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By John Sasadi

Several years ago I wrote a comprehensive paper 'entitled, "Future Trend of Bulk Carriers" dealing with the principle dimensions of vessels and how they can be predicted; then with loading and unloading of large carriers, especially considering various designs of "Self Unloaders". Since writing the paper, many large bulk carriers were basically built along the, predictions made. Maximum size today is in the 150,000 DWT class, with few exceptions, which are combination carriers (ore-oil) or OBO's (oil-bulk-ore) in the 200-250,000 DWT class in the same paper, many references were made cautioning engineers not to design ports which could be "obsolete tomorrow", however, these were not always followed. Nevertheless, during the past few years many modern ports were built signaling the beginning of a new area of "Super Ports". Super Ports can be built for various reasons, most important to provide transfer stations where bulk material is received from large carriers then transferred to smaller vessels or barges for distribution. Obviously, opposite movement of bulk commodities can justify the building of "Super Ports", however, these are not as difficult to build for many reasons. The Material Handling Industry has developed efficient means of unloading smaller vessels or barges with continuous-type unloaders and has mastered the art of storing, reclaiming, and moving large quantities of bulk material to high-capacity shiploaders. Nevertheless, the industry has failed to design and market efficient ship unloaders which in any way could match the presently attainable shiploading rates. For these reasons, it is considerably more difficult to build "Super Ports" for incoming rather than outgoing bulk materials with large bulk carriers. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on problems affecting high-capacity, continuous ship unloaders, especially involving large bulk carriers. For better understanding, some references will be made to the smaller, continuous barge or ship unloaders, but only as the principles affect the larger units. Additional references will also be made to exploit the present "State-of-Art" of the grab

Jan 1, 1972

By V. Shchukin

According to the scientific views formed by the middle of nineteen seventies there should be no possibility of commercial diamondiferous kimberlites in the north of the west European platform. However a later analysis of the geological data gave rise to the concept that diamond bearing kimberlites would be present in the north but on the mineralogical level they would differ from kimberlites of South Africa and Yakutia. Further investigations resulted in the confirmation of these conclusions and with discovery at the beginning of 1980 of diamond bearing kimberlite pipes in the Arkhangelsk region.

Jan 1, 1995

By R. A. Cummings

From before the turn of the century until as recently as the 1950s, relatively shallow coal reserves near the margins of the Illinois Basin were extracted by room- and pillar methods. Subsequent development has, in many cases, extended onto ground with high subsidence potential. The same state of affairs exists in many other historical coal mining districts, as well as in Illinois. Pit subsidence in Illinois is particularly common in the towns of Streator, Carterville, and Herrin, although there are others. Pit subsidence is characterized by distinct circular or oval depressions and normally is associated with shallow mining and thick soil relative to the thickness of rock.

Jan 1, 1985

By G. A. Kordosky

The control of pH in solvent extraction circuits is an old technique (1,2) but one which has a large potential for future use. The equilibrium position of any reaction which has hydrogen or hydroxide ions, either as products or as reactants, can be controlled by pH adjustment. Several examples of reaction types which are important in solvent extraction systems and which also show a pH dependence are shown in Figure 1. The examples were chosen to show the wide variety of reactions which fit the above criteria, but it is not meant to be a complete listing of all the possible reaction types, Some of the reactions are presented in a simplified form. It is the intent of this paper to discuss pH controlled solvent extraction reactions for some relatively simple systems through more complex ones.

Jan 1, 1979

By S. K. Mishra

The history of the Australian coal industry is almost as old as the history of Australia after new settlement. The first cargo of coal was exported from Newcastle to India in 1799. Although coal has been mined in Australia for almost two centuries, there are indications that the first coal was processed in 1877 in the New-castle area, nearly a half-century after the first coal processing in Europe. Processing on any significant scale began only in 1944 at the Newcastle Steel Works. In Queensland, however, coal processing did not begin until the second quarter of this century. The well-known dramatic growth of mining and processing of Australian coal since the mid-sixties has primarily been due to the expansion of the export market in Japan and other Asian and European countries. Black coal occurs in most of the major sedimentary basins in Australia. The better known deposits of commercial importance are in Sydney, Bowen, Oakland and Gailiee Basins (Figure 1). Apart from Collie Basin in Western Australia, other coal deposits of the Arckinga Basin in South Australia, the Bonaparte Basin in Northern Territory and Tasmania Basin, Tasmania, are basically unexploited. Sydney Basin of New South Wales and Bowen Basin of Queensland remain the major producers of black coal in Australia.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. K. Mehta

Existing acid mine drainage treatment techniques are not remedial In nature, i.e. though heavy metals can be removed from acid mine water, their presence in tailings and large quantities of these tailings tend to increase capital and operating cost for tailing management. This paper presents the results of a series of systematic tests which finally resulted In the development of the "ferrite" process for mine drainage of coal operations at ambient temperature. The role of pH, temperature, quantity of ferrous salt addition and degree of oxidation is investigated targeting the production of high emu spinel ferrites and effluent water complying regulatory standards with respect to Iron. manganese suspended solids and pH.

Jan 1, 1992

By David W. Houston

The increasing energy crisis, coupled with stringent environ- mental regulations, has created new demands for high capacity materials handling systems with unit train transporting and continuing surveillance of quality control. Effective and efficient methods of material conveyance are through high speed, high volume conveyor belts with the monitoring of quality through the utilization of automatic sampling. When we speak of high speed, high volume belt discharges we are referring to speed ranges from 600 to 750 FPM and volumes as high as 5500 TPH. To achieve the optimum operating sampling system for high capacity belt discharges, it is imperative that two major design characteristics be investigated and evaluated; namely technical analysis of operating conditions through application of ASTM design criteria and practical experience in the selection of equipment and the design of related components. The task of obtaining a sample of reasonable weight to represent an entire lot presents a number of problems and emphasizes the necessity for using standard sampling procedures.

Jan 1, 1973

By C. B. Kettering

In the early operations of the Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company, which extended from 1914 to 1926, the ore as mined contained principally sulphide copper minerals, manly chalcocite (Cu2S), This ore was milled in a 20,000-ton concentrator and the copper was recovered as a flotation concentrate which, was smelted at the nearby plant of the I ternational Smelting and Refining Company. In those days no attempt was made torecovercopper from any oxide minerals present. As mining operations progressed it soon became evident that the proportion of oxide minerals present would steadily increase, and. it was realized that some method of treatment would have to be developed whereby copper could' be recovered from both oxide and. sulphide minerals contained in the ore. A research program was instituted and after some years of experimental and, pilot plant work a new hydro-metallurgical process was developed whereby it became possible to extract copper from both the oxide and. sulphide minerals in a single leaching operation. The solvent adopted consisted of a mixture of sulphuric acid and ferric sulphate,' Following dissolution, the dissolved copper would be recovered by electrolysis. Also in the process of electrolyzing, spent solutions of sulphuric acid, H2SO4, and. ferric sulphate, Fe2(SOk)3, would be regeneratede and. somade available for continuous reuse. The process appeared to be a success and the decision was made to build a full-sized leaching plant for the future treatment of I spiration mixed ore. Construction was started and the leaching plant was completed in 1926, With the start of ferric-sulphate leaching the Inspiration Concentrator was shut down and, with the exception of a few short time runs has not operated since that time. The ferric sulphate leaching process served. Inspiration well for some 30 years and during that time won a name for itself as a classic example of hydro-metallurgical treatment of mixed sulphide oxide ores. Originally the plant was designed. to process some 7,500 tons per day of a mixed ore containing about 1,2% copper, of which 60% was present as oxide and. 40% as sulphide, Down through the years various improvements were made for the purpose of increasing plant capacity and as well to change the limiting 'factor of sulphide-oxide ratio, The final result was a leaching capacity of 9,600 tons per day when treating a 1% copper ore with a reversal of the sulphide-oxide ratio to 60% sulphide and 40% oxide.

Jan 1, 1958

By Michael Lenz

Predictive maintenance technologies including vibration analysis, tribology, infrared thermography, ultrasonic detection, and electrical measurements have been applied to large electric mining shovels. The predictive program was initiated on the P&H Model 2300 and 4100 electric shovels. The utilization of these technologies has shown the potential for improving electric mining shovel availability and minimizing maintenance costs. Predictive technologies provide the tools to assess machinery condition. Availability is enhanced by the condition based planning of component replacement. Maintenance costs are minimized by focusing resources through condition based prioritization.

Jan 1, 1997

By H. B. Charmbury

The acid mine drainage problem in Pennsylvania is of continuing and growing interest to the coal mining industry, the state government and the citizenry at large. Approximately one-third of the total volume of mine drainage presently polluting the streams of the Commonwealth originates from active coal operations and two-thirds come from ?abandoned mine discharges.? For this reason the Pennsylvania Department of Mines and Mineral Industries has mounted a significant research and action program seeking solutions to this two-fold problem. The Coal Research Board of the Department has sponsored a wide variety of research projects in an effort to study the treatment of acidic and highly ferruginous mine waters. A review of the published literature on the treatment of mine waters indicated that many laboratory and theoretical studies had been undertaken on various aspects of the coal mine drainage problem, but little applied, developmental, or engineering study had been undertaken. In January of 1964 the Board commenced a rigorous program using state and industry funds in an effort to find a ?least cost? solution or solutions to this vexing problem.

Jan 1, 1967

By M. Katzer

The effect of selective dispersants as wet grinding aids for ores is demonstrated on laboratory scale batch and continuous grinding equipment. A complete characterization of behavior is performed on a given ore to demonstrate correlations involving torque, % solids, net production rate, and slurry weight and volume loading. The relationship between such laboratory data and industrial scale testing results is very consistent.

Jan 1, 1979

By C. Haycocks

The evolution of longwall mining is briefly traced from its inception in England in the 1620's. In the beginning this method recovered 90% of coal with roof closure controlled by packs and walls. Mechanization began with kerf cutting, crude face conveyors, and improved face support. Full face mining was accompanied by the introduction of self-advancing hydraulic supports. U.S. longwalls evolved a retreating system to recover blocks of coal outlined by room and pillar panels. Computer control combined with the most modern technology has greatly increased productivity. Past trends are used to predict future technological directions.

Jan 1, 1997

By Y. C. Kim

The results from a retrospective study are described in this gaper in which she past development drilling activities were investigated using geostatistics. The purpose of the study was to determine the amount of savings in drilling cost that could have been realized through the optimal placement of sequential drill holes using geostatistics. Out of 144 DDH's that were in place within the study area, the results showed a possible elimination of 34 DDH's without any reduction on the confidence interval of the global reserve estimates. If the incremental savings from one drilling campaign to the next were considered, however, the amount of percentage savings were even greater. Other interesting results from this study were; 1) tangible demonstration of the importance of a proper geologic delineation within the study zone, and 2) the robustness of the obtained experimental variograms from the rather early stage in development drilling.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. B. Charmbury

In Pennsylvania there are two distinct coal regions, bituminous and anthracite, in which the mining conditions and production trends are different. Bituminous mining is more mechanized, and production is increasing. This report is concerned specifically with the bituminous area. The bituminous coal industry apparently is facing a shortage of miners and mine officials which may become acute by 1970. Since 1949, when Pennsylvania had more than 100,000 bituminous coal miners, the number has steadily decreased. There are two principal reasons for the decrease of certified miners and mine officials. These reasons are the fact that apprentices are almost a thing of the past and the fact that the image of the coal miner is a poor one to people in general and to parents in particular. This has contributed greatly to the high average age of our miners today. The average age of all those employed in the mines is 50. Yet it is known that the progress in mine mechanization requires younger and more alert men to operate the newer type equipment.

Jan 1, 1966

By S. K. Kawatra, T. C. Eisele

Microorganisms, such as the bacteria Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, have been reported to depress pyrite flotation (Elzeky and Attia, 1987; Atkins, 1990). However, the depen¬dence of the depression on the type of organism or on suspension pH is still being determined. In this study, the relative effectiveness of various microorganisms (chemolithotrophic bacteria, chemoorganotrophic bacteria and yeast) over the pH range of 2 to 12 was studied. Screen¬ing tests using microflotation showed that every microorgan¬ism tested was capable of depressing naturally hydrophobic pyrite at acidic pH. Larger-scale experiments with both mineral pyrite and coal pyrite using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as depressants, showed that these microorganisms are very effective depressants for mineral pyrite at acid pH, but they are largely ineffective at neutral and alkaline pH, where the mineral pyrite surface is not naturally hydrophobic. The flotation response of the coal pyrite was completely different from the mineral pyrite. The coal pyrite was most floatable near neutral pH, with the floatability decreasing in acidic or alkaline solutions. De¬pression of the coal pyrite by yeast was not selective between the pyrite and the associated coal under the experimental conditions.

Jan 1, 2000

By Albert J. Shohet

The increasing scarcity of bentonite coupled with the potential of improved pellet strength have created a need for understanding the effects of thorough bentonite dispersion in taconite concentrate. It has been known for more than a decade that under certain conditions substantial savings of bentonite are realizable by using thorough mixing of bentonite as compared to poor mixing. Extensive work done by J. O. Zetterstrom l at the Univer¬sity of Minnesota indicated the effect of thorough bentonite mixing in a controlled laboratory testing. Commercial hardware was not available at the time Zetterstrom1 paper was published and not much work was done until R. L. Stone, J. M. Karpinsky2, did work with Muller mixing. Nabush 3 worked with the pugmill principle, and Hoogovens 4 and Robe River 5 used the fluidized bed principle. It was very hard to convince iron ore industries to improve the mixing of Bentonite and taconite for the following reasons: A. The initial capital investment for improved mixing equipment; B. The relatively low bentonite cost a few years back, which was not enough to justify new equip¬ment investment;

Jan 1, 1976

By W. M. Luff

The Brunswick No. 12 Deposit is a large polymetallic massive sulphide deposit, occurring in Ordovician age rocks of the Tetagouche Group. Silver is contained within the sulphide zones and economically it is the second most important commodity produced. Brunswick is one of the largest silver producers in Canada. The distribution of silver within the mine is presented, with examples from various levels. The concentration of silver can be shown to be related to both stratigraphy and structure. The mineralogy of silver in mill products is also presented.

Jan 1, 1986

By Charles Banks Belt

In 1925, Niggli (1925, pp, 1-69), formulated a physico-chemical, explanation for the origin of hydrothermal ore deposits, from a concept that had appeared earlier in the literature in the writings of Von Groddeck, Stelzner, Beck, de Launay, Kemp, and Lindgren. Niggli proposed that pressure at depth could force volatiles from deep-seated magmas. The volatiles would In turn form pegmatites and then ore deposits as the fluids cooled. This is one view of a general theory of ore genesis that gained secondancy for years among such prominent geologists as Fenner (1926, p, 697) and Emmons (1936, pp. 29-70). It was, proposed that ore deposits were precipitated from solutions or fluids that had escaped or been separated from a deep-seated magma by means of liquid immiscibility or crystallization or gas transfer. This theory is based on the presence of igneous rocks close in space and age to hydrothermal ore deposits in many mining districts of the world. As is well known, there are many ore deposits apparently of hydrothermal origin that are neither spatially nor chronologically related to igneous rocks, In still other localities where there are no hydrothermal ore deposits, igneous rocks occur that are similar in composition to those in mining districts. In view of such facts, the applicability of the Niggli theory to all hydrothermal ore deposits may well be questioned. The chief purpose of this paper is to test the Niggli theory by studying the primary petrology, hydrothermal alteration, and distribution of copper and zinc in silicic igneous plutons supposedly genetically related (in the Niggli sense) to nearby hydrothermal ore deposits, Silicic Tertiary plutons in three New Mexico mining districts were chosen, the Hanover-Fierro intrusive at Hanover and Fierro, the Granite Mountain pluton at Magdalena, and the four outliers of the Lordsburg stock at Lordsburg. First, it had to be established whether the observed plutons were or were not the source of the adjacent ore deposits. This was done by studying the relation between the copper or zinc distribution-and the primary or secondary features in the plutons studied, and the time relations between instrusion and ore deposition. Primary igneous features of a pluton are defined as the minerals, texture, shape, and character of the pluton which were formed prior to the complete solidification of the rock, secondary features include all changes that took place in a pluton after solidification. They are identified by their cross cutting nature or as replacing primary minerals, Under the Niggli concept, it is proved that the ore ions did not originate from the parts of the pluton now visible as immediately adjacent to the ore deposits; it must then be established, if possible', that the ore ions were separated from deeper parts of the intrusive, Some idea as to whether the copper or zinc ions originated from a related magma at depth may be gained by a comparison between the primary (that is, pre-alteration) zinc and copper abundances found in ore localizing intrusive studied and the average abundances for copper and zinc in silicic igneous rocks most recently given in the literature. Finally, the relation between ore deposition and hydrothermal alteration was studied on a regional as well as on a local scale.

Jan 1, 1958

Direct force measurements were conducted using an atomic force microscope (AFM) to study the mechanism of copper-activation of sphalerite. The force measurements were conducted between a sphalerite plate and a hydrophobic glass sphere in xanthate solutions of various pHs. The glass sphere may represent the hydrophobic air bubbles interacting with minerals during flotation. The force measurements conducted with unactivated sphalerite in 10') M KEX solutions did not show the presence of hydrophobic force. On the other hand, the results obtained with copper-activated sphalerite at pH 9.2 and 4.6 showed strong hydrophobic forces. However, the results obtained at pH 6.8 showed no evidence of hydrophobic force, which provides an explanation for the difficulty in floating sphalerite at neutral pH.

Jan 1, 1998

By Sam S. Arentz

Storm King Mines began with the concept that the resource potential of thick and steeply pitching seams of the Grand Hogback region of Colorado could be mined profitably. Two large tracts of private land (fee coal) were acquired; approximately 23.8 km2 near Glenwood and 16.2 km2 near Meeker. Figure 1. Although both properties have substantial coal reserves, one has several distinct advantages in developing a competitive mining operation. Table 1 illustrates these advantages. Among the most important considerations from an economical point of view are proximity to railroad, highway, labor force, quality of coal, seam thickness, and source of water. As can be seen, Storm King Mines' property is adjacent to the main line of the D & RGW Railroad, 1-70, and the Colorado River. The cities of New Castle, Glenwood Springs, Silt, Rifle, Carbondale, and Parachute are within short commuting distances and have available skilled labor.

Jan 1, 1983