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By W. A. LaVenue, W. M. Houston

Pebble phosphate mines of Florida have been established from south of Hardee County to north of the Georgia state line, a distance of over 200 miles. Mining has been carried out on an ever-increasing scale since 1885, but phosphate deposits that can be mined on the economical standards of today, are confined in a roughly circular area about 30 miles in diameter, generally within Polk and Hillsborough Counties, in the central part of the State. The phosphate deposit, which is in the Bone Valley formation of Pliocene age, is covered by Pleistocene terrace deposits of unconsolidated quartz sand. The matrix is composed of approximately 1/3 clay slimes, 1/3 silica sand and 1/3 phosphate pebbles. The phosphate usually occurs as rounded pebbles, ranging in size from about 1 in. down to approximately 400 mesh. The phosphate may vary from well-defined hard pebbles to soft weathered rock. The color and character of the phosphate will range from smooth buff pebbles to black and white "salt-and- pepper rock." The screen size distribution varies considerably between locations; the recoverable phosphate may extend down to the 400-mesh size in some areas, while in others the phosphate may cut off sharply at about 35 mesh.

Jan 11, 1962

Jan 1, 1913

Jan 1, 1909

A little more than a year and a half ago construction started on Canada's largest initial milling plant. Today the zinc concentrating plant 7 miles north of Barraute sits on ground that once was forest and clay flats. The plant is part of Barvue Mines Ltd. zinc-silver operation. Employees of the plant live in the model community of Barvue, built like the plant in record time. About 5000 tons of ore are handled by the plant daily, with an output of 200 tons of zinc concentrate. Management hopes to raise capacity of the $8 million plant to 6000 tons.

Jan 8, 1953

By K. Robert Dorman, F. Michael Jenkins

The occurrence of rock bursts in deep metal/nonmetal mines presents a major hazard to their safe and economical operation. As part of a Bureau of Mines program to reduce rock bursts in deep vein mining, a project was conducted in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of Idaho to evaluate and demonstrate the mining of a destressed sill pillar using undercut-and-fill methods. A 50-ft sill pillar in a burst-prone area was preconditioned by drilling and blasting vertical holes in the ore. After raises were driven through the destressed pillar to the level above, it was mined by the undercut-and-fill method. The conclusion from this demonstration is that the combination of ore preconditioning and underhand mining resulted in greatly improved rock burst and ground control, allowing safe and efficient mining of a potentially hazardous, burst-prone pillar.

Jan 1, 1984

By Waldemar F. Dietrich

Mineral fillers are relatively inert chemically under the conditions of use but have physical properties* that modify those of the materials in which they are incorporated. The mineral fillers considered in this article are asbestos, barite, clays, diatomite, crushed limestone, limestone whiting and lime, mica, silica, talc and soapstone, and pyrophyllite. Slate and stone, other than limestone and its derivatives, are excluded because, even though used in large quantities, they are exceptionally low-cost materials generally produced close to the area where they are used.

Jan 8, 1959

By A. J. Naldrett, N. T. Arndt

In Archean greenstone belts, ultramafic lavas occur interbanded with basalts, commonly at the base of volcanic-sedimentary cycles. The lavas form part of a recently recognized extrusive rock series, the magnesian series, in which liquid compositions range from peridotitic (33 wt-% MgO) to basaltic (8 wt-% MgO). Rocks of this series occur as peridote, pyroxenite and magnesian basalt flows, and intrusive/extrusive bodies of dunite (49 wt-% MgO) grading outwards into a peridotitic marginal zone. The nickel sulfide deposits are of two main types: (1) basal accumulations of massive and disseminated pyrrhotite + pentlandite associated with some of the thickest and most magnesian (<40 wt-% MgO) of the peridotite flows, and (2) widespread zones of disseminated sulfides in the dunite lenses. Massive sulfide segregations may occasionally occur within the dunites.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. H. Nielson, L. S. Diaz

Several techniques are presented to adjust small errors inherent in data collected from material balance measurements on the flotation process. The basic technique used is a Lagrange multiplier adjustment of the filtered data taken from the equipment measurements. The raw data are adjusted such that material balances are closed. The adjustments to each data point is inversely proportional to the square of the standard error of measurement. Problem areas in equipment utilization are discussed. Typical results from on-line measurements are presented. This technique can be applied to either on-line process measurements or metallurgical test data.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. M. Beatty, T. L. Joseph, Gust Bitsianes

SUCCESSFUL blast-furnace operation depends upon securing an optimum balance between a number of important variables. This balance will vary somewhat from furnace to furnace in the same plant and with raw materials available in different plants. It is difficult to isolate the effect of any one variable unless it has a rather pronounced effect upon the efficiency of operation. The physical properties of iron ore and coke are known to affect the process, yet it is difficult to set up any definite yardstick by which these differences can be appraised. In recent years, whenever practicable, operators have taken steps to obtain better control over the absolute size and uniformity of size of the ore and coke. The size and physical character of the stone, however, have received comparatively little attention, emphasis being placed upon chemical composition, fluxing efficiency, and action as a desulphurizing agent. Since the stone occupies only about 10 per cent of the volume of the stock column, its influence upon permeability is less than that of the ore and the coke. The large pieces now used have a tendency to roll to the center and thus increase the permeability of this part of the stock column. Smaller pieces would be more effective in promoting the permeability of denser portions of the stock. The size and physical properties of blast- furnace stone are important also for reasons best understood by considering the results obtained by the crushing and the sizing of iron ore. Crushing ore to about 2 in. at Provo, Utah, and to about I in. in Alabama produced material somewhat less permeable to gases, even though sized. In spite of some sacrifice in permeability, the efficiency of the process was improved by crushing and sizing the ore, as indicated by a substantial saving in fuel and increased output. This saving in fuel is due in large measure to more thorough reduction of ore in the upper part of the furnace and to a corresponding decrease in the amount of carbon consumed prematurely above the tuyeres by the reaction CO2 + C = 2CO ? 70,080 B.t.u. [I] The physical properties of stone, its size and rate of calcination are important because they influence the rate at which C02 is released and the completeness of calcination before reaching a level in the furnace where the temperature does not exceed 1050°C. (1920°F.). Briefly, carbon dioxide from the limestone or from the reduction of ore may cause premature com- bustion of carbon above the tuyeres. Assuming that 1000 lb. of limestone is used per ton of pig iron, about 435 lb. of C02 will be liberated during calcination of a good grade of stone. If all this CO2 from the stone were to oxidize carbon prematurely, about 120 lb. would be consumed above the tuyeres in a heat-absorbing reaction. The amount of carbon thus consumed when a

Jan 1, 1942

Jan 1, 1913

Discussion of the paper of Godfrey T. Vivian, presented at the Cleveland meeting, October, 1912, and published in Bulletin No. 76, October, 1912, pp. 1103 to 1109. COURTENAY DEKALB, Tucson, Ariz. (communication to the Secretary*) :--Mr. Vivian&apos;s paper is interesting as an evidence of renewed attempts to solve the problem of adapting the centrifugal machine to the uses of the metallurgist. It would not seem that the Gee machine has solved the problem, because it is manifestly of use only with quite high-grade material, since low-grade pulp could not stand the cost of treatment by a discontinuous process. The mechanism, however, would seen to accomplish grading more perfectly than the ordinary centrifugal basket. This is an entirely different thing from concentration, which is intended to yield a finished marketable product. The real problem is to design a successful continuous centrifugal machine. Ten years or snore ago a machine, which might be described as having an inverted step-basket, offered much promise, and was constructed and tested at considerable cost, but it presented insuperable difficulties. The construction of a successful continuous centrifugal would be welcomed by the whole industrial world, since its uses would be most extensive. Mr. Vivian suggests the utilization of the centrifugal machine as a substitute for slime filters in the cyanide process, but he, has apparently not tried the experiment. I tested the efficiency of centrifugal machines for this purpose in 1897-8, having to extract the cyanide solution from a highly argillaceous slime of the sticky kind which the Mexican call ?lama." Our filter-presses yielded cakes containing usually :30 per cent. of moisture, and so dense as to preclude washing. The centrifugal machine readily Brought the moisture content down to 9 per cent. and permitted fairly successful washing. Despite these advantages, the cost of power, labor, and repairs, and the loss of time in discharging the cake, exceeded the costs and

Jan 5, 1913

By H. N. Lawrie

Introduction. THIS study was undertaken on account of the lack of definite knowledge concerning the influence of bismuth on wire-bar copper, and the small elimination of bismuth from copper-matte during the smelting-operations. The early workers who studied the influence of bismuth on copper confined their investigations to malleability and ductility-two physical properties which are related to the others so intimately that their determination is of primary importance. Karsten &apos; and Levol,2 using bending- and mealleability-tests, seem to have been the first to take up the subject, and while their results are incomplete, they agree in the main with the later work of Hampe.3 The bending-tests used by the first investigators consisted in bending the specimen until it failed. The malleabilitytests were made by beating the material to a knife-edge with a hammer. Hampe not only determined the percentage of bismuth which would cause red-shortness and cold-shortness of the alloy, together with other influences of bismuth on the malleability and ductility of copper, but also took up the influence of the bismuth protoxide, BiO, on copper, and of bismuth sesquioxide, Bi2O3, on the copper protoxide, CuO. Hampe&apos;s conclusions of the influences of these two latter compounds of bismuth on copper are as follows "If the protoxide of bismuth be alloyed with metallic copper, it is not changed to metallic bismuth, but remains mechanically distributed throughout the copper.

Sep 1, 1909

By W. S. Ayres

By G. E. Pralle

INTRODUCTION The decade from 1969 to 1979 saw the crest of a wave of investments by companies and investors, primarily from the major industrial nations, in the metals and minerals industries of the so-called lesser developed countries. This was brought about by two major considerations: 1). The higher ore grades and therefore the higher profit potential of the mineral deposits in the third world countries, and 2). The desire, particularly by the European countries and by Japan, to ensure a safe supply of raw materials not available in their own countries. The decade began with the start of the Toquepala mine in Peru and the major investments in the Bougainville mine in Papua New Guinea and the Ertsberg mine in Indonesia. It ended with the start-up of Southern Peru Copper Company (SPCC) Cuajone mine in Peru and Inco&apos;s Soroako mine in Indonesia and the investments in several major alumina or aluminum projects in Australia and Brazil. Concurrent with this huge flow of funds into the mineral resources industry of the developing world was the build-up of a psychological fear in the host countries of exploitation/domination by the foreign investors. This resulted in an increasing trend towards: 1). Nationalization of existing mineral ventures, and 2). Tougher legal/fiscal frameworks for new ones. NATIONALIZATION Nationalization appeared in its earliest form as "Mexicanization" of the petroleum industry in Mexico in the 1930&apos;s, followed later by Mexicanization of the mining industry in general. This was enacted with the Mexican Mining Law of 1961 which required that 51% of the equity be owned by Mexican nationals. Later in the decade the equity share for foreign investors was reduced to 33 1/3% for the developers of the Frasch sulphur operations in the Isthumus of Tehuantepec. However, the law was not fully implemented in the copper industry until late 1970 with the purchase of 51% of the ownership in the Cananea Mining Company. The trend toward nationalization of the copper industry progressed to Chile where in 1967 under the Government of Eduardo Frei the major North American copper companies were induced to sell a one-half interest in their Chilean mines to the State. Likewise, in 1970, "Zambianization" took place, when the two major operating companies Roan Selection Trust (Amax) and Zamanglo (Anglo American) were restructured into Roan Consolidated Mines (RCM) and Nchanga Consolidated Mines (NCCM) providing the government with 51% of the equity ownership. Whilst the earlier forms of nationalization in general constituted a fairly priced buy-out (El Teniente, Chile for US$80 million, RCM for US$117.8 million, NCCM for US$178.7 million), the total nationalization of the Chilean mining companies in 1970 under Salvador Allende did not. Later, "Western" countries joined this trend and on October 29, 1973, Mr. Gough Whitlam proclaimed that "overseas capital must continue... in partnership with Australian capital" and "in some special energy cases we have an objective of 100% Australian ownership". In 1974 Mr. Pierre Trudeau stated: "The Liberal Party of Canada sets as an objective that new resources projects in the natural resource field should have at least 50% and preferably 60% Canadian equity ownership". FOREIGN INVESTMENT The situation for the foreign investor in the worldwide resource industry rapidly deteriorated from then on. New features appeared in mineral exploitation and operating agreements, centering not only on local government/local companies ownership but also on increased taxation. The new tax rate (mineral tax, royalty, and income tax) for the semi-government companies NCCM and RCM in Zambia became an effective 73%. Likewise the much publicized and discussed renegotiated Bougainville agreement brought dramatic increases in the total "take" by the PNG Government. More innovative forms of indirect taxation made their appearance and were added to the normal tax burdens of the mineral industry which already

Jan 1, 1985

By W. R. Hibbard

T has been proposed1 on the basis of slip and flow I- that the ideal deformation texture of cold rolled face-centered cubic metals is (110) [112]. As pointed out recently by Brick,&apos; this theory does not account for the difference between the pole figures for cold rolled copper and 70-30 alpha brass, which develop strikingly different spreads from the ideal orientations. It does suggest that the pole figures might be similar for these two metals if they are rolled sufficiently. This has been found to be the case for cold drawn wire.&apos; Experimental Procedure: Four inch sections of cast cakes of copper and 70-30 alpha brass were obtained through the courtesy of the Bridgeport Brass Co. Pieces from these cakes were cold straight rolled 99.993 pct reduction in thickness with the assistance of the Remington Arms Co., Bridgeport, Conn., and by the use of pack rolling. Pole figures were made using the X ray camera and techniques described by Brick.&apos; These pole figures were not significantly different from those previously published for the same materials rolled 98 pct. Eight thicknesses of this strip were then pack rolled. This material failed completely and extensively in tension as shown in fig. 1, developing wavy transverse fractures and bulges. No further work could be done on these samples. Summary: Within the range of this experiment, no attainable amount of cold rolling would cause the pole figures of cold rolled copper and 70-30 brass to become similar, in spite of the fact that such a similarity is predicted by theory.&apos; References W. R. Hibbard. Jr. and M. K. Yen: Trans. AIME (1948) 175, 126. Met. Tech. Feb. 1948. TP 2334. ²R. M. Brick: Trans. ASM (1949) 41A, 99. 3W. R. Hibbard, Jr.: Trans. AIME (1949) 185, 598, Jnl. of Metals, Sept. 1949. "R. M. Brick: Trans. AIME (1940) 137, 193. &apos;R. M. Brick, D. L. Martin and R. P. Angier: Trans. ASM (1943) 31, 675.

Jan 1, 1951

By Gligorije Stankovic

This paper describes the fluo-solids roaster and acid plants at the new 40,000-TPY Trepca electrolytic zinc plant. The electrolytic zinc plant units were constructed to the design of Singmaster and Breyer, New York and began operation in mid-1967. The fluo-solids roaster plant, constructed according to the design of Dorr-Oliver, Paris, includes concentrate handling and storage facilities; two independent concentrate roasting circuits, each with a 110 to 155 TPD fluo-solids roaster; waste heat boilers; cyclones; electrostatic precipitators; calcine coolers; and calcine conveyors. The acid plant uses the "Petersen system" contact process. The plant has one acid circuit with a capacity of 230 tons of monohydrate per day. Gases for the acid plant are obtained from roasting zinc concentrates. When the roaster plant is operating at maximum capacity, excess SO2 is used in two other Petersen System circuits in the near vicinity.

Jan 1, 1970

By W. J. Taylor

In making heating gas with anthracite coal for roasting ore during the past few years, I have tried many forms of gas generators. So far, the most successful and satisfactory one has been what we call a fluxing producer, which is simply a small cupola or blast furnace, in which we charge with the coal, say, 30 or 40 per cent. of basic blast-furnace cinder, to unite, when melted, with the ash or earthy matter in the coal, and carry it off as cinder. The producer we have in use at Chester, N. J., has more of the lines of a blast furnace than a cupola, the hearth being 24 inches diameter and 24 inches high. It then enlarges on an angle of about 25 degrees from a perpendicular to 4 feet, and then is drawn into 3 feet on top ; total height, 12 feet. We use one water coil-tuyere 12 inches above the bottom, and blow through a 1 1/2 - inch nozzle. The depth of coal above the tuyere averages about 6 feet. The producer-is blown with

Jan 1, 1881

By Gerd L. Klinkenborg

Ever see a curvaceous conveyor belt? Reports from Europe indicate appreciable interest in a relatively new system that has revamped some of the concepts of what single-belt conveyors can and cannot do. Invented about ten years ago by two German engineers, the so-called "Serpentix" single-belt conveyor, patented by the firm of Albert Stuebbe, is now operating at more than 100 foreign installations. The system boasts of three unique capabilities-climbing, turning and side discharge of load-which give it, the advantages of a multiple-unit system. The new conveyor needs only one drive station (which may be combined with tensioning), and except for the immediate area of the drive, is capable of conveying loads over a non-linear route. Transfer points are eliminated, and discharge points, which may be located anywhere along the route, may be operated automatically or manually, by direct or remote control.

Jan 1, 1962

By A. T. Schwennesen

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) EVERY engineer has occasion to trace or copy a map, plan, or other drawing on paper too thick for the ordinary way of using tracing-cloth or tracing-paper. When the figure is small and simple a copy may be made by holding the original against a window-pane, covering it with the paper, and tracing direct by the aid of the strong sunlight from outside. The need of utilizing this principle on a larger scale and in a more convenient position led Dr. J. C. Branner to plan the table of which the following is a description: This table was first made in the form of an adjustable glass-top table with a mirror beneath, in 1887, while Dr. Branner was State Geologist of Arkansas. Later it was modified as experience suggested until the form as here described was evolved. The device consists essentially of a drafting-table with a plate-glass top, upon which the original drawing and the paper are laid, and a mirror mounted underneath to reflect the light of the sky up through the drawing. The glass top is hinged and fitted with two arms and thumb-screws, so that it can be raised and fixed to any position, either inclined or horizontal. The mirror is pivoted and revolves about a horizontal axis, so that it may be tilted to any angle. The hood of cardboard or black cloth prevents the reflection of light from the tracing, and may or may not be attached to the table. The apparatus is set up before a window through which part of the unobstructed sky is visible. The mirror is then adjusted like the reflector of a microscope, so that the skylight is reflected up through the drawing. If the mirror can be so located that the direct rays of the sun are reflected through the drawings, thicker paper can be used. The map or drawing may be held in place by clips screwed

May 1, 1911

By P.V. Roundy, G.R. Mansfield

Public lands in Florida were first withdrawn from entry by President Taft on July 2, 1910, as a conservation measure because of their possible phosphate content. The reserve thus established was subsequently modified by further withdrawals and by restorations, so that on Jan. 1, 1934, it contained 66,796 acres, of which only a small part had been definitely classified. The reserved land was in scattered parcels, ranging from less than 40 acres to 320 or more, distributed in many counties. For administrative purposes and for final disposal of any of the numerous parcels, mineral classification of the land is legally necessary. In 1934 and 1935 the United States Geological Survey, under two successive grants from the Public Works Administration, prospected some 83 tracts of these lands in Polk County, comprising in all about 3300 acres, and six tracts comprising 240 acres in Citrus and Marion Counties. The tracts in Polk County were all in the so-called land-pebble field and the others in the hard-rock field. The Survey field party was under the direction of P. V. Roundy, from whose unpublished report the material in this paper is largely taken. The foreman of the prospecting crew was J. H. Wingate of Zephyrhills, Fla. The individual tracts were identified through the cooperation of the General Land Office, by transitman Hugh B. Crawford. This prospecting work fitted well the classification adopted for Public Works projects in general: it could not be done on any considerable scale under the Survey&apos;s usual appropriations; it gave employment to unemployed labor; and it may be expected ultimately to repay the Government in royalties more than the cost of the exploration. Commercial, Prospecting Methods Commercial methods of prospeeting for phosphate in Florida have been briefly described by Mansfield.&apos; In the hard-rock field, where the floor of the phosphate deposit is extremely irregular, it is customary to drill a.:

Jan 1, 1938