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By Ernest A. Hersam

"INTRODUCTION.Luring the year 1923 a complete survey was made of the condition of research in the reduction (milling) and concentration of ores and nonmetallic minerals - that is, up to the stage where the ores or concentrates were ready for hydro- or pyro-metallurgical treatment. This survey was carried on under the general supervision of L. A. Lyon, assistant director and chief metallurgist of the Bureau of mines, in cooperation with the milling committee of the American Institute of mining and metallurgical Engineers, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California. Other institutions, including the National Research council, were of assistance and outlined recommendations during the study.While this report is on ""ore dressing"", it contains short sections on coal and clay. The mechanical handling that these minerals undergo is ""dressing"", so that ore dressing is inclusive of metallic and nonmetallic minerals. ""milling"", in its broadest sense, includes with ore dressing certain other metallurgical treatment which the report is not designed to cover.The survey revealed that considerable experimentation is being carried on great cost to the mining industry, but that the research is in general poorly coordinated while companies and firms are adequately taking care of routine tests and the mechanical features involved in their own operations, no comprehensive study of the fundamental principles of ore reduction is now in progress or contemplated. Many industries, besides mining, are interested in the preparation of materials for final treatment, rendering this investigation of value also to them. This class of fundamental research is neglected by industry unless there is some agency which can bring together at least a majority of this interested in a cooperative effort. It can not be effectively handled by a single company; and, moreover, no company can be expected to bear the whole burden of an investigation to benefit the entire industry or a number of industries hence there is need for concerted study within reasonable limits. Furthermore, co-operation eliminates duplication, which is largely a waste of effort and capital."

Mar 1, 1925

By George H. Willis

In the second half of the nineteenth century, bimetallism progressively replaced by gold standard. After World War I and 1931-33 depression, gold mainly reserved for official international transactions and internal use restricted. Changes since 1971 have shrunk official international use of gold. International payments deficits and surpluses now financed by private and official credit, rarely by gold. Historical review covers evolution of: (1) internal and external private use, (2) internal official use, (3) external official use, (4) role in IMF and (5) use as unit of account.

Jan 1, 1978

By Steve Hubbard, Brad Marchant, Rolando Cuadra

"Triton Mining Corporation acquired the rights to Mina El Limon in Nicaragua in 1993 by international bid. The bid included the gold operations at Limon and an exploration concession of approximately 4000 km2. Triton assumed control of operations and exploration in May 1994.The Limon mine is located in west-central Nicaragua, approximately 100 kilometers northwest of Managua. The climate is tropical, characterized by a wet season from May through October, and a dry season November through April. Gold at Limon is associated with both banded quartz and silicified breccia veins in Tertiary volcanic rocks, belonging to the lower Coyol Group. Mining is from two open pits and one mechanized underground operation. A second underground mine is currently under development for production during 1997.This paper describes the expansion of the milling facility at El Limon from a nominal capacity of 400 tonnes/day, producing approximately 20,000 ounces of gold annually, to the existing 900 tonne per day mill operation. Engineering of the new mill facility was initiated in September 1994 and construction was completed a year later."

Jan 1, 1997

By Charles Janin

The recovery of gold from sands and gravels is one of the oldest forms of mining; it antedates history and has been practiced by savage peoples. In North America the search for placer gold has been a powerful agency in the exploration and development of unknown regions and has profoundly influenced the course of our civilization. With the progress of invention, the improvements in machinery, and the availability of large capital for the conduct of great operations, the tendency in placer, as in many other branches of mining, has been toward the working of extensive but comparatively low-grade deposits. The early miner washed the rich spots in stream beds or terraces with his pan, his long tom, and his primitive sluice. Then followed the growth of hydraulic mining and the use of giants supplied with water under pressures of hundreds of pounds to the square inch that could work at a profit gravels whose gold tenor was less than 3 cents to the cubic yard. Finally came the dredge that could handle deposits lying so far below water level as to be beyond attack by other methods. Although the gold dredge was first successful on a commercial scale in New Zealand, it has reached its present strength and efficiency in this country and its development is a monument to the daring, per- severance and technical skill of the many men, mine owners and engineers who have each contributed something to the final result. The Bureau of Mines, authorized to conduct investigations for the purpose of increasing efficiency in the mineral industries, had its attention called some years ago to the need of a comprehensive report on gold dredging in the United States. The director of the bureau recognized that such a report should summarize the development of the gold dredge, should describe in detail the essential features of present-day dredges, should discuss the facts that determine whether a placer deposit can be profitably dredged, and should point out the approved methods of prospecting placer ground and of operating dredges. At the request of the director, the author undertook the preparation of such a report and has been intermittently engaged on the task for several years. This bulletin is the outcome of his labors. He hopes that it will prove of interest to designers and builders of dredges, to mining engineers, and to persons who may contemplate investing capital in placer-mining ventures.

Jan 1, 1918

By R. W. Raymond

On the Manchuria. SOMEWHAT fatigued with excess of enjoyment and strenuous continuity of movement on the trip to and through California, the members and guests of the Institute party embarked Tuesday, Oct. 17, on the Pacific Mail S. S. Manchuria for a further journey to and through Japan. The good ship displayed the flag of the Institute (blue cross-hammers on a white ground), together with the Stars and Stripes and the ensign of the company. Uninterrupted fair weather and smooth water attended the passage to Honolulu. The Manchuria proved herself most commodious, comfortable and clean ("A sweeter steamship never sailed," quoth President Hunt) ; Captain Dixon and his officers were most agreeable, as well as most efficient; the passenger list comprised many congenial people besides ourselves-among them a score of missionary folk, and also Mr. M. H. de Young, Vice-President of the Panama

Jan 1, 1912

Reynolds Metals Company announced plans to increase its rate of production of primary aluminum by 17 thousand tons per year by the end of February. Other producers were expected to increase operating rates during the first quarter of 1976 (see table 10 pg. 29). CHROMIUM -Under the Trade Act of 1974, a petition was filed July 16, 1975, with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) by the Tool and Stainless Steel Industry Committee for Import Relief and the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, for import relief for certain stainless and alloy tool steel products. The Commission determined on January 16, 1976, in a report to the President, that increased quantities of imports of stainless steel sheet and strip, plate, bar, and rod and alloy tool steel except ingots, blooms, billets, slabs, and sheet bars were a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof. The Commission recommended import quotas for the period 1976 through 1980. The President has 2 months in which to act, with his decision subject to a Congressional override.

Jan 1, 1976

By Douglas W. Fuerstenau, Pradip Pradip

The design and development of selective flotation collectors has been the key to the remarkable success of flotation in beneficiating complex, difficult-to-process ores. Sustained research efforts in the field over the past hundred years have led to delineating the scientific basis of selective mineral flotation in terms of the crystal chemistry and the surface and colloid chemistry of minerals including their solubility, and the aqueous solution chemistry of added reagents. It is now well-established that the electrical double layer theory (EDL) is the most powerful means of quantifying the relative strength of mineral-reagent interactions in the case of nonsulfide minerals. We illustrate the utility and the power of the EDL in delineating the science underlying selective mineral flotation with the help of a few examples taken from our own work, in particular on the selective flotation of rare-earth minerals (bastnaesite) from associated semisoluble minerals (barite and calcite) using alkyl hydroxamate collectors and the flotation separation of lithium-containing minerals (spodumene) from associated alumino-silicate minerals with oleate (fatty acids). Both of these mineral separation systems are of contemporary research interest and of immense value to the industry today. Recent advances in utilizing molecular modeling computations, particularly in the context of quantifying the effect of crystal chemistry and the relative distribution of adsorption sites available on mineral cleavage planes, are also reviewed.

By Robert Thurner

The underground car park "Admonterhof in the historical centre of Graz is an example for the technical and economical success of a complicated structural design using a concept on the basis of the observational method. The intention to built a 20 m deep excavation beneath a protected monument was accompanied by some essential issues: the preservation of the existing state avoiding extensive displacements by means of a girder grid of reinforced concrete, its support on large bored piles and small steel-tube piles with possible active compensation of differential settlements, the excavation support in none built-up areas with secant bored piles, the underpinning of existing buildings with different structures by means of jet grouting. Furthermore the hydraulic gradient and the permeability of a rock formation in a part of the excavation had to be explored with the purpose to control the inflow of groundwater with a level difference of more than 10 m.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. E. Tyrrell

Research objectives were to determine the reasons for erratic behavior of semisilica horizontal zinc retorts in service; to investigate potential corrective measures including the possible utilization of more refractory materials in the retort body; and to delineate laboratory tests suitable for process control in the manufacture of retorts. Correlation of laboratory test results and data supplied by the cooperating smelters indicated that structural failures due to thermal shock and laminations in the retort body are largely responsible for the erratic behavior of horizontal zinc retorts in service. The most promising modifications made in the retort body and evaluated on a laboratory scale included finer grinding of the plastic clay fraction, substitution of mullite grog for calcined fire clay and grain alumina for silica, plus the use of an organic binder. Lamination-free extrusions having excellent thermal shock resistance were prepared from a mixture composed of 50 percent low-silica Missouri plastic clay through 100 mesh, 25 percent mullite grog through 6 mesh, and 25 percent alumina through 100 mesh. The mix was pugged under 28-inch vacuum with 1 percent ligno sulfonate binder in 12 percent tempering water. Laboratory tests suitable for process control in the manufacture of retorts are described.

Jan 1, 1969

Study on Dynamic Characteristics of Inertia Cone Crusher and Its Application

Sep 13, 2010

By J. Patrick Ryan, Thor H. Kiilsgaard, Charles W. Merrill, E. T. McKnight

The U.S. Treasury stocks of silver have been reduced at such a rapid rate to meet industrial and coinage requirements that they face exhaustion in 3 or 4 years. Alleviation of the silver problem will require increasing supply or reduc ing demand. This paper examines poss ible long-range resource development and research programs and improved secondary recovery. The possible reduction or elimination of silver in coinage and development and introduction of substitutes in the arts and industry are also discussed.

Feb 1, 1965

The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) announced that the second unit at its experimental facility at Palestine, Tex. would begin production -in 1979, increasing the capacity of the facility to 30,000 tons per year. The plant uses an experimental process based on the electrolysis of aluminum chloride and reportedly uses 4 to 5 kilowatt hours per pound of aluminum produced, compared to an industry average of about 7 to 8 kilowatt hours per pound. Alcoa has reportedly signed a letter of intent with the Chinese government under which Alcoa will conduct feasibility studies on two new integrated aluminum projects and modernization of an existing aluminum plant. If the study results are favorable, Alcoa Engineers Inc. and the Import and Export Company of the Chinese Ministry of Metallurgical Industry could negotiate agreements to provide Alcoa technology and services for the projects.

Jan 1, 1979

By John D. Sullivan

A DISCUSSION of the developments of the past decade in the field of refractories, and the effect of these developments on the performance and life of open-hearth furnaces, is perhaps best introduced by reference to Fig. 1. This shows the most important types of refractories doing into various parts of the furnace, together with their cost, and remarks on their use. It has been estimated that half of the refractory makers market comes from the iron and steel industry, and something like one-third of all refractory brick used finds its way into open-hearth furnaces. To melt steel, a furnace capable of withstanding temperatures close to 3000 deg. F. is required. The furnace is assembled of various refractory materials selected by experience and economic considerations. Furnace structures today, from a refractory standpoint, are considerably different from a quarter century ago. Furnace operators, interested in the performance of refractories, care little how they are made or where they come from so long as they give reasonable service. But, the entire history of the refractory is important and technical knowledge of the ceramic materials used in making the refractory is necessary to the manufacturers, so that the proper article gets into the hands of the ultimate consumer.

Jan 1, 1936

By Hamid Maleki

Prudent design of coal pillars in any mining system requires an estimation of in-situ pillar strength, overburden lateral load transfer capability, and a failure criterion. Pillar strength is typically determined using one of several different empirical pillar strength formulas. For coal reserves in the U.S., a new pillar design method was proposed based on extensive U.S. field measurements in underground mines (7) which accounted for confinement effects. Field measurements in seven U.S. seams indicated highest strength for some Utah mines where the coal seam developed high confining stresses. Lower strength was measured in structurally controlled seams. This method is expanded here including the data from the weaker tertiary coal measure rocks and lower confinement for pillars with low width-to-height ratios. The determination of how much load a pillar is expected to take is partially dependent on the ability of overburden to transfer load laterally; this is useful for selection of panel width and barrier pillars size in select mining applications where long-term stability is required in conservative designs. In caving mining systems, caving of the strata is influenced by geologic, mining and stress conditions and the released energies influences how the pillars react at loads approaching pillar strengths. Overburden deformation and caving mechanisms are analyzed in this paper in multi-panel extractions to enhance the understanding of load transfer, seismicity and coal bump control in deep western U.S. operations.

Jan 1, 2008

Jan 1, 1882

By Terry S. Cory

This report is a comprehensive summary of the results of the propagation measurements program conducted for the US Bureau of Mines under Contract H0366028. Data was gathered in the MF frequency range from a cross sample of six mines representative of the industry having typical wireless requirements. From the raw data which was gathered, a logical method of data reduction is presented which culminates in a set of average attenuation characteristics for all mines visited. These characteristics define a typical MF wireless system when the communication range requirements are known. Direct through-the-earth propagation and the range enhancement mechanism due to coupling on and off conductors are evaluated and related to the planning of a typical wireless MF communications system.

Jan 1, 1977

LOCAL COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. Major J. W. Powell, Chairman; F. P. Dewey. Secretary; S. F. Emmons, A. S. Hewitt, J. P- Hilgard, Charles Knap, and F. W. Taylor. THE opening session was held in the hall of the new National Museum, on Tuesday evening, February 21st. President Metcalf introduced General W. T. Sherman, one of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, who read the following address: ADDRESS OF GENERAL SHERMAN. MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN : I have been invited to meet you here this evening to extend to you the cordial greeting of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and to assure you that they are most happy to have it in their power to place at your disposal this beautiful hall, dedicated to science and art. This National Museum is the property of the United States, of which the regents of the Smithsonian are simply the custodians, and the board has delegated to its secretary, Professor Baird, the right to extend its use to the National Academy of Sciences and like kindred societies, among which we are glad to class the Institute of Mining Engineers. It is eminently fit that you should meet here at this, the nation's capital, under a roof partly your own, devoted to natural sciences, and in the shadow of the Smithsonian, founded for the exclusive purpose of collecting and diffusing knowledge among men. Of all the workers employed on earth no single class seem to me more worthy the respect of their fellows than those who seek beneath the surface for the useful minerals and metals which contribute so largely to the wealth and comfort of mankind. In no branch of human industry does intelligence come so immediately in contact with labor. To the mining engineer chemistry, mineralogy, and geology are as reading, writing, and arithmetic to the merchant;

Jan 1, 1882

By Mark Lawshe, Shosie Serata

The conventional method of mining underground, using narrow rooms and wide pillars, has proven to be poorly adapted to the powerful earth forces that act on underground openings. The high costs of roof bolting, timbering, steel arching, and other means of artificial roof support for both room-and--pillar operations and longwall gate roadways attest to the limitations of traditional mine design. Too often, productivity halts when corners buckle under "cutter roof' stresses, floors heave, and roof strata fall. In the 1960s, an entirely different approach to strata control was developed. The Stress Control Method (SCM) stabilizes failing roofs and heaving floors by removing the cause of failure - highly concentrated stresses around the openings. This is achieved by regrouping three to 10 rooms into a single entry where the rooms are separated by very narrow yielding but stable pillars. SCM employs a specified excavation sequence to redirect earth pressures away from the mine openings. The yield pillars act as scaffolding until a permanently protective secondary stress envelope forms around the entry (lower part of Fig. 1). The result is a dramatic improvement in roof stability and a significant reduction in artificial support costs. Some roof bolting must still be done, mainly to meet Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) requirements. Potash, salt, coal mining The stress control method was first applied to the deep potash mines of Saskatchewan. The new SCM design actually increased room widths to enlarge the stress envelope, redistributing the stress concentration away from the entries (Serata and Schultz, 1972). This resulted in a turnaround from pervasive roof fall/floor heave conditions that threatened operations in the eight new mines opened in the Saskatchewan potash field during the 1960s. In addition to eliminating all roof bolting, SCM successfully stabilized ground conditions and substantially increased productivity over the original design (Serata, 1976, 1982). Similarly, the deep Boulby potash mine of Yorkshire, England, was about to close after various conventional means of combating roof failure had failed. An SCM test area was excavated that resulted in the ground quickly stabilizing without need o artificial support (Serata, 1982; Chilton and Laird, 1982). Another example is the Diamond Crystal salt mine in Louisiana. Here, multiple level mining was being extended from the third to the fourth level downward in the Jefferson Island salt dome. Extensive roof failure was occurring at 396 m (1300 ft) ii the third level. SCM design principles in creased the room size from 24 to 49 m (80 t( 160 ft) on the fourth level at a depth of 457 m (1500 ft). This unprecedented expansion of room width was first questioned and later ap¬proved by MS HA, which expressed satisfaction in seeing the improvement documented by field validation data in 1973. The most recent SUM application to salt mining has been in the Michigan Basin a: Goderich, Ontario. The anticipated abandonment of Domtar Chemicals Group/Sifto Salt Division's deep operation in bedded sale was prevented by a multi-year SCM implementation. The success of SCM in dry mining[lecc] to its application to solution mining of salt This adaptation of the method is now being implemented in bedded salt at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta by Dow Chemical Co., and in St. Clair, MI by International Salt Co. Application of SCM to solution mining in a salt dome is proceeding at Napoleonville. LA by Dow Chemical. The same technology has also been applied to cavern design for the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), and the compressed air energy storage (CAES)

Jan 1, 1989

By Pierre de P. E. M. Ricketts

HAVING had occasion while in Europe during the past summer to visit some of the foreign mints and assay offices connected with the same, I thought a brief description of the general process of coining employed, and such items connected with assaying as were new, might prove interesting to the Institute. The principal foreign mints are: the Royal Mint, London; and the mints in Paris, Brussels, Utrecht, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan, Rome, and Constantinople. My time only permitted my visiting a few of the principal and largest given in the list, and for a description of the remainder I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. James M. Napier, who in company with the deputy master, and chemist of the Royal Mint, made a complete inspection of all the European Mints in 1870.

Jan 1, 1876

By Pierre de P. Ricketts

Having had occasion while in Europe during the past summer to visit some of the foreign mints and assay offices connected with the same, I thought a brief description of the general process of coining employed, and such items connected with assaying as were new, might prove interesting to the Institute. The principal foreign mints are: the Royal Mint, London; and the mints in Paris, Brussels, Utrecht, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan, Rome, and Constantinople. My time only permitted my visiting a few of the principal and largest given in the list, and for a description of the remainder I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. James M. Napier, who in company with the deputy master, and chemist of the Royal Mint, made a complete inspection of all the European Mints in 1870.