Search Documents

By Z. Henderson, J. Saylor, L. R. Mendoza

"Diesel particulate Matter (DPM) is a byproduct of fuel combustion in diesel engines. It is classified as a carcinogen, with associated respiratory and cardiovascular health effects. The composition, size, and concentration of DPM is dependent on factors such as engine type, loading and fuel composition. Though a number of DPM abatement and control strategies currently exist, particularly in underground mining environments, occupational exposures remain a serious health concern. As a novel abatement approach, DPM scavenging by fine water or “fog” droplets has been proposed and a laboratory set-up has been built to test the efficacy on engine exhaust. Here, we describe a series of tests that varied engine load, system flow rate and fog drop number density. While none of these factors had overwhelming effects on the results within the ranges tested, the improvement in DPM mass removal attributed to the fog treatment was about 45% on average in comparison to no treatment. INTRODUCTION Diesel engines have seen widespread use for well over a century due to their relatively high thermal efficiency and fuel economy1. More recently, however, adverse health risks of diesel exhaust have become increasingly clear. Many of these risks are associated with the physical and chemical properties of exhaust components1–3. The term diesel particulate matter (DPM) is used to refer to the solid components of diesel exhaust, which are a mixture of elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC) and minor constituents including sulfates and metal ash3. The OC fraction of DPM results from unburned fuel and lube oil, whereas EC or soot is formed during the combustion of locally rich regions within the fuel. DPM is classified as a carcinogen6,7 and epidemiological studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between long-term exposure to DPM and other combustion-related fine particulate and increased cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases8,9. Diesel engines operate in relative fuel rich/oxygen lean conditions and are characterized by relatively high emissions of particulate as compared to spark-ignition engines2,3,10. Typically, these emissions range from 107 – 109 particles/cc and cover two primary size ranges: the nuclei mode where particles have diameters less than about <50 nm, and the accumulation mode where diameters are from about 50-10,000 nm. Most OC resides in the nuclei mode as semi-volatile compounds, while most EC is in the accumulation mode3. The physical and chemical properties of DPM vary with the type of engine, fuel (e.g., petro- vs. bio-diesel) and operating conditions such as loading (i.e., a function of torque and rotational speed)2,3,9,11,12. Loading is a particularly important factor with respect to DPM toxicity9,13,14, and on the effectiveness of after-treatment technologies2,3,15. Engine load alone can affect the EC/OC ratio, and the size distribution and number density of DPM. For diesel engines, the load is roughly proportional to the equivalence ratio3, defined as the actual fuel/air ratio over the stoichiometric fuel/air ratio for complete combustion. Light loads generally favor the formation of OC and small particles. As load is increased the volatiles are oxidized leading to larger soot particles (i.e., EC), but lower total number density of DPM. With further loading, the formation of soot offsets the decrease in volatiles, resulting in increased DPM mean size and number density3."

Jan 1, 2017

By James P. Rider, Charles D. Taylor, Edward D. Thimons

Research was conducted to investigate how ventilation of a mining face is affected when scrubber flow is greater or less than intake flow. Tests were conducted in a full-scale surface test gallery built to simulate a mining entry with a continuous mining ma- chine at the face. Methane gas was released at constant flow at the mining face. Gas measurements taken at six locations near the face were used to evaluate how well the face was being ventilated. Increasing scrubber flow resulted in lower methane levels even when scrubber flow was much greater than intake flow.

Jan 1, 1997

By Eoin Murphy, Stephen Beauchamp, Steven Cowell

"INTRODUCTION Electrification of the heavily trafficked Manchester to Preston route by Network Rail required the rehabilitation of the Victorian era Farnworth Tunnels to accommodate 21st century high speed trains. Network Rail, J. Murphy and Sons Ltd (JMS) and OTB Engineering Ltd (OTB) collaborated closely to complete these works in close proximity to heritage infrastructure whilst maintaining a rail service on the route. This significant challenge has been mastered by a combination of detailed investigation, complex modelling, robust design, extensive monitoring, ground treatment, secant piling, sprayed concrete, steel arches and segmental lining techniques. Investigation of the “Down” Tunnel found deformation and cracking of the lining and this was reconstructed during 11 weekend possessions. The “Up” Tunnel was filled with low strength concrete and a 9m diameter open face shield was used to construct an 8m diameter segmental lined tunnel during a 23 week blockade whilst traffic was maintained in the “Down” Tunnel. ELECTRIFICATION OF THE RAILWAY The Farnworth Tunnel project is part of the UK wide £1bn Railway Upgrade Plan to provide improvements throughout the rail network which includes the Manchester to Preston route. The project also supports the UK Government commitment to build a “Northern Powerhouse” by improving links that bind northern England together and which will help it release its full potential with a more balanced, healthier economy. The majority of the current UK rail network infrastructure resulted from the rapid growth of the railways in the mid to late 19th century which means that most of the existing tunnels are over 120 years old. Over the centuries the introduction of larger rolling stock has reduced the original clearances provided in tunnels. The electrification of a route requires that any over-line structures provide clearance for Overhead Line Equipment (OLE), new rolling stock and to meet modern standards. As part of Network Rail’s current electrification programme a further 36 tunnels have been identified on routes requiring electrification. Not of all these Victorian structures will require alterations to provide OLE clearance but the condition of the existing tunnels and modern fire / waterproofing requirements may ultimately dictate the need for rehabilitation."

Jan 1, 2016

By William Gleason

"Komatsu has been on the cutting edge of autonomous mining for the past 30 years and the company remains at the forefront of the technology that is changing from concept to a full-fledged reality.In 1996, Komatsu America Corp. (KAC) purchased a controlling interest in Modular Mining Systems; a move that enabled both companies to expand their product lines. It was through this effort that Modular helped to deploy the first autonomous haulage system (AHS) — the Komatsu FrontRunner system. In January 2008, the first commercial implementation of the FrontRunner system occurred at Codelco’s copper mine in Chile. Since then, Komatsu has put more than 130 haul trucks into seven sites on three continents to haul copper, iron ore and oil sands and its equipment has moved 1.8 Gt (2 billion st) of material with zero lost time incidents attributed to Komatsu’s autonomous trucks. The 1.8 Gt (2 billion st) is the most of any commercial mining autonomous haulage system and there is more to come. In November, Komatsu announced that an additional 150 autonomous haul trucks will be deployed to the Canadian oil sands over the next seven years.Komatsu has continued to pioneer autonomous haulage development, creating a range of autonomous options that includes semiautonomous and teleremote options all the way up to a haulage vehicle that stole the show at the world’s largest mining equipment trade show.In 2016, Komatsu advanced the concept of driverless haul truck to a new level when it displayed its Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle (IAHV) at MINExpo in Las Vegas, NV. The concept vehicle is the first mega class haul truck designed to be fully autonomous, without an operators’ cab included on the vehicle.Unlike other haul trucks, the vehicle was developed exclusively as an unmanned vehicle designed to maximize the advantages of unmanned operation. Among other advancements, it was designed to distribute equal load to the four wheels, both when the vehicle is loaded and unloaded, and adopt four-wheel drive, retarder and steering. Komatsu said it is aiming for high-performance shuttling of this vehicle in both forward and reverse travel directions, thereby eliminating the need for K-turns at loading and unloading sites."

Dec 1, 2018

By Stanley J. Gasior

Most bituminous coal mined near Eastern industrial areas requiring high Btu pipeline gas is caking and therefore unsuitable for fixed-bed pressure gasification by present techniques. If the caking property of such coal can be destroyed the resulting fuel can be gasified in a fixed bed at pressure with steam and oxygen as a preliminary step in making a high-Btu gas. To find a practical way to convert strongly caking coals of granular or small lump size to noncaking fuel was the object of this study. In previous work strongly caking coals of 1/8- to 1-1/2-inch size was converted to a noncaking coal char by treatment in a static bed in about 3 hours [1/]and coal of 18-100 Tyler mesh in a fluidized bed in about 5 minutes.[2/] An inert gas such as `steam, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of all three with a small amount of oxygen was used in both studies. In our work a strongly caking bituminous coal from the Pittsburgh seam of 4-8 Tyler mesh size was converted to a-noncaking form in free-fall in about 2 seconds by dropping it through a countercurrent flow of steam containing 4 to 7 percent oxygen at 1,150°-1,200° F and 300 psig. This method should also be applicable to smaller-sized material.

Jan 1, 1965

By Vernon N. Cox

From comments and questions concerning the meaning of USNR, and "why is the Navy in the mining business?" I believe it is worth while to establish the background and purpose of our company. We are a stock company formed by the purchase and reorganization of a company known as the U. S. Natural Gas Corporation. In May 1969, a group of investors with Mr. Robert L. Katz as president and chief executive officer, created United States Natural Resources, Inc., to develop and purposively use our Natural Resources in four areas: 1. Mines and Minerals 2. Forest Products 3. oil and Gas 4. Recreational Lands As final proof that we are not a government organization, I simply state. "We pay taxes." The mining division was formed in October 1969, with the completion of the merger of USNR and Vibration Measurement Engineers, Inc., Of Evanston, Illinois. Throughout the industry we were known as "VME," our company supplied consulting service in the field of seismic energy control, mining consulting and. we operated drilling, blasting and, contracting organizations in several areas of the country. Since that time we have developed and acquired producing properties in Quarrying, Coal Mining and Cement Copper Production.

Jan 1, 1971

By R. L. Miller

"Why should we care about diesel quality amidst the complexity of mining for minerals? Mining companies use a large amount of diesel fuel in their worldwide operations, both for moving ore from the mine to the processing mills or transportation hubs, and to generate power for onsite processing. This creates a large carbon footprint and poses both environmental risk with the production of emissions, and public perception of how those companies do their business as stewards of the environment while incurring a huge fuel expenditure. To improve diesel quality and create incremental value and greater environmental stewardship, the opportunity is broken down into several segments: 1. Mining industry diesel consumption 2. Fuel quality issues 3. Impacts on operations, economics, and emissions 4. Potential solutions 5. How improved fuel quality saves fuel expenditures 6. Economics of improved fuel quality 7. Recommended testing process 8. Fuel quality analysis checklist MINING INDUSTRY DIESEL CONSUMPTION The average grade of mined Australian ore bodies has halved, while the waste removed to access the minerals has more than doubled over the last 30 years, thus increasing energy consumption by 70%, (http://eex.gov.au/industry-sectors/mining/). Energy consumption and intensity in mining and mineral processing is rising at around 6% per annum. The mining industry is a huge consumer of diesel fuel worldwide, and the SRS Rocco Report of 4 August 2014 gives a better picture of recent trends. To better understand the reasons to reduce both fuel costs and consumption, we need to compare metrics on the amount of diesel consumed per each ounce of gold produced over the last decade. The rate of diesel consumption in gallons per each ounce of gold produced for the top five worldwide gold producers has doubled in the last 8 years from 12.7 gallons per ounce in 2005 to 25.8 in 2013 as shown in Figure 1 below.This is caused by 1) lower ore grades requiring more hauls to get same amount of finished gold product, and 2) haul trucks moving ore from deeper sources in open pit and underground mines. For one large multi-national gold mining company, the 2005 waste rock / production ratio was 52 metric tons/gold ounce; by 2013 that ratio had grown to 113 metric tons/gold ounce per the same SRSrocco 4 August 2014 report. Using the metrics above, the top 5 gold miners used over 591 million gallons of diesel fuel in 2013. The cost of diesel in dollars per ounce of gold has increased from $30.48 in 2005 to $101.14 in 2013, an annual appreciation of 16.2% as shown in Figure 2 below."

Jan 1, 2017

By D. C. Mahon, P. G. Sagert, M. R. Legeyt

INTRODUCTION Public opinion, over the effect of industrial development on the environment, has required government to institute guidelines for the protection of the environment both during the development of and after the decommissioning of mines. In no other area of mining has this requirement been more consistently applied in recent times than in the development of uranium mines. Uranium mines have been a focal point because of the very real uncertainties associated with the detrimental effects of radionuclides and the possible hazards of radiation. In order to determine if there is an environmental effect caused by a development or the storage of the mine waste as tailings, it is necessary to know what the quality of the environment was prior to the production of the tailings. This is the reason for baseline data programs. It is neither technically nor economically feasible to completely define the environment in any given region. Therefore, judgement decisions must be made prior to the development as to what aspects of the environment are more likely to be affected by the presence of the tailings, and to what degree. These decisions have evolved over a period of time based on information generated from existing facilities, scientific research, and the development of strong public opinions. This process is not static, but evolves with the growth of information and the technological developments which permit greater control of industrial pollution and waste management. A well-designed baseline program will reflect changes in science, technology and public attitude, even in advance of government regulations to enforce policy changes. RATIONALE FOR PREOPERATIONAL BASELINE STUDIES There are three distinct phases to be considered in the construction of an environmental assessment for a uranium mine tailings containment facility. I. Pre-operational 2. Operational 3. Post-operational (decommissioning and long term).

Jan 1, 1980

By W. F. McDermott

The transportation of solids by pipeline is not new. In 1891 a United States patent broadly covering a method of pumping coal with water was granted to W. C. Andrews. His pilot plant was constructed on what is now the site of the New York Public Library in Manhattan. His process was applied to pumping coal mine waste back into the worked out portion of coal mines. On October 26, 1967, the world&apos;s first long distance iron ore slurry line was put into service by Savage River Mines. The commissioning of this 5.0 million dollar installation climaxed three years of development, testing, and construction and proved the Company&apos;s faith in pioneering this unique transportation method for iron ore. This paper will discuss some of the more pertinent items in connection with that three- year period. Also to be discussed will be the operation of this line during the past eleven months.

Jan 1, 1968

By Douglas M. Smith

The town of Tayoltita, Durango is located at the bottom of the 2000 m. deep Rio Piaxtla canyon on the axis of the rugged Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. Throughout most of the year access to the town is restricted to travel by mule or STOL aircraft. Silver and gold have been produced from epithermal veins in the north side of the canyon since 1757. During the last seventy-three years more than 4,588,000 kg. of silver and 76,322 kg. of gold have been produced from approximately 6,000,000 metric tons of ore. The Tayoltita mine is developed within a fault block bounded by normal faults which strike north-northwest and have opposing dips. A thickness of at least 1300 meters of late Cretaceous or early Tertiary volcanic rocks is exposed in the mine. These range in composition from andesite to rhyolite. Andesite predominates in the upper 750 meters of the section. The volcanic rocks were passively intruded by quartz-monzonite and andesite stocks during middle (?) Tertiary time. Mineralization spatially and temporally (?) related to the stocks occurs along the east boundary fault and in intersecting footwall fissures which strike east-west and northeast. Ore was deposited over a vertical range of up to 600 m. prior to tilting of the volcanic rocks 35 to 45° to the east. With few exceptions, the ore bodies are found within the lower 400 to 500 m. of the andesite. Argentite (acanthite), stromeyerite, jalpaite, electrum and native silver are the principal ore minerals. They occur in gangue composed of one or more of the following: quartz, calcite, bustamite, adularia, chlorite, and albite. Base-metal sulfides make up less than 1.5 percent by weight of the ore.

Jan 1, 1974

By Dapeng Zhang, Brij Moudgil, Shibo Zheng, Chunhui Feng, Wenyi Song, Wending Xiao, Patrick Zhang

The separation of dolomite from phosphate is the most challenging problem in phosphate mineral processing. More than 50 percent of the phosphate reserve in Florida contains too much dolomite to process using current industry practice. The current way of producing phosphoric acid requires less than one percent MgO in the phosphate concentrate as the feed material. The Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research (FIPR) Institute has collaborated with worldwide experts in the field to address this issue. As a result, the industry is now offered three feasible options. Option I entails three methods for reducing MgO content in the concentrate from the Crago process, including adding a dolomite depressant in the rougher flotation step, dolomite flotation of the cleaner concentrate, and scrubbing the cleaner concentrate in quartz sand, which could reduce MgO content in the final concentrate by 20 to 40 percent. Option II involves the crushing and grinding of high-dolomite phosphate pebbles followed by dolomite flotation at slightly acidic pH using a new collector that does not require phosphoric acid as a phosphate depressant, achieving a final concentrate analyzing less than 0.9 percent MgO at about 87 percent P2O5 recovery. Option III is a gravity separation technique using an innovative separation jig, and its full potential remains to be demonstrated.

By T. D. MacQueen

Thank you Mr. Stevens. It&apos;s a pleasure for me to be speaking to this meeting of the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME this afternoon, and the Gypsum, Association is grateful for the invitation. A brief word about who we are: the Gypsum Association is the trade association for the gypsum industry - the manufacturers of gypsum board and lath a-d plaster. We have a membership of eight companies. These eight companies produce about 90% of the gypsum products manufactured in the United States ... closer to 94% actually. Our headquarters is in Evanston, Illinois. We have an east coast office in Washington, D.C. where the eastern manager handles technical and building code matters and maintains liaison between all of the government agencies and departments and our industry. We also have a west coast office in Los Angeles where our west coast representatives is heavily involved with the Uniform Building Code and ICBO. And then in the Evanston office our manager of technical and building code services, Herb Carlsen, bites his nails and loses his hair over these problems and various other projects that come in, such as conversion to metric and various other things. We also have a research associate at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington who is currently concentrating his efforts on the combustibility of building materials. His studies involve current testing methods, definitions, data analysis, and proposed new testing methods,.&apos; It is anticipated that this program will lead to a better understanding of non-combustibility of building materials and systems. I mentioned that our members represent over 90% of gypsum products,&apos; manufactured in the United States; it might be well to point out a couple of statistics about what that really means. According to the Bureau of Mines,

Jan 1, 1977

By K. Hansson, A. Jedborn

Background In the mining industry, conversion of fine particles into a slurry is often part of the normal processing of the ore. Therefore, from a system&apos;s point of view, slurry transporta¬tion would be considered as a natural alternative, all the way from the working face to the final processing. In underground mines, there is sometimes a considerable inflow of ground water that has to be pumped out. When the mine dewatering installations are integrated with a hydraulic hoisting system, the cost of power needed to pump out the ground water can be excluded from the cost of hoisting, compared with other modes of transporting the solids to the surface. The chief advantage of hydraulic hoisting is that the hoisting capacity can be increased at comparatively low total cost without necessitating the sinking of new shafts. Alterna¬tive examples include deepening of the existing mechanical hoisting system, truck, or conveyor belts transport in ramps to the present level. These often become very expensive. The economic effectiveness of hydraulic hoisting and hydraulic design considerations have been discussed by Kostuik (1965) and Sellgren (1985, 1986) for both small shallow mines and large deep underground mines. Objective and scope The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasi¬biliy of hydraulic hoisting in hypothetical examples of mine deepening. Underground grinding to a maximum particle size of about 700 um (about 25 mesh) is considered. The pumping of ground ore products with positive displacement plunger or membrane type of pumps at working pressures of up to 15 MPa (2200 psi) is a thoroughly tested technique (Venton, 1986). Hydraulic hoisting system A hydraulic hoisting system is described schematically in Fig. l . The ore is mined, handled, and crushed conventionally. It is then ground wet underground. The slurry is then tempo¬rarily stored in an agitated tank and pumped to an agitated receiving tank on the surface. The ore is then further processed in the concentrator. The capacity of a pipeline is very high. For example, an annual production of 500 Kt (550,000 st) of ore can be handled in a 100-mm-diam (4-in.-diam) pipeline. Systems layout - economic effectiveness Schematic mine layouts are presented that represent situ¬ations where hydraulic hoisting often is the most economical alternative. A situation where the ore is trucked to the level of the existing hoisting system is shown in Fig. 2 (following page). With hydraulic hoisting, only a shaft for ventilation, pipe¬line, and personnel are needed. In a first phase (Fig. 2), a hydraulic hoisting installation with crushing and grinding units, storage facilities, and pumps has been located at a level of about 400 to 600 m (1310 to 1970 ft) below the surface. With further development of the mine, the hydraulic hoisting

Jan 1, 1989

By B. W. Cavender

"World-class manufacturing" (WCM) techniques can be applied in milling operations to substantially improve productivity and reduce costs. Through the use of "just-in-time" and "total quality control" practices, WCM methods establish an environment for continual and rapid improvement in all aspects of production operations, with particular gains in product quality, costs, flexibility, employee involvement, and responsiveness to customers. This paper examines WCM techniques that can be utilized specifically in the mill, and their influence on plant configuration, organization, and scheduling practices; equipment selection and maintenance methods; training; the role of supporting staff; and methods of data collection and analysis.

Jan 1, 1993

By M. Misra

The processing strategy for the effective separation of bitumen from low grade (< 10 weight percent bitumen) Utah tar sands by a hot water process differs significantly from that used for the processing of high grade (> 10 weight percent bitumen) Utah tar sands. Excellent separations (coefficient of separation = 0.9) can be achieved for high grade Utah tar sands by intense hot water digestion followed by a modified froth flotation step. Such a technique is ineffective for low grade tar sands. In order to change the characteristics of the low grade tar sand an attempt was made to enrich the bitumen content of the feed to greater than 10 weight percent by recycle of bitumen concentrate to the digestion stage. However the quality of the separation was not improved under these circumstances. Similarly feed enrichment by heat treating the low grade feed with recycled concentrate prior to digestion did not improve the separation. More successful separations of low grade Utah tar sands were finally achieved by modification of the viscosity of the low grade bitumen with controlled addition of diluent. These results of the hot water separation tests and variations in the quality of separation are interpreted in terms of the physical properties of the bitumen and the surface bonding forces operative at the bitumen-sand interface.

Jan 1, 1979

Nearly as impressive as the machines that will be on display at MINExpo are the massive engines and tires that keep the machines moving. As you can imagine, it takes a special tire and special engine to run these machines. The following is a look at some of the exhibitors that will be at MINExpo displaying engines and tires. Cummins Inc. Cummins Inc. will display a lineup engines from 37kW to 2,983 kW (49 hp to 4000 hp) at MINExpo, representing the most extensive ?smallest to largest? range the company has ever put on display.

Jan 1, 2012

By S. G. Vick, K. E. Robinson, W. D. Webb

INTRODUCTION This paper discusses two uranium tailings waste disposal studies that reflect the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulatory actions and their changing requirements during the mid to late 1970&apos;s. Present guidelines require that all new uranium tailings impoundments be designed and constructed to eliminate, to the extent that it is reasonably achievable, exposures and risks to the public from the tailings. This includes positive measures for control of seepage losses from the impoundment and for control of radiological releases caused by wind and water erosion. Long-term stability of the reclaimed impoundment is also a very important requirement. That is, it is intended that the tailings impoundment, once it is reclaimed, will require little or no care or maintenance as long as the uranium tailings remain a hazard. Principally because of the long-term stability objective, the NRC has now identified subsurface burial of the tailings as the "prime option" for tailings disposal. The environmental implications of these proposed regulatory actions are obviously desirable. The economic implications the actions may have on a particular project are not always so obvious because they are so dependent on environmental suitability of site conditions. Selection of a site with favorable topographic, geologic and hydrologic conditions will usually result in the most economically and environmentally attractive alternative for tailings disposal. The first project discussed in this paper was initiated before the NRC guidelines had been developed to favour subsurface burial. At the beginning, seepage and radon emission control requirements were moderate. Constraints were imposed on the design by site topography, geology, and project capitalization considerations, factors which were dealt with according to straightforward engineering and design principles. More serious constraints were imposed by changing regulatory requirements. Unlike the more usual engineeringrelated constraints, regulatory requirements were upgraded during the design process, causing the design itself to undergo numerous modifications. The second project was initiated after the NRC proposed regulations had become better defined and below grade burial appeared to be the preferred

Jan 1, 1980

By R. Kadeg, S. Pavlou

A methodology for developing and utilizing risk-based action levels for soils in site closures is discussed. The methodology is based on standard exposure pathway models which are consistent with current regulatory guidance on conducting risk assessment. A simple approach to evaluating the potential for contamination ground water from the projected criteria based on the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure (TCLP) is also presented.

Jan 1, 1992

By R. Norman Holme

Sulfonate promoters and collectors were originally developed as relatively inexpensive anionic collectors to selectively concentrate the iron-bearing minerals in low grade iron ores and to remove iron and other mineral contaminants by flotation in the processing of glass sands, feldspar and other ceramic raw materials. The first reagents produced were effective collectors for such iron oxide minerals as goethite, hematite, limonite, magnetite and siderite. Further development has resulted in additional reagents with a broadened application to the selective flotation of a variety of nonsulfide and nonmetallic minerals. The products in this group are anionic sulfonate-type promoters, natural petroleum sulfonates, and synthetic modified sulfonates. Beyond their applications to iron-bearing minerals, the sulfonate collectors have gained commercial use in the flotation treatment of barite, celestite, fluorite, apatite, chromite, industrial garnet, kyanite, mica, rhodochrosite and cassiterite. in addition, extensive laboratory studies indicate their potential suitability for flotation of the following minerals: Anatase Anhydrite Bauxite Beryl Calcite Chlorite Some Copper Carbonates Corundum Dolomite Hornblende Huebnerite Ilmenite Lepidolite Magnesite Phosphate Minerals Rutile Scheelite Spodumene Sillimanite Talc Tourmaline Wolframite Zircon Sulfonate promoters are water soluble or dispersible liquids, syrups or pastes of varying viscosity with colors ranging from dark blackish-brown to clear. Customarily, they are fed to the conditioner or flotation as 5% to 30% water solutions or dispersions. In addition to their normal collector activity, certain of these products display notable frothing characteristics. Improved collector efficiency and adequate froth control can frequently be obtained by employing mixtures of sulfonate reagents, of ten with results quite markedly superior to those achieved with equivalent dosages of the individual promoter alone. Reagent requirements will vary with the type of mineral being treated; however, a general overall range of 0.13 to 2.0 kg/metric ton (0.25 to 4.0 lb/ton) of feed should cover most applications.

Jan 1, 1986

By Robert E. Ennis

Several important economic variables must be studied when planning a major underground conveyor haulage system if the objective of tow cost haulage is to be met. The purpose of this paper is to call these economic factors to the attention of the mine planner and encourage their serious consideration. To illustrate, the importance that some of these variables hole for the mine operator who wishes to reduce costs and maintain sound belt haulage practice, these areas of discussion will be covered. 1. Selection of economical flite lengths. 2. Economics of wire rope frame vs. rigid frame conveyors. 3. How idler design affects conveyor costs. 4. Economies in drive design. 5. How speed affects conveyor cost. 6. P.V.C. vs. Neoprene belt - what savings? 7. Maintaining, conveyor investment through maintenance. 8. Miscellaneous factors affecting the cost of belt haulage.

Jan 1, 1967