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By Robert W. Thompson, Darry A. Ferguson

In August, 1977 the United States Congress passed Public Law 95-87 which has been commonly referred to as the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (or SMCRA). This title is somewhat misleading in that the act creates as many regulatory requirements for underground coal mines as for surface coal mines. How- ever, this paper will concentrate on the effects of SMCRA on designs and stability for various activities of surface coal mines, specifically those concerning "Disposal of Excess Spoil". In the past, the objective of most laws and regulations applicable to the mining industry has been to achieve goals of safety or environmental concerns for all types of mining. However, SMCRA is unique in that it sought to regulate-all-activities of coal mining from initial data gathering, exploration, mine design and facilities design to reclamation activities and design. More specific to the stability of the activities of surface coal mining, special criteria for design and construction performance standards have been promulgated for the construction and maintenance of roads, dams and embankments, coal processing waste, ex- cess spoil piles, backfilled reclamation and pit slides. The criteria for design for the previously mentioned facilities has been enumerated by regulations and in many ways restrict the use of site specific design parameters. The restrictions imposed by regulations significantly inhibit the engineer's ability to develop the best practical and economical design and in some cases may re-

Jan 1, 1983

By L. M. Johnson, C. G. Janes

INTRODUCTION In May, 1966, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced a program to encourage additional domestic production of copper in the interest of national security. Upon learning of the copper production expansion program, Duval Corporation entered into negotiations with GSA for development of the Sierrita copper-molybdenum property under the program. Agreements between the GSA and Duval Sierrita Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duval Corporation, were concluded in 1967, with the Sierrita Concentrator beginning operation in 1970 at a designed capacity of 72,000 STPD. Subsequent additions and modifications have expanded capacity to 90,000 STPD. This property, located approximately 20 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, represents an investment including working capital of about $200 million. These funds were provided from an $83 million loan from GSA, repayable in copper valued at 38 cents per pound, $48.75 million of bank loans subject to U. S. Government V-loan guarantees, and Company capital contributions. Current general operating statistics for the concentrator are listed below: [Ore Grade 0.32% Cu., 0.030"/. Mo. Daily Tons Milled 90,000 STPD Annual Copper Product ion 94,600 Tons Annual Molybdenum Production 15,000,000 Lbs. Annual Silver Production 1,135,000 Ounces]

Jan 1, 1976

By R. Buehl, John Wulff, H. Hollomon

Although the main features of the transformations occurring in 18-8 have been published already, certain conclusions merit questioning and discussion. The questions may be summarized as follows : 1. If ferrite is formed by cold-working austenite, what happens to the carbon with which the ferrite and austenitc are both presumably supersaturated? 2. What is the nature of the alpha-ferrite formed at grain boundarices by chromium-carbide precipitation at these boundaries?

Jan 1, 1940

The Honor Roll includes the names of all members of the Institute whom we know to be on active military duty at the date of its compilation, February 7, 1918. We are aware that there are many others of whose activities we have not been informed, and we shall be grateful for information as to any such omissions from the Roll. 1. MEMBERS ON ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE Mail addressed to members on the first division of the Roll and sent to the office of the Institute Will be forwarded according to the best of our knowledge at the time. AARONS, J. BOYD, Capt., 4th Reinforcements, 11th Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. '05 ADAMS, HENRY, Capt Asst. to Dept. Engr., Northeastern Department. '02 AGNEW, FRANK VANS '04 ARBE, FREDERICK R., Capt 33d Engineers. '97 ALDER, ALFRED Engineers' Reserve Corps. '17 ALFORD, NEWELL G., Sgt., Bureau of War Risk Insurance, Headquarters 84th Division. '14 ALLEN, HEMAN H., Private Co. D., 8th Reserve Engineers. '17 AMBLER, HARRY A., Lieut 30th Infantry. '16 ANDERSON, ALEXANDER, Lieut Royal Garrison Artillery. '07 ANDERSON, GEORGE K., JR., See. C, 1st Co., 3d Officers' Training Camp. '17 ANDREWS, CLARENCE W., 1st Infantry Co., Officers' Training Camp, 83d Division. '13

Jan 1, 1923

By James Elton

THIS paper covers, besides laboratory work, a study of actual operation at the Washoe Smelter over a considerable period of time, together with the results of a visit to the Midvale plant of the United States Smelting- & Refining Co., near Salt Lake. For the latter privilege, as well as permission to publish the resulting data herein given, I am indebted to George W. Heintz, General Manager of the Midvale plant, and here take pleasure in. expressing my appreciation for the many courtesies extended to me by Mr. Heintz and members of the technical staff at the smelter. Almost all of the world's supply of arsenic is recovered as a by-product in the smelting of other metals. It is seen on the market in various forms, the most common being arsenic trioxide, the ? white arsenic " of commerce, which is sold as a heavy white powder, or in white, glassy, translucent masses. The trioxide is used in the manufacture of pigment, glass, and insecticides. About 50 per cent. of the domestic consumption is supplied by imports.

Jan 8, 1913

By Vincent Carlsson

A comprehensive investigation has been undertaken to clarify how pellets are affected by alkali circulating in the blast furnace. The investigation has been performed with acid and basic pellets in a special furnace. Experiments were carried out to ascertain the influence of potassium on swelling and reducibility when added at different stages of reduction. After that, the significance of the quantity of potassium added in the hematite stage was studied. A parallel experiment with sodium as the alkali component was also con- ducted. Besides these vaporization experiments the effect of alkali on softening and reduction characteristics at high temperatures was investigated. The results showed that alkali always increases swelling, especially when added in the hematite stage. The addition of alkali increases reducibility of acid pellets during reduction from wustite to 70 % reduction. The softening temperature is significantly lowered by the addition of alkali and is, in any case, lower for acid pellets than for basic pellets. The microscopic studies showed that alkali ferrites can be formed irrespective of the influence of alkali on the slag phase.

Jan 1, 1977

Low metal prices prevailing at the beginning of 1950 stimulated the search for improved mining methods. More experience was gained during the year with such new developments as the jackleg drill, millisecond delays as applied underground, trackless mining, and Diesel powered equipment. One of the outstanding innovations in mining practice was the starting of the Round Mountain "dry land gold dredging operation." The Government is now inviting the mining industry to open up every available source of new metal supply and this circumstance will undoubtedly speed the development of new machines. New methods will also result but it is doubtful if economic efficiency will be at its peak.

Jan 2, 1951

By W. H. Emerson

In the summer of 1894, a specimen of corundum from Acworth, Ga., which mas reputed to be of markedly inferior quality for the manufacture of corundum-wheels, was received by the Geological Survey of Georgia, with the request that it be analyzed, in order to ascertain whether this inferiority was associated with any peculiarity of composition. In its appearance there was nothing uncommon, though it seemed to be rather easily scratched with a knife, while, at the same time, it scratched agate easily. An analysis gave the following results: Alumina, 94.58; silica, 1.77; magnetic oxide of iron, 0.69; calcium oxide, 0.44; and water, 2.51 per cent. There is nothing unusual in this composition, except the amount of water, which is usually, in southern corundum at least, from 0.3 to about 1 per cent. Concerning this corundum, the Mineral Resources of the United States, 1893, pp. 676 and 677, Bays: "It is supposed that this variety of corundum contains a little water, as it is

Jan 1, 1900

By Nicholas J. Grant, Gordon D. Gemmell

CREEP rupture characteristics of high purity Al-Mg solid solution alloys were studied by Mul-lendore and Grant' to investigate solid solution strengthening of pure aluminum and the accompany- ing effects on deformation and fracture characteristics. This paper presents the results of an extension of that work to A1-Cu and Al-Zn alloys to permit a comparison of the relative effects of the three solute elements on the high temperature strength and on the deformation and fracture characteristics. Experimental Procedure A total of nine alloys was studied. They were all made of ultra high purity aluminum alloyed with high purity copper, zinc and magnesium. The corn-

Jan 1, 1958

By Charles Mitke

EXCLUDING top-slicing, and sublevel caving, large production caving methods may be divided into two general classes, the branch raise, or undercut caving method, and the combined shrinkage and caving method, each of which has a number of variations, the result of continual efforts towards obtaining lower costs and better extraction, by the introduction and substitution of minor improvements and modifications. EARLY CAVING METHODS Present caving methods are the cumulative result of developments covering a period of many years, with the most rapid growth during the past 15 years. They originated, presumably, from early English stoping methods, and, as far as is generally known, were first introduced in the Michigan iron district. They have had their greatest expansion and application in the large low-grade porphyry coppers. In their present form, they are probably a development and combination of sublevel caving and shrinkage (back-stoping on ore) with gravity handling of broken material. Sublevel caving, as practiced in the Michigan district today, is a combination of drift, or crosscut, mining, with top-slicing, and caving, supplemented by later refinements in the shape of mechanized handling of broken ore. A height of anywhere from 16 to 20 ft. is generally taken, and the ore is drilled and blasted along the drift or crosscut for half this height (say 8 to 10 ft.), after which the upper 8 to 10 ft. caves and breaks of its own weight, with comparatively little assistance from drilling. This

Jan 1, 1928

By Thomas A. Simpson, Russell A. Walker

Hydrogeological techniques were used to solve problems of slope stability in open-pit mines of the Eufaula bauxite district, Ala. Geologic and hydrologic data were evaluated and used to design a system of dewatering wells to enable the operators to mine bauxite more efficiently and economically. Walls of open-pit mines in the district were subsequently stabilized by the operation of the dewatering system. Three open- pit mines, each at varying stages of the mining process, of the A.P. Green Refractories Co., were used to develop a sequential series of guidelines that indicate how to effectively remove ground water from the formations surrounding the ore bodies in the district. The use of sound engineering principles in well design, in combination with the correct interpretation of the pit hydrology provided the basis for solutions of the slope-stabilization problem and aided in the economical removal of bauxite from mines of the district.

Jan 1, 1976

By R. J. Borg, C. E. Birchenall

The self-diffusion coefficients for a iron have been deternzined between 980° and 1167° K using Fe55 as the tracer. With decreasing temperature the diffusivity was found to decrease more rapidly than predicted by the Arrhenius equation in the region of the Curie temperature. The diffusion coefficients obtained well above the temperature of the magnetic transformation are more precise ard differ substantially from all the previously reported values. In the temperature region beginning at least 50" above T,, the diffusion coefficient is given by D = 118 (±2) exp 1 HE self-diffusion coefficients for a iron have been reported previously as the result of four independent investigations The general lack of agreement and the poor precision of most of the previous work prompted the redetermination by the present authors. The possible effect of the onset of ferromagnetism upon the diffusivity5 provided an additional impetus for this investigation. The earlier measurements of Birchenall and Mehl1 gave low values for the diffusion coefficient at temperatures below the Curie temperature, Tc. However, the precision of these measurements is not sufficient to establish an indisputable correlation between the low values and the magnetic transformation. The results of this investigation along with all the previous ones are shown in Fig. 1. EXPERIMENTAL Small rectangular samples, approximately 1 by 0.5 by 0.3 cm, of high-purity iron (Vacuum Metals Corp., "Ferrovac") are first heated in hydrogen at 900°C for24hr in order to remove possible trace amounts of dissolved carbon and oxygen. The small

Jan 1, 1961

By John H. Hollomon

In a recent paper,' a very early suggestion by Ludwik2 concerning the nature of the mechanical behavior of metals has becn reexamined and extended. In essence it was suggested that there exists, at least under certain conditions, a mechanical equation of state; that the stress required for flow depends upon the instantaneous values of the strain, strain rate, and temperature, and not upon their past values. It is proposed that under these circumstances thc stress does not depend upon past history of these variables, but is like the temperature of a gas that depends only upon the instantaneous values of the pressure and volume. This notion has not been applied to present-day studies of metals, though it is especially applicable to the study of creep. It is the purpose of this paper to analyze the significance and possible range of applicability of this idea and to determine how it influences the accepted ideas concerning creep. Stress-strain Relations It is wcll known that the stress-strain curves of metals are influenced by both train rate and temperature. For a fixed strain rate and temperature there is associated with each metal a stress-strain curve. If either the strain rate or temperature is changed a new stress-strain curve will be characteristic (Fig. I). A much more genera1 relation between the effects of these variables is possible, however. Consider the stress-strain curves of Fig. I determined at

Jan 1, 1947

By Noel W. Kirshenbaum, George A. Pouska, James M. Link

Literally millions of words have been written on the subject of mineral slurry pipelining. The sheer bulk of literature on the subject should be enough to convince the interested observer that the method is both viable and widely applied. It is the intent of this paper to examine typical mineral slurry applications. This examination should reveal the reasons that the slurry system was selected over other transport modes and it should provide a framework for determining the applicability of the technique to new projects. Slurry transport involves the conveyance of solid particles by suspension in a moving liquid. Almost any combination of solids in liquids may be imagined, and the conduit may be an open channel or a closed pipe. Historically, the most numerous slurry transport applications consisted of mineral particles in water. However, current research investigations are emphasizing other liquid carriers, specifically those which have greater economic value. Among these are gaseous and liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks. Another area being investigated involves the use of the pipeline as a chemical reactor system. The long residence time and turbulent flow characteristics of the pipeline make it particularly attractive for certain chemical reactions. Because these new systems involve a valuable liquid as well as a valuable solid, there is increased attention to solid-liquid

Jan 1, 1980

By John H. Hollomon

In a recent paper,' a very early suggestion by Ludwik2 concerning the nature of the mechanical behavior of metals has becn reexamined and extended. In essence it was suggested that there exists, at least under certain conditions, a mechanical equation of state; that the stress required for flow depends upon the instantaneous values of the strain, strain rate, and temperature, and not upon their past values. It is proposed that under these circumstances thc stress does not depend upon past history of these variables, but is like the temperature of a gas that depends only upon the instantaneous values of the pressure and volume. This notion has not been applied to present-day studies of metals, though it is especially applicable to the study of creep. It is the purpose of this paper to analyze the significance and possible range of applicability of this idea and to determine how it influences the accepted ideas concerning creep. Stress-strain Relations It is wcll known that the stress-strain curves of metals are influenced by both train rate and temperature. For a fixed strain rate and temperature there is associated with each metal a stress-strain curve. If either the strain rate or temperature is changed a new stress-strain curve will be characteristic (Fig. I). A much more genera1 relation between the effects of these variables is possible, however. Consider the stress-strain curves of Fig. I determined at

Jan 1, 1947

US 4,181,588 - Direct extraction of lead from lead sulflde ore. Ore is leached with a solution of ferric chloride and sodium chloride. The leach liquor is filtered to remove sulfur and gangue, then cooled in a crystallizer to precipitate lead chloride The slurry from the crystallizer is subjected to electrolysis to deposit lead chloride on the cathode plate. Solution from the electrolysis cell is used in the leaching step. M.M. Wong and F.P. Haver, assigned to US Secretary of the Interior Jan 1, 1980. 6 pp. (204-115). Filed: 1-4-79 (1,026).

Jan 1, 1982

By Donald R. Williamson, Edward R. Mueller

Cyprus Pima Mining Co.'s open pit operation was started in 1957 with the normal assumption that the ore reserve estimate was accurate within an acceptable range of values. Over the years, a number of attempts have been made to refine and polish the ore reserve figures using a variety of established standard procedures. None of these attempts have produced results which are totally satisfactory, particularly when comparisons are made between ore reserve estimates and short to medium range production figures. Statistical studies of operations data revealed relationships which could be used to subdivide ore blocks in much the same way as they are actually mined. Comparisons between these newly developed ore blocks and production data show that the new method of evaluation yields excellent results.

Jan 1, 1978

By Walter Voskuil

ILLINOIS supplies coal to seven states in the Upper Mississippi Valley -Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and portions of the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas. In this same area are marketed large quantities of coal from West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and else-where; fuel oil from the crude petroleum supplies of the Mid-Continent fields, and natural gas from Louisiana, Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. The boundaries of this "Illinois coal-market area" are determined by competition from other coal fields and from other forms of fuel. Within the area so described 90 per cent of Illinois coal is marketed. Thus in the Southwest, an abundance of fuel-oil supplies and natural gas domi-nates the market almost to the exclusion of coal. The westward move-ment of Illinois coal in Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas is met by an eastward flow of high-grade coals from Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. In the lake-shore counties of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the market is dominated by Appalachian coals, cheaply carried over the Great Lakes and reaching the ports of Lake Michigan and at the head of Lake Superior. Illinois coals find their largest market in the southern and western sections of these two lake states. Only small quantities of Illinois coals are shipped east of the state line. This market area is occupied entirely by the neighboring coal fields of Indiana and the Appalachian coal fields in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Jan 1, 1936

By Wasyl Kunda

High grade jig and low grade flotation concentrates used in the following experiments, are produced from silver ore at the mine. The study was carried out to recover the silver and other metals from these concentrates by hydrometallurgical methods. The concentrates were subjected to two stage oxida¬tion leaches in a HNO3-H2SO4 medium. The dissolved metals were recovered by selective precipitation of: (a) silver chloride, (b) iron-arsenic-bismuth residue, (c) copper sulphide, (d) cobalt-nickel sulphide. The effluent solution contained only ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate. The silver chloride was further processed to the high purity silver powder by the AgCl ? Ag2S ? Ag2SO4 ? Ag° route. The recovery of silver from the concentrates was over 98% and other metals from 95 to 99%.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. M. Morkowitr

A. Sawatzky (Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd.)—The detailed criticism by Markowitz of my simple treatment of the thermal diffusion of hydrogen in Zircaloy-2 indicates that my paper was not as lucidly written as it could have been. I would therefore like to reiterate several of the main points of my proposed mechanism and describe in more detail some of the features only implied in the original paper. The distribution equation derived in my paper was stated to hold only for the case where the volume taken up by the hydride was small compared to the volume taken up by the solid solution phase, subsequent work, mentioned below, having shown it to be out by only a few percent up to a hydrogen concentration of about 3000 ppm. Of course, hydrogen in the two-phase region alone is not conserved in my treatment as pointed out by Markowitz. On the contrary, one of the important features of my proposed mechanism is that in the presence of a temperature gradient a two-phase region cannot exist over the whole specimen. For example, if the specimen is entirely a + 6 initially, then on application of a temperature gradient, a single phase (a) region at the hot surface develops from time t = 0 onwards. As mentioned in my original paper, the interface between the a and a+d regions moves toward the colder surface of the specimen with a discontinuity in hydrogen concen- tration developing at the interface and increasing with time. This interface moves at such a rate that hydrogen in the specimen as a whole is conserved. It must be pointed out that my distribution equation (Eq. [5] in Markowitz's paper) holds only for linear geometry. It is easy to show that for the cylindrical geometry of Markowitz the assumptions used in my treatment lead to

Jan 1, 1962