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By J. F. Pierce, S. M. Enterline

Since January 1959 a zinc refiner of novel design has been in operation at Blackwell, Okla., producing 99.995+ zinc from the output of the Blackwell horizontal retort smelter. The refiner is a continuously operated, pyro-metallurgical unit with principal dimensions horizonhl permitting one floor operation. It is very ruggedly constructed. Furthermore it is not subjected to deterioration from high concentrations of iron in the feed metal because the boiling units are separate from the rectification columns and constructed with silicon carbide brick arches through which the heat is transferred radiantly to the zinc. A zinc refiner of novel design has been in operation since January 1959 at the Blackwell, Okla. plant of the Blackwell Zinc Co., Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Metal Climax, Inc. Developed by the company's technical and operating staffs, the new refiner produces special high-grade zinc (nominally 99.995+ pct Zn) from the prime western1 slab output of the Blackwell horizontal retort smelter. The refiner is a continuously operated, pyromet-allurgical, high-capacity unit employing fractional distillation to separate zinc from its impurities, consisting principally of lead, cadmium, and iron. In prime western slab, these elements may vary in concentration from 0.005 to 1.6 pct. Table I shows the impurities usually encountered in the Blackwell prime western metal fed to the refiner together with their boiling points and vapor pressures at 907oC. The commercial pyrometallurgical smelting processes for extracting zinc from ore include distillation from retorts and a limited degree of refining can be accomplished by redistillation in similar retorts. To achieve special high-grade purity, an impractical number of batch redistillations would be required, however, with an accompanying loss of much metal. A continuously operated and integrated unit is required in which fractional vaporization and condensation can take place in a large number of stages. The first commercial continuously operated unit was developed by the New Jersey Zinc Co.4 In the separation of any two substances the degree of separation is limited if a mixture exists having a constant boiling point. The Zn-cd5 and Zn-pb6 systems contain no constant boiling points and hence these metals may be separated to any degree of purity. Basically, the pyrometallurgical refining of zinc involves three steps: a) iron, copper, and other metals having no appreciable vapor pressures at 907ºC concentrate in the bath when the impure zinc is boiled, b) lead, bismuth, antimony, and other metals having boiling points above but closer to that of zinc are selectively condensed from the vapor boiled from the bath, and c) cadmium and other metals having lower boiling points than zinc are fractionally distilled by reboiling and subsequent condensation of the zinc from the vapor. The boiling and condensation of zinc must be conducted in vessels constructed of materials which are refractory at the temperature involved (907 ºC) and it is highly desirable that they also be resistant to attack by the various metals. This requirement dictates construction from relatively small, simply shaped pieces which limits the pressures which may be employed to avoid leakage through the numerous joints. Stresses induced must be limited essentially to compressive ones and suitable provision must be made to permit thermal expansion of the components in order to minimize these stresses. Where heat is to be added for boiling or removed for condensation, refractory material through which the heat flows must have a high thermal conductivity. Silicon carbide is highly conductive but is subject to attack by iron and is expensive compared to other commonly employed refractories. A hard, dense aluminous fireclay is well suited to contain these metals where high thermal conductivity is not required. Zinc will penetrate the pores of fireclay brick but only to a limited depth in an exterior wall and has little effect other than an increase in weight and conductivity. The design objectives of the Amax refiner were: a) to achieve a long life by heavy, rugged construction and by employing silicon carbide refractories only where required for heat conductivity and not in contact with liquids of high iron concentrations, b) to simplify operation, manning and control by essentially horizontal construction, and c) to obtain high capacity in a single unit. DESCRIPTION Flow of metal through the Amax refiner is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1 and schematically in Fig. 2.

Jan 1, 1963

By James C. Bayles

The ideal pressure-tube is obviously the one which combines the greatest strength with the least weight of material consistent with the uses for which it is designed or employed. The inside of the pipe is the first concern of the engineer. It should be cylindrical, smooth, and of the requisite capacity for the purpose in view. It should be in lengths as great as can be oonveniently handled, so that the couplings may be as few as possible. With the walls of the tube the engineer has no further occasion to concern himself than to make sure they are adequate to carry the internal and external pressures to which they will be subjected. It is as true of a pipe as of a truss, that when it is strong enough to give the requisite factor of safety, nothing is gained by having it stronger. Anything more than this means dead weight, which has to be paid for many times, first as material, and again and again in the costs of transportation and handling, until it reaches its place in the trench or on supports. In use it must be and remain tight against all leakage, and must sustain whatever is placed over or upon it, or suspended from it, without deformation or injury. Finally, in addition to meeting all the immediate requirements of service, it must possess qualities of durability which warrant a reasonable expectation of a long life of usefulness. The wise engineer no longer regards it as reasonable to depend upon mere bulk of its own material for the protection of a metal as readily impaired or destroyed by oxidation as iron or steel. The metal must have a coating which will be and remain impervious and indestructible. When all these conditions are met, we have as near an approach to the ideal tube as can be attained with the materials now available for their manufacture. Steel wed constructively, to the best advantage, meets these requirements most perfectly. Gold alone would do it better. If we search through the whole list of metals and alloys we find nothing available which so perfectly meets the requirements as a pipe material as steel. Mr. Hamilton Smith, Jr., in a paper on the expedients adopted on

Jan 1, 1891

By Randy M. Cole, Peter J. Phillips

A methodology is presented which quantifies six coal utilization cost components, each proportional to a coal's mineral content. These are: Ash disposal costs, coal transportation costs, plant maintenance costs, reduction in plant peaking capacity, reduction in plant rated capacity, and reduction in plant availability. Numerical examples illustrate that coal containing between. 12.5% and 25.0% ash-plus-sulfur can cause incremental utilization costs ranging from less than $1.00 to more than $8.00 per ton of coal, when combusted in a pulverized coal fired power plant. Estimated costs are then compared to historical data and the conclusion drawn that steam coal beneficiation may have broader economic justification than sometimes realized. It is noted that TVA, which first proposed the methodology and parameters used here, is continuing research on this aspect of coal utilization.

Jan 1, 1981

Tourism is the second largest industry in the Tasmanian copper mining center of Queenstown, Australia, but it is not the historic mine the tourists come to see. The attraction is rather the devastation the mine has brought to the surrounding countryside which has made Queenstown literally the most colorful mining town in Australian history.

Jan 6, 1972

By R. W. Armstrong, P. C. Jindal

TABOR1 has indicated for a number of polycrystal-line materials that their hardness should be directly related to their yield strength. For a material showing zero work-hardening, the Meyer hardness, MH, may be calculated in terms of the yield stress, sy, by utilizing slip line theory and the result is: The Meyer hardness corresponds to indenting the surface with a spherical indenter and specifying the ratio of load and projected area of the indentation. The correlation indicated by Eq. [I] is not well-established. It has been verified to some degree by performing hardness tests on materials strained to the maximum nominal stress and taking this stress as the (new) yield stress of a nonwork-hardening material. The dependence of hardness on yield strength for an annealed material capable of showing work-hardening has not been theoretically evaluated but, presumably, the hardness should be greater than that specified above. Marcinkowski, Fisher, and szirmae2 measured the dependence of the Vickers Diamond Pyramid hardness, H,, on yield strength for an annealed Fe-Cr alloy which shows work-hardening and found:

Jan 1, 1968

By W. A. Mudge

ONE of the most prominent features of our present-day industrial development is the ever-increasing demand put upon materials of con-struction. Engineering ingenuity, within the past 25 years, has been unusually active, and in some fields at least engineers frankly say that engineering design has progressed as far as the limitations imposed by the properties of the present materials of construction will permit. Consequently, they are today demanding improvement in their working materials and seeking new ones, through the aid; of which the present limitations of design may be overcome. The activity of this search is evident in all fields, but it is particularly so in that of structural materials required to be resistant to corrosion. The corrosion resistance of metals and alloys is never absolute and all-inclusive; a particular alloy will withstand some corrosive conditions well and fail utterly tinder others. Furthermore; other properties, physical and mechanical, required in-conjunction with corrosion resistance vary considerably for different commercial applications. One wants a soft, ductile sheet metal resistant to atmospheric corrosion; another, a high-strength- alloy resistant to sulfuric acid. The last decade has witnessed active and definite progress in the development of high-strength, corrosion-resisting alloys. In June, 1924, a symposium by the American Society for Testing Materials, on Corro-sion-Resistant, Heat-resistant and Electrical-resistance Alloys, disclosed no less than 60 commercial alloys the properties of which were described as being suitable for industrial service where corrosion resistance

Jan 1, 1935

By J. J. Snodgrass

Faults, sandstone channels, and abandoned mine workings present severe safety hazards, disrupt mining, and necessitate costly precautions or discontinuance of operations. In addition to fault detection, mining companies have a need to map discontinuities such as seam thinning and previously mined areas in both longwall and room-and-pillar operations. Initial field tests demonstrated successful generation and propagation of higher order guided wave modes. Theoretical studies indicate potential for improved resolution by sensing small details in the coal seam and roof structure. Controlled-waveform source transducers and specialized detectors are particularly useful to preferentially excite and detect the Love (SH) and Rayleigh-type (P-SV) waves, including the higher frequency modes. The distinct observation of reflections using the transducers in the shear wave mode makes feasible the detection of the water-filled voids.

Jan 1, 1986

By H. E. Lee, A. W. Edelen

The Teziutlan copper-zinc deposit is supposed to be of late Cambrian or early Paleozoic age. The country rocks are a series of schists or phyllites, flat lying and in the form of a plunging anticline. The ore deposit occupies a single horizon in the schist for a known horizontal extent of 1200 meters. Along its strike occur four large lenses or ore bodies. These ore bodies occupy positions along the flank and extend to the crest of the anticline. The primary mineralization is in the form of quartz, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena, with a few scattered silver anti-monides. Quartz and pyrite form the mineralization between the ore lenses. Ill the ore lenses the sulphides appear as a massive, very fine-grained intergrowth of minerals. The intergrowth suggests a contemporaneous deposition of the heavy sulphides. The grain size, usually under 0.09 mm., makes the separation difficult and fine grinding important. The ore bodies were formed at great depth by solutions probably originating in the same basic magma that gave rise to the dolerite sills that are so common in their vicinity. Introduction The Teziutlan copper-zinc deposit is distinctly different from other ore deposits of Mexico in age and type. Previously stated to be pre-Cambrian in age, it is now quite generally supposed to belong to the late Cambrian or to the early Paleozoic period. Also, in contrast to the usual shallow-vein zone type of mineralization in Mexico, there is here exemplified an intermediate vein zone deposit of copper and zinc. So far as is known, the Tezintlan vein is unique in the history of Mexican geology and in a class by itself, its closest counterpart probably being the copper veins of the pre-Cambrian of Canada. The Teziutlan district is in the extreme northwestern corner of the State of Puebla, Mexico. Teziutlan, the terminus of a branch line of the National Railways from Mexico City, is connected to the mine at Aire Libre by a 17-km. narrow-gauge railroad owned and operated by the Teziutlan Copper Co. Owing to excessive grades on this short linc, Shay-geared locomotives arc used for the transportation of concentrates and supplies.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. E. Lee, A. W. Edelen

The Teziutlan copper-zinc deposit is supposed to be of late Cambrian or early Paleozoic age. The country rocks are a series of schists or phyllites, flat lying and in the form of a plunging anticline. The ore deposit occupies a single horizon in the schist for a known horizontal extent of 1200 meters. Along its strike occur four large lenses or ore bodies. These ore bodies occupy positions along the flank and extend to the crest of the anticline. The primary mineralization is in the form of quartz, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena, with a few scattered silver anti-monides. Quartz and pyrite form the mineralization between the ore lenses. Ill the ore lenses the sulphides appear as a massive, very fine-grained intergrowth of minerals. The intergrowth suggests a contemporaneous deposition of the heavy sulphides. The grain size, usually under 0.09 mm., makes the separation difficult and fine grinding important. The ore bodies were formed at great depth by solutions probably originating in the same basic magma that gave rise to the dolerite sills that are so common in their vicinity. Introduction The Teziutlan copper-zinc deposit is distinctly different from other ore deposits of Mexico in age and type. Previously stated to be pre-Cambrian in age, it is now quite generally supposed to belong to the late Cambrian or to the early Paleozoic period. Also, in contrast to the usual shallow-vein zone type of mineralization in Mexico, there is here exemplified an intermediate vein zone deposit of copper and zinc. So far as is known, the Tezintlan vein is unique in the history of Mexican geology and in a class by itself, its closest counterpart probably being the copper veins of the pre-Cambrian of Canada. The Teziutlan district is in the extreme northwestern corner of the State of Puebla, Mexico. Teziutlan, the terminus of a branch line of the National Railways from Mexico City, is connected to the mine at Aire Libre by a 17-km. narrow-gauge railroad owned and operated by the Teziutlan Copper Co. Owing to excessive grades on this short linc, Shay-geared locomotives arc used for the transportation of concentrates and supplies.

Jan 1, 1941

By Swapan Bhattacharya

United States federal and state regulatory authorities require underground mine operators to adopt adequate measures to minimize material damage to the surface caused by mine subsidence. This paper presents an approach to define and determine the extent of material damage due to subsidence from underground coal mining. The basic steps involved in the development of adequate criteria have been enumerated together with the approaches and methodologies used.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. H. McCarthy, J. M. Botbol, R. B. McCammon, G. H. Gott

Four areas have been identified as favorable drill site locations for determining whether a suspected porphyry copper deposit exists in Rowe Canyon, NV. Favorability is bated on the similarity to a deposit model constructed from geochemical data for the porphyry copper deposit near Ely. Favorability is defined as the coincident number of positive anomalies for zinc, silver, aresenic, antimony, and iron. The favorable areas coincide with an observed magnetic high and areas in proximity to major faults.

Jan 1, 1983

By E. P. Jennings

The abundance and value of the tellurium minerals of Colorado is well known, but, as yet, few analyses have been made of them, and I offer these as a small contribution to the chemistry of these valuable ores. 1. Native Tellurium.—The specimens from which the analyses of this mineral were made are from the " John Jay" Mine, Boulder County, Colorado, where it occurs in quite large masses, though mixed with more or less silica and iron pyrites. It is usually a finegrained, tin-white mineral, but sometimes occurs in distorted, hexagonal prisms in cavities in the quartz. Before the blowpipe it gives the reactions for tellurium, sulphur and iron; by cupellation, it yields a small amount of gold. An analysis of a coarsely crystallized specilnen gave the following results : Specific gravity, 5.10.5. Tellurium,.........68.40 Gold, :.........1.36 Iron pyrites,........24 92 Ferric oxide,.....4.37 Silica and silicates,........11.54 Silver, lead, and mercury,... traces. 100.59 Deducting the pyrites, iron oxide and silica, we have for the con]position of the mineral: Tellurium,..........97.78 Gold,.......... 2.27 100.00 Or, considering the gold to be in combination with tellurium to form sylvanite, we have : Nativc tellurium,........96.50 Sylvanite (An, Te3,),........4.50 100.00

Jan 1, 1879

By W. C. Spence, Burt C. Mariacher

Methods employed to beneficiate ores utilize relatively few fundamental principles to effect size reduction and concentration. In crushing and grinding only impact and compressive forces with a minor amount of shear are employed. In concentration, gravity, magnetic, electrostatic and flotation constitute the major methods of concentration with minor use of sizing, hand picking and adhesion. This industry, as all others, can expect in the near future to see the development of new techniques for improved efficiency, cost reduction, and exploitation of raw materials hitherto considered unmanageable. NATURAL AND INDUCED RADIOACTIVITY At the Canadian Department of Mines in Ottawa in 1946, C. M. Lapointe developed a picker belt system whereby radioactive ores could be concentrated by electromechanical means. This invention ultimately led to development of what is now refer- red to as the Lapointe Picker and which has been used commercially at Port Radium and Port Hope for the upgrading of jig concentrates. Basically, the system consisted of conveying sized uranium ore on a belt under a radioactivity detection device which in turn electronically operated a kicker or plunger that separated the ore from the gangue constituents. Thus, a new principle for mineral concentration, radioactivity, was introduced commercially.

Jan 7, 1962

By Foster Fraas

INTRODUCTION THAT variations in the humidity of the air and in the moisture content of a mixture of broken solids being separated electrostatically cause trouble is not new.1 Much of the reputation for unreliability commonly ascribed to the electrostatic separation processes is probably due to this one factor alone. Some operators dry thoroughly before separating; and while this is good in many instances, there are others in which it is not the remedy for trouble. Some mixtures behave best in very dry air and with the mixtures fed to the separator while hot to reduce the adsorbed water content. On the other hand, an overdried mixture on coming to equilibrium with more humid air, has been known to take up moisture selectively on one family of particles, as of coal in the presence of slate and clay, and give sharper electrostatic separation. From these observations it is concluded that there is a permissible moisture content for a particle and also for the atmosphere surrounding it, if in equilibrium, at which the particle will have a conductivity or contact potential2-4 that is ideal for electrostatic separation. This permissible moisture content varies between a wide range of limits for the different materials that are separated and with the kind of electrostatic separating process used. Water can be present as a result of adsorption and condensation from the atmosphere, as an accumulation before or during mining, or as a residue from a previous process step. The water may exist as a liquid film or as an adsorbed layer of vapor. If the water exceeds permissible limits it must be removed. Its state determines the method. Drying by evaporation is necessary for adsorbed water, for part of the liquid-film water (that is, up to several percent of the dry weight), and for free water in the internal structure. Large water contents may be removed by drainage or filtration. At just what point mechanical removal should cease and drying by evaporation begin depends upon the method of mechanical removal and its cost. Particles can also be separated according to their differences in dielectric constant when suspended in a liquid of intermediate dielectric constant. Recovery of this liquid presents a similar problem. PERMISSIBLE MOISTURE The adsorbed moisture on the outer surface of minerals can be quickly removed or replaced. Accordingly, in speaking of adsorbed moisture contents, either that of the solid or that of the surrounding air may be considered, the two values being connected by a distribution coefficient which varies with the temperature. However, such a condition does not necessarily exist in processes where an initially dry material is suddenly introduced into an atmosphere having a partial pressure of water vapor or where a moist material is suddenly introduced into a dry atmosphere. Here the resultant differences in the

Jan 1, 1947

By Neville G. W. Cook

The ultimate goal in rock mechanics is to make quantitative predictions of the response of rock to changes. Measured and calculated values of changes in displacements or temperatures in the rock for six different field experiments are compared using linear regression. When values of the mean compressive stresses are large compared with the values of the deviatorial stresses, linear elasticity, using values for Young's modulus from laboratory tests, provides a good predictive model. However, if the values of the mean compressive stresses are small compared with those of the deviatorial stresses the behavior and response of the rock, though systematic, is not linear. Linear heat conduction provides good predictions of changes in rock temperatures but thermal displacements are not predicted well by linear thermoelasticity.

Jan 1, 1982

By Lewis Robert M.

The importance of phosphate in feeding the people of the world has been recognized by mining companies as they continue their search for new ore deposits and ways of improving phosphate production. An extensive phosphate-recovery research project involving investigation of beneficiation variables by batch testing, flotation pilot-plant processing of the major portion of the ore, gravity separation of the coarse fraction, and recovery of byproduct heavy minerals of a North Carolina phosphate deposit has been completed. Data obtained through batch tests enabled the development of an economical flowsheet which proved successful for the efficient recovery of a good quality phosphate concentrate in a pilot plant.

Jan 1, 1975

By Arthur Crowfoot

As a result of work done, on an operating scale, in its experimental mill during 1920 and 1921, the plan here given was proposed for crushing, grinding, and concentrating low-grade sulfide ores at the Morenci Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. The flow sheet is designed to recover 85 per cent. of the total copper and 95 per cent. of the sulfide copper from ore assaying 2.0 per cent. total copper and 0.3 per cent. acid soluble copper. At present, 1400 tons are treated daily under the conditions of this flow sheet, two 700-ton units having been installed in the 4000-ton concentrator. The run-of-mine ore will be reduced, in the dry-crushing plant, to —6 mesh and then delivered to the concentrator feed bins. The crushing will be done in three stages: (I) Run-of-mine ore is reduced to —2 1/2-in. in a gyratory crusher; (2) the 3-in. ore is reduced to 1/2-in. in 72 by 24 in. rolls; (3) the 1/2-in. ore is reduced to — 6-mesh size in 54 by 24 in. rolls. The 54-in. rolls will operate in closed circuit with electrically vibrated screens, "Hum-mer" type, a conveyor circuit being used to carry the roll product to the screens. Sufficient screens will be installed to pass 1.5 tons undersize per hour per square foot. Fine-ore bin chutes will be piped for compressed air, which will be used intermittently to keep the ore feed in motion if it tends to arch or pipe in the bins. The Concentrator The concentration of the copper and iron sulfides in the ore will be effected in three stages: I. By direct treatment of the —6-mesh crushing-plant product on primary tables, which will recover about 35 per cent. of the original copper content of the ore in a clean granular concentrate. The table middling will be dewatered in Dorr rake classifiers and ground to — 48-mesh in ball mills operating in closed circuit with circulating classifiers.

Jan 1, 1923

By Arthur Crowfoot

As a result of work done, on an operating scale, in its experimental mill during 1920 and 1921, the plan here given was proposed for crushing, grinding, and concentrating low-grade sulfide ores at the Morenci Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. The flow sheet is designed to recover 85 per cent. of the total copper and 95 per cent. of the sulfide copper from ore assaying 2.0 per cent. total copper and 0.3 per cent. acid soluble copper. At present, 1400 tons are treated daily under the conditions of this flow sheet, two 700-ton units having been installed in the 4000-ton concentrator. The run-of-mine ore will be reduced, in the dry-crushing plant, to —6 mesh and then delivered to the concentrator feed bins. The crushing will be done in three stages: (I) Run-of-mine ore is reduced to —2 1/2-in. in a gyratory crusher; (2) the 3-in. ore is reduced to 1/2-in. in 72 by 24 in. rolls; (3) the 1/2-in. ore is reduced to — 6-mesh size in 54 by 24 in. rolls. The 54-in. rolls will operate in closed circuit with electrically vibrated screens, "Hum-mer" type, a conveyor circuit being used to carry the roll product to the screens. Sufficient screens will be installed to pass 1.5 tons undersize per hour per square foot. Fine-ore bin chutes will be piped for compressed air, which will be used intermittently to keep the ore feed in motion if it tends to arch or pipe in the bins. The Concentrator The concentration of the copper and iron sulfides in the ore will be effected in three stages: I. By direct treatment of the —6-mesh crushing-plant product on primary tables, which will recover about 35 per cent. of the original copper content of the ore in a clean granular concentrate. The table middling will be dewatered in Dorr rake classifiers and ground to — 48-mesh in ball mills operating in closed circuit with circulating classifiers.

Jan 1, 1923

By Junnosuke Yamamoto

Substituting sodium hydroxide for sodium carbonate as a binder in a glass batch yields harder pellets with a lower melting point. This paper explores the degree of NaOH substitution that is feasible, and compares pellet hardness, and amount of dusting with the degree of NaOH substitution. The effects of the the amount of soluble silicate in the pellet and residual hydroxide concentration in the pellet on pellet hardness are also studied.

Jan 1, 1977

By Frank Firmstone

In the summer of 1842 my father, William Firmstone, was engaged by Charles Jackson, Jr., of Boston, to examine the conditions in the Lehigh valley as a site for blast-furnaces using anthracite for fuel. In consequence of his report, he was further engaged by Mr. Jackson to build a furnace for him and his partners on the Lehigh canal, 2 miles above the mouth of the river at Easton. Work was begun in the fall of 1842, and the first furnace blown-in in 1844. The history of the works, therefore, from 1844 to 1887, when my own connection with them ceased, covers only four years less than the whole period of the rise, culmination, and commencement of the decline in the smelting of iron with anthracite in America, the beginning of which, in a commercial sense, may be put in 1839.' Although this paper, as the title indicates, is concerned almost exclusively with the furnaces at Glendon, still what was done there was more or less influenced by current opinion in the district, and even reflects, to some extent, the changes in opinion and practice with mineral fuel the world over. No. 1 Furnace was built of red brick, on four piers, had three tuyeres and fore-hearth and tymp, as was universal with furnaces using mineral fuel until the introduction of Lurmann's cinder-tuyere. The dimensions and profile are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The first hearth (Fig. 1) was of sandstone; all after were of fire-brick (Fig. 2). The profile was no doubt derived directly from Gibbons's furnace,2 for it appears from W. Firmstone's note-books that in October, 1840, he visited " Gibbons' new furnaces building at Corbyn Hall," and I have an old drawing,

Jan 1, 1910