to evaluate alternate startup-room locations for a longwall panel considering the effects of multiple seam interaction. MULSIMIPC, a code adapted by the former U. S. Bureau of Mines, was used to compare stress patterns in two proposed startup-room locations. These model results were not only compared to each other, but also to results from a model with no overlying mine workings to provide baseline criteria for evaluation of the two proposed startup-room locations. The numerical modeling study was successful in providing useful information to the coal company and the regulatory agency (MSHA), resulting in a mine design that was both safe and efficient, and prevented the sterilization of a large volume of coal reserves.

Jan 1, 1996

By Pengfu Tan

Xstrata Copper at Mount Isa in Australia has operated one copper Isasmelt furnace and four P-S converters. The phenomena of foaming occur in above 10% of converter operations. A thermodynamic model of copper P-S converter and a viscosity model of converter slag have been developed to simulate the slag blow and copper blow. The model predicts the chemistry and viscosity of copper skims during copper blow. The effects of oxygen potential, charge of dirty materials, slag carry-over, under-blowing, over-blowing, and temperature on the foaming and viscosity of copper skims have been discussed. Some improvements of the industrial operations have been presented.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. Martinez

The effect of ultrasonic energy transmitted through a liquid on chrysotile asbestos was investigated. Ultrasonic energy was effective in fiberization of chrysotile crudes as well as standard grades of milled asbestos fibers. Treated samples of several grades of milled fibers had increased wet bulk volumes and decreased settling and filtration rates compared to untreated fibers. Ultrasonics may be a method for fiberization of chrysotile without decreasing length or use of chemical additives that alter surface properties. Cavitation of the liquid on the surface of fiber bundles is believed to be the cause of the fiberization. It was found that ultrasonic energy greatly increased the rate of precipitation of latex on asbestos. When chrysotile asbestos fibers require additional opening or fiberization, the usual method employed is some type of high speed impact or grinding to open the fibers and produce a larger surface area. These methods always cause some degradation in length due to breaking of fibers. In addition, the efficiency of mechanical methods decreases as the diameter of fiber bundles decreases. Chemical methods have been proposed and it is claimed that fiberization down to individual fibers of 200-300 A diam is possible with some wetting agents. However, large amounts of reagent are required, approximately EDWARD MARTINEZ is with Central Research Laboratories, American Smelting and Refining Co., South Plain-field, N.J. TP 63H226. Manuscript, Aug. 12, 1963. Discussion of this paper, submitted in duplicate prior to Mar. 15, 1964, will appear in SME Transactions, September 1964, and AIME Transactions, 1964, vol. 229. 50 pct of the weight of fiber treated, and some of the wetting agent remains on the surface of the chrysotile and cannot be removed by any solvent which does not destroy the asbestos.' This investigation was directed at determining whether ultrasonic energy transmitted through a liquid would be effective in fiberizing chrysotile asbestos. Samples of asbestos crudes and commercially milled fibers were treated; settling and filtration rates of treated and untreated milled fibers were obtained. EQUIPMENT A Westinghouse Corp. ultrasonic cleaning system WEHH was used in this investigation. See Table I for a breakdown of this ultrasonic unit. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Fiberization of Chrysotile Crudes: Samples of chrysotile crudes were pulled apart with tweezers so that coarse bundles of fiber approximately 1/16 in. in diam were obtained. The bundles were put into a bottle with 200 ml of methanol and the mixture placed into the ultrasonic tank for 30 min at a power output of 1200 w. The test was repeated using water instead of methanol. During the irradiation it was noted that the surfaces of the bundles were being fiberized. The liquid eventually became cloudy with dispersed solids. Fig. 1 is an electron micrograph of the fibers, some reduced to unit dimensions, and a fine material released by the ultrasonic energy. The platy particles in Fig. 1 were identified by electron diffraction and differential thermal analysis as brucite, Mg(OH)2, which must have been intergrown in the chrysotile crudes. Electron micrographs of bulk specimens of chrysotile have shown a fine material filling the interstices between tubular fibers.2,3 Electron diffraction patterns of the fine material collected after ultrasonic treatment indicate that it is amorphous. After decanting the solution, bundles of chrysotile remained somewhat decreased in diameter. Continuing the ultrasonic irradiation of the remaining material resulted in additional fiberization. The opening of the fibers occurred in both methanol and water. Cavitation of the liquid by the ultrasonic energy is undoubtedly responsible for the fiberization. When sound waves are transmitted through a liquid at a

Jan 1, 1963

"The mining industry uses many types of mineral and metallurgical plants to produce saleable product from ore mined. Plant design history has left current operations with a mixture of manual operation and various forms of automated process controls. Consequently, we typically see high variability in the continuous operations together with a shortfall in the attainment of full capacity, or higher utilisation of consumables.At a level of best practice, ‘Operational Performance Excellence’ focuses on process control, using automation and control systems to deliver process optimisation. This more sophisticated delivery is a great deal more difficult than the first stage of equipment selection / installation. It includes the appropriate selection of the right instrumentation, control system, key process knowledge, individuals with a solid control engineering background / experience, and the essential backing / support of the operations management team together leading to higher value delivery. Robust solutions can be realised, considerably minimising process variation, thus leading to process optimisation. This approach results in an easier, efficient and safer process while providing considerable returns for the plant owners.How variable are your processes, and do you maintain optimised process performance with dedicated resources, modern instrumentation, ‘best practice’ control systems and performance monitoring tools? In this paper, these questions and their possible answers are discussed."

Jan 1, 2014

By J. A. Hayes

For over a decade the Osterberg Load Cell has been successfully used to determine the shear capacities of drilled shafts. Since the test method measures side shear directly, analytical complications due to the influence of end bearing resistance are removed. The data suggest that the side shear component of a drilled shaft's capacity is often more significant than end bearing. Given the interest in the use of side shear in drilled shaft design in compressible materials, it is important to examine factors that can influence capacity. We have found that some factors widely believed to influence capacity, such as slurry type, are not as important as commonly thought in most materials. Factors that are not usually considered as important, such as casing use, hoop spacing, concrete slump, concrete additives, spacers and rebar clear cover, seem to be more influential with respect to side shear capacity. For example, substantially lower than predicted shear resistance can occur when the rebar clear cover is small with respect to the cage diameter. We observe this most often in fine-grained cohesive soils. This effect can be exaggerated if the rebar cage has tight hoop spacing, if the concrete has low slump and if the hole is not straight. We have also noted that improper use of temporary casing can have a dramatic effect on side shear resistance. In some cases we have observed tested shear capacities reduced to less than 5% of either predicted or available shear values.

Jan 1, 2003

By H. Tomlinson

"INTR0DUCTIONThis publication is a third of a series devoted to falls of roof and coal in coal mines of the Western States. It gives the results of examinations of the mines of the Rock Springs coal District of Sweetwater County, Wyo., which represent the principal coal beds therein and approximately 75 percent of total production of the State.A study was made of safety conditions at all the producing mines of the district and suggestions were offered the operators regarding methods and practices which would, in the opinion of the writer, provide additional safeguards to prevent accidents from falls of roof and coal.In presenting the subject, consideration must be given to such features as character of the coal beds, depth of cover. methods of mining, timbering practice, roof testing and supervision, and for comparative purposes to certain statistical matter bearing upon relation of accidents to their causes, tonnage produced, men employed, days worked, and lost days due to accidents during the 3—year period covered by this study.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe writer acknowledges the cooperation of the officials of the various coal companies, without whose assistance this work could not have been completed.F0UR REPRESENTATIVE COAL OPERATIONSThis report relates to four representative coal operations in the Rook Springs district of Sweetwater County, Wyo., which are referred to as mines A, B, C, and D. This group employs yearly an average of 993 men, representing 37 percent of the men in coal mines of the county, and has an average annual production of 1,484,373 tons, representing approximately 44 percent of the coal produced in the county. Figure 1 is a map of the Rook Springs coal district."

May 1, 1933

By P. Kolodziejczyk

Mining seismicity can be harmful both under and on the surface. ? Tremors are not totally damaging, but destructive to buildings and infrastructure, especially in highly urbanized regions, such as Upper Silesia in Poland ? Destroy the social appreciation, trust and support for mining industry ? To prevent or reduce these effects, engineers and scientists develop methods allowing prediction of ground shaking intensity near buildings and various losses that can result from it Evaluation and prediction of mining tremor?s damaging influence on buildings is usually solved with two steps: ? Estimation of local ground shaking intensity (based on known attenuation relation) and classification into one of several predefined intensity intervals ? Apply supposed relation between the shaking intensity interval and qualitatively defined damaging effects to express predicted effects This makes a mixed quantitative/qualitative procedure, difficult to analyze or optimize

Aug 1, 2013

When the first rush of miners took place on the Molyneux River, in the Dunstan Gorge, the gold was won by means of cradling the gravel, which was shovelled from the various beaches and crevices in the rock-bound sides of the river.The above method of winning the gold was only practicable when the beaches were not covered with water, hence the work was usually carried on during the winter months, the ordinary level of the river during spring and summer months being some ten or twelve feet above winter level. The melting of the spow in the Lakes water-shed being responsible for the high summer level of the river.As the available beaches were worked out, other methods of winning the gold were proposed and worked with more or less successful results the first advance being to work the bed of the river by means of a spoon dredge. The spoon was made with a round lip or ring of iron, having a steel cutting edge on one half of the circumference, at the opposite side a socket being forged to take a long spar or boom, which was securely fitted thereto. At intervals round the hoop, half-inch holes were bored to enable. a bullock-hide bag to be laced on to same. The spoon was worked from a pontoon which carried a crab winch, tackles and the necessary washing appliances to treat the washdirt lifted. In starting to dredge, a tackle was attached to near the upper end of the boom, and a line or chain was carried over a cat head from the crab winch...

Jan 1, 1901

By L. Max Scott

[INTRODUCTION] The significance of gamma exposure to uranium miners has been recognized only in the last few years. Most ore deposits which have been underground mined, were 1% or less U308. Full-time mining of this grade ore can result in exposure exceeding 1 Rem per year. Several companies in Saskatchewan are planning to mine recently discovered ore bodies which contain ore pods in excess of 10% U308. The purpose of this paper is to present dose data which can be used to estimate gamma exposure from high-grade ore deposits, and to present mining techniques which will minimize miner exposure. [Dose Estimates] When one has a point source of radiation, the conventional laws of isotropic emission and the fall of dose with square of the distance, make dose calculations relatively easy. However, if one has an area source of infinite thickness, the assumption must be made that a uniform gamma flux is being emitted from all faces of the source (Figure 1). Dose from gamma emission would fall off only due to air attenuation up to such a distance at which the source can be considered to be a point source (usually 10 times the largest dimension of the source). For short distances, such as to the cab of ore-moving equipment, the dose reduction would be negligible. Assumptions: 1) Radium and gamma-emitting daughters are in secular equilibrium with uranium. 2) All gamma radiation is emitted from radium and its daughters. 3) Average gamma energy of 0.8 MeV. 4) Uranium ore has a linear attenuation coefficient of 0.212 cm-1, similar to that of Si02(sand). 5) Uranium ore density of 3.0 gm/cm3. 6) One curie of radium emits 6.84 x 1010 photon/sec(l). 7) One percent uranium ore contains 1 x 10-8 Ci/cm3 of radium. 8) Each MeV of 0.8 MeV photon results in a dose of 2.10[ ]10-3 mRem/hr. per MeV/cm2 -sec. 1) 9) Minimum ore depth 100 cm. 10) Linear attenuation coefficient instant for radium gamma of 0.374 cm -1 [ ] The photon flux from a radioactive slab is computed as follows: [Flux = photon/cm3 3(1) 2u S] [where, us is the linear absorption coefficient of s the source (uranium ore).] Thus, 1% uranium ore, in the form of an infinite slab, emits 1613 photon/cm2-sec, which results in a dose rate of 2.71 mRem/hr. Since the dose from an infinite slab is the same as a dose from an infinite radius right circular cylinder, the only correction needed from the above dose rate is for finite radius and point of dose above the end of the cylinder (Figure 2) [Dose = mRem/hr. {E2(bl) - E2(b3) - [(E2(b1sec[E] -E2(b3sec[E]]cos[O](1)]

Jan 1, 1981

By Chris Harnan

This paper describes the geology of three European cities and outlines how the geology has lead to the development of specific foundation construction techniques. Comparative tables of techniques commonly employed are given in Section 5. It can be seen that despite the presence of the 'single market', techniques still have wide diversity despite some similarities in geotechnical conditions.

Jan 1, 2000

By A. Mezei

A process has been developed to recover cobalt, gold and bismuth from the NICO deposit in Canada. The process consists of a bulk rougher flotation followed by an optional separation by flotation to produce a bismuth concentrate and a cobalt concentrate, grading on average 12.8 % Bi and 1.8% Co, respectively. Cobalt is leached by pressure oxidation at 97% efficiency, producing a pregnant solution suitable for further processing. Before optimization, about 38% of the bismuth is recovered in the selective concentrate, wherefrom it is recovered by ferric chloride leaching followed by cementation, at overall efficiencies exceeding 98%. The gold is recovered from the cobalt and bismuth leach residues by cyanidation, at 95% efficiency. Previous work described the results of the leaching of the concentrates, recovery of gold (Part I) and the recovery of bismuth (Part 11). This work describes the results of the cobalt recovery testwork and the resulting conceptual flowsheet. The sulfur dioxide-oxygen system was the most efficient for the oxidationlprecipitation of iron and arsenic from cobalt bearing pregnant leach solutions, producing purified solutions assaying <1 mg/L As and <8 mg/L Fe. The efficiency of cobalt solvent extraction (from the resulting purified PLS containing about 1 g/L Co) ranged from 9 1 to 98%; the co-extractions ranged from 88 to 100% for copper, from 28 to 33% for magnesium, from 6 to 7% for calcium and from 96 to 98% for zinc. Sulphide precipitation processes (using either sulfur dioxidelelemental sulfur or sodium sulfide) produced residual copper concentrations in the cobalt strip solution ranging from 0.1 to 2 mg/L Cu. About 90% of the calcium and magnesium were separated by scrubbing the organic with cobalt sulfate, producing residual concentrations of 12 mg/L Ca and from 180 to 330 mg/L Mg in typical feed solutions directed to cobalt carbonate precipitation tests. Cobalt carbonate precipitation efficiencies ranged from 75 to 78% when calcium and magnesium co- precipitations were restricted from 8 to 17% and 0.3 to 0.4%, respectively. The limits required by most stringent specifications on commercial grade cobalt carbonate products were met or exceeded.

Jan 1, 2002

By A. M. Elmahdy

An amphoteric collector was tested for dolomite removal from phosphate ore. The effects of some operating parameters and their significance on the flotation of dolomite were studied using statistically designed experiments. The parameters studied were impeller speed, pH and collector dosage. Analysis of the results showed that pH is the most significant parameter. Moreover, a concentrate containing 0.53% MgO and ~31.1% P2O5 with a recovery of ~ 90% can be achieved at optimum values of studied parameters, i.e., a pH of 12, an impeller speed of 1,000 rpm and a collector dosage of 2.5 kg/t.

Jan 1, 2007

By Shosei Serata

The Stress Control Method improves productivity and safety in underground coal mining. The method stabilizes the roofs and floors of mine openings in both shallow and deep coal beds, regardless of whether or not there are ground stability problems. This paper describes the means by which a tapered pillar experiment is used to collect in situ data, which is then used as input for a computer model. The resulting computer model is then used to optimize Stress Control design for the mine under study. The behavior of any underground coal mine is not elastic, as is generally conceived in the conventional view of rock mechanics, but rather is highly time-dependent and site-specific. Unfortunately, conventional rock mechanics methods based on the elastic principle are not able to capture the highly non-elastic nature of ground behavior which actually occurs. To capture actual behavior, a new method of study is required. In this regard, geomechanical study of an underground coal mine may be compared to studying the behavior of a living fish. Its true behavior zannot be understood by examining it "dead in the laboratory. It Is the "live" nature of the coal mine that is required for design optimization of the Stress Control Method in the given mine. The Stress Control Method is based on a time-dependent theory of the global behavior of the mine ground, which generally contradicts the conventional elastic theory of ground behavior. Therefore, site-specific adaptation of the Stress Control Method required a comprehensive understanding of the global behavior of the mine as a function of time and site-specific ground conditions.

Jan 1, 1986

By T. M. Barton

Coal mine bumps the violent failures of over-stressed coal&apos;, present a safety hazard to miners when mining is conducted in deep, bump prone coal mines. Two different longwall gate entry systems were evaluated in a Southern Appalachian coal mine located in the Pocahontas No. 3 Coalbed under approximately 610 m of overburden which included a massive sandstone member. Both gate entry systems employed a center abutment pillar flanked by yield pillars. The original design employed a 24.4 m square abutment pillar&apos; while the new design employed a 36.6 by 54.9 m&apos; abutment pillar. Rock mechanics instrumentation data analysis and in-mine observations indicated that this increase in abutment pillar size significantly decreased bump potential. The new design in worse case conditions increased effective bearing area 62 pct with only a 9 pct increase in gate entry system width and eliminated face bumps that wer7 experienced with the original gate entry design.

Jan 1, 1991

By I. Gombköto, J. Bohm

"In Europe, and therefore in Hungary opening a new mine is harder and harder. Depletion of mines, unfavourable legal and economic changes, and growing public concerns are the main reasons. Social and economic interests require total utilization of mineral raw materials of the operating mines, and furthermore utilization of waste heaps of the former mines. There are 5-6000 waste heaps of the operating and the closed mines in Hungary. 2000 of these waste heaps have already been estimated, and researches show that total amount of waste heaps can be calculated to 1 billion tones. These researches left out of consideration waste heaps exploited and placed in deep lignite mining. In several projects and researches we analysed processing of waste heap and possibilities to use its components. A processing technology for utilizing waste heaps has been developed based on laboratory and pilot plant tests. Great amount of useful materials of quarrying waste heaps can be utilized with this technology. Tests were also done for processing waste heap of a former ferrous metals mining. The developed processing technology contributes to use these waste heaps as aggregate for cement industry, as dielectric and aggregate for construction. The essay presents in details main characteristics of waste heaps, technologies already used for processing waste heaps of quarrying and ferrous metals mining, mass balances and qualitative parameters of the end products."

Jan 1, 2011

By J Allen, B Oats, S Palaniandy, M Lollback

The Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre has conducted an intensive VertiMill® (VTM) survey program at the Cannington mine concentrator as part of the ‘collaborative research in stirred milling technology’ program funded by Metso Minerals. Since 2003, Cannington has progressively added grinding capacity into the circuit through VTMs operating in secondary and regrinding duties. Cannington was one of the first mines to adopt this technology in secondary duty by installing two VTM-1500-WBs as part of a capacity expansion to produce sub-100 µm rougher feed. Subsequently, an additional VTM-800-WB was installed in the lead regrind circuit to prepare sub-20 µm cleaner stage feed.Several surveys were carried out to evaluate the VTM performance over a range of changed conditions. Among the key changes in operating variables were circuit power draw, feed rate and water addition to the bottom of the mill. The average specific energy for secondary duty was 3.7?kWh/t. The lead and zinc regrind mills consume 8.1 and 15.3 kWh/t respectively. Generally, the VTM installations have successfully prepared feed for rougher and cleaner circuits by reducing the top size into the floatable regime with steeper particle size distribution, which has led to enhanced recovery. The survey results show the success of VTM installations in secondary (receiving feed from autogenous circuit) and regrind duties.CITATION:Palaniandy, S, Powell, M S, Hilden, M, Allen, J, Kermanshahi, K, Oats, B and Lollback, M, 2014. VertiMill® performance updates in secondary and regrind duties at Cannington mine, BHP Billiton, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 263–272 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014