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By Gill Montgomery

The problems of the domestic merchant fluorspar producers are more or less common with those of many other producers of metallic and non-metallic minerals. For more than ten years the American fluorspar producers have seen an ever lowering price in the market-place for the fluorspar product, while their labor and material costs-continue to mount steadily. This cost-price squeeze has forced out of business all but a few of the merchant producers, and only two captive producers continue to operate, and one of them has announced early curtailment. The prices of domestic fluorspar, of all grades, have declined because of the competition from cheaper foreign imports, principally from Mexico, Spain and Italy. Tariff protection on fluorspar, particularly on the highest or acid grade, has never been sufficient to cover the production cost differential between foreign and domestic fluorspars. Low ocean and barge freight rates have also contributed to the barring of the product of domestic mines from, the major consuming centers along the Gulf and East Coast. Because of the freight disadvantage, all but one or two fluorspar producers in the western states have had to suspend business. More than 80% of the domestic fluorspar is being produced in Illinois and Kentucky fluorspar districts which adjoin on both sides of the Ohio River.

Jan 1, 1964

By R. B. Tippin

Great Salt Lake Minerals & Chemicals Corporation (GSL), a subsidiary of Gulf Resources & Chemical Corporation, is located on the east side of the Great Salt Lake, approximately 20 miles from Ogden, Utah. GSL processes brine from the north arm of the lake to produce potash, salt cake, salt and magnesium chloride brine. Potash fertilizer, in the form of K2SO4 is GSL's primary product. The GSL Sulfate of Potash Complex The GSL potash complex (depicted in Figure I) is divided into a solar evaporation pond system and the process plants. The solar,evaporation system consists of a 17,000-acre (68.8 Km2) ponding operation where the various salts deposit during the summer evaporation season, and a harvesting operation which recovers the deposits during the remainder of the year. The harvest is either preconcentrated in the flotation plant or processed directly in the chemical plant where sulfate of potash (SOP) is produced. The chemistry of the lake brine results in a solar deposit con¬taining primarily kainite (KCl-MgSO4.3H20), schoenite (K2SO4?MgSO4^ 6H2O), and halite (NaCI), with some carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H20) and epsomite (MgSO4.7H20). Other minor minerals may be deposited, depending upon the weather during the evaporation season. Each year, the solar deposit in the evaporation ponds will greatly depend upon the summer weather conditions, which have in the past proven to be quite unpredictable. Weather may alter both the quantity of the solar deposit and the composition of this deposit. During, a "short" evaporation season, the tonnage deposited decreases, but depending upon the short-term weather, the potash mineral content

Jan 1, 1977

By J. A. Organiscak

Enclosed cab filtration systems are typically used on mobile mining equipment to reduce miners? exposure to airborne dusts and diesel particulates generated during mining operations. Various filter configurationscan be used within the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of cabs to remove the airborne contaminants. The air cleaning performance of cab filtration systems is highly dependent on the efficiency of the air filters, the number of filters used and their placement within the HVAC system. This paper shows how to mathematically model cab filtration systems and illustrates a methodology for developing other cab filtration system design models. Node diagrams of several filtration system circuits are illustrated with their mathematical models at steady state airflow and concentration conditions. Laboratory and field data are presented to demonstrate the validity and utility of modeling enclosed cab air cleaning performance. The paper concludes that incorporating multiple filters throughout the HVAC system improves the air cleaning performance and robustness of the cab filtration system design

By Jack O?Hearn

A liquid and solid waste management plan for an operating uranium ore processing mill was developed to efficiently and effectively dispose of existing solid wastes and related, affected surface and ground water resources. The goal of this management plan was to achieve satisfactory clean up of these existing wastes ad their by-products as well as to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. An existing, modern system of synthetically lined tailings ponds, constructed after many years of mill operations, now provides an approved site for the disposal and containment of waste streams currently generated by the mill. This system was thought to be readily adaptable to serve as a key element of the waste management plan. The potential presence of extra capacity in these ponds could eliminate or reduce expenditures for new facilities required solely for proper management of liquid and solid wastes generated by operations prior to construction of the modern tailings ponds as well as for a range of anticipated future operations.

Jan 1, 1984

By C. W. Baxter

Eveleth taconite company was formed in 1963 to mine and beneficiate taconite on the Mesabi range of Minnesota. Its thunderbird mine is located midway between the cities of Eveleth and Virginia, Minnesota, and the crude ore is transported by rail to its Fairlane plant approximately ten miles to the south of the mine, "figure 1". As is implied by the names of the mine and plant, the ford motor company is the principal owner of Eveleth taconite company, with an 85% interest, Oglebay Norton company holds the remaining 15% interest and also is the managing agent.

Jan 1, 1972

By G. R. Erdman

The industrial mineral filler plant of the Gouverneur Tale Company is equipped with a good dust collection system installed long before the recent popularization of environmental pollution. Credit for this fact is due to the foresight of Mr. R. S. McClellan, Project Manager and subsequent Vice President and General Manager of Gouverneur Talc, who recently retired as Vice President Engineering of the parent organization, the R. T. Vanderbilt Company. Also instrumental in the early stages of plant operation and the solution of start-up problems was J. A. Gustin who is now an engineering consultant located in Martinsville, Va. Credit is most certainly due to the late R. T. Vanderbilt, the company's founder, who favored and approved the investment in the necessary facilities that were far ahead of all competitors in the industry at that time.

Jan 1, 1972

By M. J. Zdunczyk

The final 1995 figures on industrial sand and gravel have not yet been compiled by the US Geological Survey (USGS). There is usually about a nine-month lag time in receiving and compiling this information. However, USGS estimates that domestic production of industrial sand and gravel will increase about 4% to 28.2 Mt(31 million st). The average unit price is expected to increase as well. The top five producers during 1995 were Unimin, US Silica, Fairmount Minerals, Oglebay Norton and Morie Co. Glass manufacturing for containers, automobiles and buildings was mixed during 1995. Containers, the largest consumer of silica sand, remained steady, with regional increases. However, silica use in glass containers face increased competition from plastic and recycled glass (cullet). It was reported that the Pepsi Cola announced plans to replace glass containers with plastic during 1996.

Jan 1, 1996

By Thomas R. Kuesel, Harvey W. Parker

INTRODUCTION This paper describes the use of a shield and compressed air for construction of a short section of a pair of twin single-track tunnels for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) transit system. Although only two blocks long, this section posed the greatest difficulties to both engineers and contractors, and is the most expensive section of line construction on the MARTA system. All this derives directly from its setting--these tunnels had to be constructed through mixed-face conditions. SETTING The Broad Street tunnels form a link between the Peachtree Center and Five Points Stations, in the heart of Atlanta's central business district (Figure 1). Peachtree Center sits atop a solid rock ridge, which inspired the design of a deep rock-mined station, as described in the 1979 RETC. Five Points Station is MARTA's hub--the intersection of the system's two main branches. It is located in the old railroad gulch, a filled-in erosional valley at the base of Peachtree Ridge, and was constructed by open-cut methods. The alignment and profile of the Broad Street tunnels were closely constrained by these two adjacent anchors, and in the six-block stretch between them there was very little room for maneuvering. Since the rock ridge petered out about in the middle of the section, it was evident at the outset that there would be about two blocks of rock tunneling at the north end, two blocks of soft ground construction at the south, and two blocks of mixed-face in between. It is this central two-block section that is the focus of this paper.

Jan 1, 1981

By A. L. Hinde

The recovery of heavy minerals by gravity concentration during grinding is practised widely in the minerals industry. Studies have shown that the grade and recovery of the concentrate depends not only on the performance of the concentrator but also on the degree of liberation achieved in the mills and the scavenging action of the hydrocyclones closing the grinding circuit. In the current study, consideration is given to the development of mathematical models to quantify and unify the operations of comminution, liberation, classification and concentration. The models are based on test work done at production scale with gold ore.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. R. Oder, R. E. Jamison, E. D. Brandner

This paper presents the preliminary test results obtained using a 0.38-kg/s (3,000-lb/hr) beta prototype MagMill. In processing Upper Freeport coal, the beta prototype recovered 82 % of the weight of the feed and 91 % of the heat content while reducing the potential emissions of sulfur by 61%. Pyritic sulfur in the MagMill product was reduced by 78% compared with that in the feed. For all runs, the mill product particle size was controlled to between 70% and 80% -741m (200 mesh). Recoveries of mercury, arsenic and selenium ranged from 35% to 45% of the amounts found in the feed. Power draw was reduced by 26%, and mill throughput was increased by 9% compared to the pulverizer operating with no magnetic separator attached.

Jan 1, 2002

By John S. Lagarias

While systems to remove sulfur oxides from flue gases have been used at coal fired power plants since 1931, critical need for flue gas desulfurization has only occurred since the late 1960s following the passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments. Commercial and advanced flue gas desulfurization processes (FGD) are reviewed. Advantages and disadvantages of the processes are discussed. Regulatory requirements leading to the development of FGD systems are identified. The location and operation of coal fired plants may be determined more and more by the regulatory requirements for sludge disposal, waste, water discharge and air emissions.

Jan 1, 1978

By Henry B. Estabrooks

As was the case with many other mining companies, the management of Tennessee Copper Company' viewed with some interest reports in various trade and technical journals of the successful use of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixtures as an explosive in coal stripping., construction, open pit mining and finally in underground salt mines. The apparently simple transition from the "interested" stage to a point where in excess of 80% of the ex¬plosives used is ammonium nitrate may be of interest. The Tennessee Copper Company operates five mines in the "Copper Basin" of Polk County which lies on the extreme southeast corner of Tennessee. The ore is a massive sulfide principally pyrrhotite and pyrite with some tough lime silicates as gangue while the walls are greywacke interbedded with schist. Average total production is 28,000 tons per 5-day week and an average of 422 feet of development per week. Development work consists of 8'x 8?, 6?x 7?, 5'x 7? and 4'x 6? drifts driven with drifter drills using 1-5/8" carbide detachable bits and 5'x 5' raises driven with stopers using 1-5/8" bits.

Jan 1, 1962

By M. D. Flavel, J. C. Motz, G. V. Jergensen

Introduction Compared to the gyratory crusher, the cone crusher is character¬ized by its higher speed and a flat crushing chamber design which is intended to give a high capacity and reduction ratio for materials suitable to this type of processing. The aim is to retain material longer in the crushing chamber to do more work on material as it is being processed. A concept of how a piece of stone might flow through a secondary crushing chamber is shown in Fig. 45. The number of times material will be nipped during crushing will depend on material size, friability, and the geometry of the crushing chamber as well as its speed and eccentric throw. Cone crushers are usually specified in terms of closed-side setting (CSS) and a given quantity of material passing a particular square-mesh screen size. A criterion of product passing closed-side setting is often available. This value will vary according to the particular crusher design and the details of its applica¬tion. Essentially, cone crushers can be classified into distinct types, depending on their duty. Crusher sizes for all duties are described by terms arising out of common industry usage, such as 3-ft, 7-ft, etc., which refer to the crushing-head (mantle) diameter. At present the range of sizes available varies from approximately 2 to 10 ft diam. Weights vary in the range of 5 to 200 tons, and connected horsepowers range from 10 through 700. There are so many variations that specifics should be obtained from machine manufacturers. The crushing chambers that are fitted to various machines are also often referred to by terms arising out of common usage, such as standard for secondary crushers, and short head for tertiary crush¬ers, which refer specifically to the Symons design. Also used are more specific but equally vague descriptions, such as coarse, intermedi¬ate, and fine chambers. Some manufacturers such as Allis-Chalmers with their Hydrocone crushers refer to the model number of the machine by the feed opening and the diameter of the mantle. For example, a Model 10-84 Hydrocone crusher has an 84-in. diam man¬tle, and is capable of accepting a 10-in. diam sphere at the feed point to the crushing chamber. Rexnord and Telsmith define crushing cavi¬ties in their capacity tables as feed openings at minimum recommended discharge settings (closed-side settings). Each practice offers guidelines which should be carefully defined for the specific crushing problem. The utilization of a cone crusher depends on how well it is controlled and the features of the circuit in which it operates. Normally, it will operate in the range of 75 to 85% of the peak capacity. It is likely that industry pressures will call for a standarized de¬ applied crushing power. Experience has shown that the crushing process is more controllable if certain reduction ratios are adhered to for each stage. Technically, this is defined as that size of feed (in. or mm) of which 80% will pass, divided by the size of the product (in. or mm) which 80% will pass. Secondary Crushers These are the cone crushers which accept suitable feed size material either prepared by a primary crusher or occurring naturally, and reduce it to a size suitable for marketing in one stage, or make feed for subsequent crushing or grinding stages. Secondary crushers have feed openings of 4 to 25 in. in the larger (7-ft) models down to a 2'/a to 4 in. in the smallest 24-in. models. Reduction ratios normally range between 3:1 and seldom more than 5:1. In the 7-ft models, the cone crusher typically makes a product all passing 2 in., but this is dependent on the machine design and properties of the material being treated. Secondary crushers most commonly operate in open circuit. They also are operated in closed circuit with a vibrating screen, depending upon product requirements and conditions where the reduction ratio does not cause excessive power draw and build-up of circulating load. Screening ahead of secondary crushers is generally recommended, especially where the feed contains more than 25% material smaller than the desired closed-side setting. Tertiary Crushers These are cone crushers that normally take secondary crusher product and reduce it to a marketable product or make it suitable for subsequent comminution steps. The reduction achieved is a func¬tion of the crusher design and the properties of the material to be treated. The reduction ratio is normally in the range between 1.5 and 2 to 1, and seldom more than 3 to 1. The tertiary crusher normally operates in closed circuit with a vibrating screen and makes a product smaller than all passing 'h or 5/8 in. Fine Crushers Sometimes these machines are called sand crushers and are called by various manufacturer brand names, such as Gyradisc, Hydrofine, V.F.C., and others. A cross section of a Symons Gyradisc crusher is shown in Fig. 46. Essentially, these crushers would be used in a fourth-stage crushing operation, but could be called on to reduce a screened feed size fraction from a secondary or primary crushing operation. This type of crusher normally receives feed no coarser than 1'h in. that is scalped of all over-sized material and operates in closed circuit with a vibrating screen. For average materials, typical product is '/e in. top size, although a -10 mesh product can be produced on those materials having suitable characteristics. The crusher is nor¬mally operated in a separate circuit from the main crushing plant because of the variations in output rates that are caused by varying physical properties in the feed. The reduction ratio is generally less than 2:1, and circulating loads are generally high. More interparticle crushing takes place in these machines than with conventional cone crushers and capacities can be more sensitive to changes in moisture content, feed size graduation, and other physical properties. Design Features For the various applications, crusher manufacturers normally have a range of crushers of different sizes and power ratings to select from.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. S. Austin

One third of the world's and most US kaolin is produced from Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary sedimentary strata in Georgia and South Carolina. The kaolin is part of a belt extending to Arkansas of aluminous lateritic deposits, including bauxite. Original sediments were profoundly altered by chemical weathering during Early Tertiary time. Mining exploits those uncommon deposits where extreme leaching and chemical recombination have produced a clay of nearly pure mineral kaolinite. . Its whiteness, brightness, fine particle size, platelet shape, surface chemistry, and chemical composition make kaolin an important pigment, filler, extender and chemical compound in the paper, paint, plastics, ceramics and catalyst industries.

Jan 1, 1998

By Robert L. Sundeen, Richard V. Wenberg

Overshot loaders are loading machines which fill a front-mounted bucket by crowding and bucket lifting, passing the loaded bucket over the machine and throw¬ing the load into a haulage unit to the rear. The load is retained in the bucket as the load mass is accelerated in its path over the machine. At the point of discharge, the bucket is stopped suddenly and the load leaves the bucket, following the throw trajectory past the rear of the loader. Fig. 1 shows a typical overshot loader of this type. Overshot loaders were developed for loading in nar¬row drift headings and drawpoints, where it is impossible to place or pass a haulage unit alongside the loader. Haulage access is to the rear of all overshot loaders. The first overshot loader was developed in the early 1930s. The early machines were rail-mounted, air¬powered, and had small loading capacities. To this day, the same basic design configuration exists, and all suc¬cessful overshot loaders still use compressed air. Bucket sizes range from 0.14 to 0.59 m3 (5 to 21 cu ft). The most commonly used machines are rail-mounted, al¬though crawler versions are popular for special applica¬tions, particularly shaft sinking. Rubber-tired machines have found some application where a greater travel distance is required between the loading and discharge points. CONDITIONS INFLUENCING APPLICATION Roadway Type Rail-mounted loaders are used where soft bottom requires rail support or where the long haul is ac¬complished with rail. This situation usually occurs in civil tunnels or in mine drifts that will continue to utilize rail-bound main haulage after development work is completed. Crawler and rubber-tire mounted loaders are used where the roadway surface is rough and lateral travel beyond the range of rail-bound machines is required. Work Area Dimensions The largest rail-bound loaders can clean roadways as wide as 4 m (13 ft) from a single track. Wider headings require multiple trackage. Headroom require¬ments are dependent upon the path described by the bucket as it passes over the machine. The largest over¬shot loader requires approximately 3.4 m (11 ft) of headroom. It follows that the largest heading that can be driven by overshot loaders from a single set of rails is approximately 4 m (13 ft) wide and a minimum of 3.5 m (11.5 ft) high above the rail. The smallest rail-bound loaders can work efficiently in headings as small as 1.8 m (6 ft) wide by 1.8 m (6 ft) high above the rail.

Jan 1, 1982

By Gerhardt A. Bennewitz

The mechanism shown here (Fig. 1) may not be all that it appears to be. To many of you it may look like a hopper car, a thing of mobility, in which you would ship coal, ores, limestone, or other bulk materials. It is approximately 50 feet long, 12 feet high, and can be placed on tracks which are on approximate 14 foot centers. But far too often in the past, and all too often today, this mechanism has been made to serve as an immobile storage box, with its primary role -- the transportation of products, seemingly incidental to the storage function. Our engineering training teaches us to conserve resources, despite some of the popular and misconceived philosophies being advanced these days. Those of you who work for companies with traffic departments know that they are always striving to reduce the price which is paid to move your mine products. Today, let's consider and analyze the ways in which the cost of transporting your mine products might be reduced, based on particular reference to coal. Bear in mind that in this context, cost and price are not necessarily synonymous. Until a few years ago, most coal and other bulk materials handled by railroads moved under standard tariff rules. These rules, which still exist today, provided transportation vehicles (railroad cars) for extended periods at no added price to the shipper or receiver. "Normal" free time rules would permit a car to be held for a maximum of 48 hours without charge; however, in the case of coal, there is a rule which, subject to liberal rules as to the

Jan 1, 1972

By G. S. Adisoma

To address the problem of grade estimation in a general three-dimensional shape and the uncertainty associated with the estimate, the technique of jackknifing/block kriging short-cut is proposed. A new estimator called jackknife kriging is introduced first. Through the jackknife variance, a confidence limit for the reserve grade estimate can be calculated. Unlike the kriging variance, which is more a measure of data configuration and is independent of data values, the jackknife variance reflects the true variability of the data. This approach provides a simple way to set a confidence level for global estimation of resources.

Jan 1, 1995

By R. E. Cook

"Mineral deposits require substantial amounts of energy to transport and be processed into usable form and, as such, present a real processing challenge in that the deposits are never homogeneous and orebody compositional characteristics are all over the map. Extracting the desired mineral(s) from the deposit at sufficient profit margin, despite severe fluctuations in market price, requires process automation architecture capable of supporting an integrated enterprise solution. Such an architecture will encompasses the activities of individuals, process units, process areas, plant level activities, mine management and business planning, and accounting systems. Key to the automation process is the aspect of value generation. This article brings together the various requirements for the automation of a mining enterprise and presents the different aspects of how to obtain value across the entire mining operation.Minerals’ processing sites are historically long lived, with 20-year life-of-mine not uncommon and 75 years not unheard of. Considering that hardware technology advancements are introduced every six months, or less, it is prudent to select process automation systems that adhere to “open” industrial standards versus proprietary based systems. In the minerals processing industry, the key to survival is driving the cost of production per unit volume to the lowest possible level and provide enough profit to sustain operations. Control system architecture and business information technology are rapidly becoming important tools in the quest for productivity. Getting key dynamic business performance information at the right time to the right person or process unit is crucial to successfully achieving corporate goals. The process automation architecture selected must, therefore, be able to integrate to the various networking enterprises and business systems.The mining industry is generally known as an extractive industry that is physically oriented with respect to operations and the activities in which workers engage. Large numbers of people performing manual tasks in difficult surroundings, produce variable outputs. But times are changing – and so are industry best practices. While the nature of work still consists of activities such as ore extraction, ore movement, ore concentration, refinement and logistics, automation innovations are starting to change the nature of many of the production steps. The industry has transitioned from requiring more physical activities by workers to more information management, automated control and collaboration within the operation. Humans are good at situational intervention and nonlinear reasoning and do best when empowered with an overall production perspective. Machines and automation are good at repetitive functions, steady state operation, and managing transitions. Thus, a combination of advanced technology solutions, reliable and useful information and full human contributions are necessary to mining operations for value generation."

Jan 1, 2015

By F. Calizaya

A booster fan is an underground ventilation device installed in the main airstream to handle the total quantity of air circulated to one or more working districts. It is installed in a permanent stopping and equipped with airlock doors, a monitoring system and interlocking devices between the main fan and the booster fan. When adequately installed, a booster fan can be used to reduce the main fan pressure, reduce leakage and decrease the power consumption. However, an inadequate installation can increase the likelihood of mine fies and recirculation of air contaminants. This study identifies hazards associated with the operation and maintenance of booster fans. It analyzes the accompanying risks and recommends control measures to reduce those risks to acceptable levels. The ventilation network of an existing coal mine was updated to include a booster fan. The hazards associated with the operation of this fan were identified, the risks analyzed and the esponse to each failure mode established.

Mar 1, 2014

By Ralph J. Holmes

INTRODUCTION Although sampling techniques used by the mineral industry continue to improve, sampling is still an area which is often neglected. Frequently, sampling and sample preparation requirements are left to personnel who do not fully appreciate the significance and importance of sampling. Consequently, plant evaluations are often based on seriously biased samples, leading to mass balance problems and incorrect assessments of plant performance. The basic rule for correct sampling is that each particle of ore or concentrate must have an equal probability of being collected and becoming part of the final sample for analysis. If this is not the case, bias is easily introduced and the sample is not representative. For example, when ore is travelling on a conveyor belt, the lumps may come to the surface. Consequently, a grab sample taken from the top layers only will contain a greater proportion of lumps, i.e., the sample is biased. There seems little point in making major investments in precise analytical equipment, if the sample provided to the analytical laboratory is not representative in the first place. This paper describes the sources of plant sampling errors, reviews the methods of estimating their variance, presents some worked examples, and provides some practical advice for reducing sampling errors and their variance. SAMPLING BASICS It is generally accepted that the discharge point of an ore or concentrate stream is the most suitable sampling location. The stream can be intersected at regular intervals, and representative samples, referred to as increments, can be obtained by taking a complete cross-section of the ore stream. On the other hand, sampling devices that take part of the stream on an intermittent or continuous basis, e.g., a bleed from a pipe, may introduce serious bias, and should be avoided at all cost. Increments may be taken at completely random times or tonnages during the sampling operation, in which case it is called "random sampling". However, as shown below, random sampling results in the largest sampling variance, so it is preferable to divide the ore or concentrate stream up into strata of equal time or mass and take one increment from each stratum. This operation is called stratified sampling and may be either systematic sampling, in which increments are taken at the same point in each stratum, or stratified random sampling in which the increments are taken at random within each stratum. Systematic sampling results in the smallest sampling variance, provided periodic variations in quality or quantity are not present which may coincide with, or approximate to, any multiples of the proposed sampling interval. In such cases, it is strongly recommended that stratified random sampling within fixed time or mass intervals be carried out.

Jan 1, 1991