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By Robert R. Turner, Arthur R. MacPherson

This chapter reviews the steps which should be taken from the time it is decided to consider autogenous grinding in the development of a new ore deposit or the expansion of an existing plant up until the purchase of the new autogenous mills. In this case the term autogenous includes semi -autogenous, secondary pebble mills, and lump milling as well as fully autogenous grinding systems. Also, both wet and dry grinding alternatives have been included. Before the test program it must be decided how many bulk samples are required to properly assess the autogenous grinding possibilities of the deposit. Also, a decision must be made on where and how the samples are to be ground i.e. pilot mill at site or in established location, wet and or dry grinding, etc. In the test program itself, certain fundamental data must be obtained. The testing should include enough work to determine whether fully autogenous or semi-autogenous grinding should be used and what type produces best power efficiency. Also, all the other pertinent data should be collected such as power; tonnages; feed, charge, and product sizing; circulating loads, etc. If a secondary mill is required to produce a final grind the decision on whether a pebble or ball mill should be used may require additional test work. Finally, the concentration of the mineral may play an important part in selection of the circuit and should become a part of the final testing once the grinding has been established.

Jan 1, 1978

By Paul H. Miller

After passage by the Congress, Public Law 95-87, the "Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977" was signed by President Carter on August 3, 1977. This law, in its simplest form, was intended to control the environmental effects of surface coal mining and to ensure that mined land is restored to a condition equivalent to that prior to mining. Immediately after the signing, the wheels of government bureaucracy began turning to establish a new federal agency -the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement or OSM -in the Interior Department that would implement the provisions of the Act. Since this took time and because the Congress had not yet provided funding for OSM, a special task force was assembled within the Interior Department to begin the task of writing interim regulations to implement the Act. With respect to the use of explosives, the Act specified that a blasting plan be included in the application for a mining permit. The blasting plan will outline the procedures an operator will use to meet specified environmental protection performance standards. The performance standards established by the Act require explosives to be used only in accordance with existing state and federal laws and regulations and with regulations to be promulgated by the regulatory authority. The regulatory authority was defined as either a state agency operating under an approved state program or the OSM operating under a federal program. As a minimum, it was specified that the regulations should include provisions to require that: 1) a blasting schedule be published in a local newspaper and be mailed to local governments and to all residents living within 1/2 mile of the blasting site . 2) daily notice be given to residents in the area prior to blasting. 3) blast reports be prepared that are maintained for three years and available on request to the public. 4) blasts be designed to prevent injury to persons, damage to property outside the permit area, adverse impacts on underground mines and adverse effects on ground or surface water channels or availability outside the permit area. 5) upon request of residents or property owners within 1/2 mile of the permit area, preblast surveys shall

Jan 1, 1978

By R. R. Culbert

Several thousand parts per billion of uranium are present in some alkaline lake and ground waters of the Okanagan region, British Columbia. To a major extent the uranium content of these highly anomalous waters is controlled by their levels of dissolved bicarbonate. In lakes, dissolved bicarbonate and the organic content of the sediment largely control the partitioning of uranium between sediment and water. This relationship is found to a lesser extent in alkaline creeks, and transported geochemical anomalies in soils appear where uranium-bearing alkaline ground waters have encountered organic materials. There is a possibility that young, near-surface deposits (with very low radioactivity) are forming from these uraniferous waters.

Jan 1, 1978

By D. E. G. Maschmeyer

The operation of the pilot plant for the S-C Copper Process during 1976 has provided the basic data for the design of a commercial-scale plant. This paper introduces the commercial aspects of the S-C Copper Process through the presentation of a process flow diagram, a schematic flow diagram and basic design parameters for 75,000 tonnes per year (tpy) copper rod production from chalcopyrite concentrate. Basic operating requirements are outlined and a preliminary estimate of operating and capital costs for a Western Canadian location are summarized. The results have been compared with a modern smelter/electrorefinery to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of these two alternatives and to show why the new S-C Copper Process technology should be of interest to the copper industry.

Jan 1, 1978

By Stephen W. Lambert

The Bureau of Mines examined the wellbore of a vertical gas drainage well in the Mary Lee coalbed to determine the results of specific completion procedures in coal. A jet-slotting tool was used to cut four vertical slots through the casing about 1 ft below the coalbed. Even though stimulation treatment pressure was excessive, hydraulically induced channels were contained entirely within the target coal zone. Sand-filled, induced channels were horizontal, inclined, and vertical, and were propagated in directions similar to bedding planes, rock joint, and coal cleat directions measured in the mine. Variable gas flow rates, recorded during the productive life of the well, were attributed to chronic downhole pump malfunction and the slotted casing below the production zone.

Jan 1, 1978

By James R. Aggson

This paper summarizes the research effort that was conducted as part of a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Denver Mining Research Center and the Pittston Company. The objective of this investigation was to further the understanding of the floor heave ground control problems that have plagued underground mining of the Beckley coalbed in southern West Virginia. Floor heave is both economically and structurally undesirable. Floor heave is accompanied by a redistribution of stresses and loads that are associated with an underground opening. This redistribution of stresses may cause roof or pillar problems that otherwise would not have occurred. The floor heave that occurs in the Beckley coalbed is not cons1dered to be caused by "squeezing" or plastic flow of the materials involved. The "squeezing" type floor heave is normally associated with relatively weak floor members that contain significant amounts of clay mineralization. The floor members in the Beckley coalbed are competent, relatively strong materials which fail in a manner that can best be described by the term "buckling." This buckling-type failure is indirectly related to the time-dependent deformation properties of the materials involved, but is considered to be more of a slender column, or panel, type failure than a "squeeze" or "flow"-related failure. The Beckley coalbed has had a history of floor heave ground control problems. The Glen Rogers mine, which opened in the 1920's, experienced extensive floor heave. In a report dated April 1929, James P. Keatley of the West Virginia State Department of Mines described the floor heave in the Glen Rogers mine. Several observations listed in the Glen Rogers report that appear to be consistent with current observations follow: 1. Water plays no apparent part in the floor heave process. 2. No evidence of gas has been found in the floor. 3. The thickness of the overburden, which varies from 183 to 396 m (600 to 1300 ft), has no relationship to the floor heave. In the conclusions of the 1929 report on the Glen Rogers mine, Keatley states, "A statement in brief as to the cause (of floor heave) would lie that an undetermined natural condition doubtless augmented by former and present mining methods causes the bottom to heave." As this report will show, Mr. Keatley's insight into the problem was most accurate. The "undetermined natural condition" is the existence of a biaxial, horizontal, compressive stress field. This stress field is in excess of that which would be expected from gravity loading. This stress field and the material properties of the floor rock combine to cause the floor heave that has been experienced. The floor heave that occurs in the Beckley seam generally occurs as arching, with a tension fracture, near the center of the floor span or as a break near the rib followed by vertical deflection (of the floor) at the rib and sloping of the floor across the entry. Examples of the floor heave are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The two types of floor heave are merely different manifestations of the same basic failure mechanism. When the entries experiencing floor heave were identified on a map of the mine under investigation, it was apparent that there was a relationship between the floor heave and the direction of the entries. The main entries, which are used for ventilation and haulage, experienced the majority of the floor heave. This directional relationship suggested a directionally related loading mechanism, or more specifically, a biaxial, horizontal stress field that exceeds what would be expected by gravity loading. Since the main entries were oriented at a bearing of N25oW, it was hypothesized that the maximum compressive component of the horizontal stress field was at 90° to these entries or at a bearing of N65oE. An in Situ testing program was developed to test this hypothesis and investigate the floor heave problem.

Jan 1, 1978

By Bradley AJ

Hamersley Iron Pty. Limited mines and pro cesses iron ore from two orebodies at Tom Price and Paraburdoo, situated in the North West of Western Australia. Conventional open pit mining methods are used at both sites in that material is drilled and blasted in benches, loaded by shovels and hauled to the Primary Crushers or dumped on waste or low grade material stockpiles. The present drilling fleet, consisting of eight high capacity Bucyrus Erie Rotary drills has evolved from an initial fleet of a large number of small percussion rigs. There are significant physical differences between the ore types encountered at both mines which nec- essitate the drilling of smaller diameter blast holes at Paraburdoo than those at Tom Price. The drilling practice at each site is dis- cussed, with examples of performance achieve- ments under varying drilling conditions.

Jan 1, 1978

By Daryl R. Tweeton

Bureau of Mines research in in situ uranium leaching includes injection well construction and environmental aspects. Clogging of injection wells is a common problem, and is affected by construction techniques. Part of the clogging can be caused by a low-permeability skin left on the borehole wall if the drilling fluids are not thoroughly flushed out. Certain polymer drilling fluids are less prone to cause clogging than bentonite muds, since a lower solids content can be used. The environmental research primarily involves two contracts. The first describes the environmental impact of in situ leaching and the effect of environmental legislation on leaching; the second describes the cost effectiveness of various methods of restoring ground water quality.

Jan 1, 1978

By G. M. Ritcey

The design of the plant facilities together with the necessary equipment required for the operation is at an optimum only for the specified plant with its peculiar priorities and preferences. Because many alternatives in design are possible to suit a particular plant, each plant designer and contractor must choose carefully in the selection of the site, design and choice of materials of construction, as well as the type of equipment necessary for the process. Basic factors as efficiency, dependability, simplicity, and safety must be considered early in the construction; while the choice of equipment, materials of construction, possible corrosion problems, automation, maintenance, effluents disposal and tailings dam construction can greatly affect the plant costs. While existing plants are in operation, the know-how gained from the operating experience of those plants can be invaluable in the new plant planning, design, and construction.

Jan 1, 1978

By J. F. Power

Returning the original soil material to the surface of smoothed mine spoils is n practical means of restoring agricultural productivity. Research has established that high-sodium spoils in North Dakota (a) must be covered with about 70 cm of soil material to achieve maximum production; (b) topsoil must be segregated and spread separately from subsoil; (c) potential production depends on the quality of the soil material returned; and (d) erosion and upward salt movement must be controlled for sustained production. Erosion is best controlled by reducing final grades as much as possible during the smoothing process followed by prompt establishment of vegetation. Almost half the nation's cool reserves are in the Northern Great Plains underlying several million hectares of agricultural land. Social pressures to return mined land to agriculture or other productive uses have resulted in recent enactment of state and federal legislation, which is intended to restore productivity to disturbed areas. All such legislation relating to the Northern Great Plains has stipulated that useable soil material be saved and returned to mined land after spoils are smoothed. This requirement immediately raises questions as to how much soil material is needed, what criteria are important in defining useable soil material, how is the soil material to be handled in the earth-moving operations involved, and how can replaced soil material be maintained and revegetation. Scientists at the USDA Northern Great Plains Research Center at Mandan, North Dakota have conducted research on the reclamation of disturbed lands since 1970. Initially this research was designed to identify and characterize those physical and chemical properties of spoils that are most restrictive to plant growth (1). Basically, they found that any properties of spoils that reduced the efficiency of storage and utilization of the limited precipitation received adversely affected plant growth. Thus, in the Northern Plains, revegetation of mined land was found to depend upon the management of factors affecting the availability of water to plants - the same as on unmined land. After the major problems in revegetation were identified, technologies were developed to circumvent the effects of the growth-limiting factors (2). Basically two approaches were identified by which plant growth-restricting properties of spoils could be corrected: (a) various amendments (gypsum, sulfur, Fertilizers, mulches, calcium chloride, etc.) could be applied to spoils to improve their ability to conserve precipitation and provide water for plant growth; or (b) undesirable spoils could be covered with suitable soil materials to reduce or alleviate adverse effects. The latter approach appeared to be more feasible in most instances And is the approach specified in current legislation. The remainder of this paper discusses research on the use of roil materials returned to spoils and summarizes the information obtained.

Jan 1, 1978

By Howard E. Mitchell

Modern mechanical raise drilling was first introduced into the United states in 1962. This method of safely, economically raising a shaft has steadily increased in popularity since that time. This steady growth has been largely enhanced by the many advantages to be gained by mechanical raise drilling, as well as by the increasing reliability of the equipment required. It is the purpose of this paper to briefly review the state of the art of raise drilling to include: the various applications and advantages; the equipment requirements, including a comparison of the various types and sizes of machines and rock cutting equipment; equipment performance; and future trends.

Jan 1, 1978

By J. Philip Bromberg

The 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments will have a large effect on the coal-fired segment of the electric utility industry. Since electric power generation constitutes by far the largest single use for coal, this legislation has the potential to greatly affect future patterns of coal utilization in the U.S.A. The inability to depend exclusively upon low sulfur coal as an exclusive mode of compliance with New Source Performance Standards may greatly lessen projected demands for low sulfur coal by eastern utility boilers. The requirements of the legislation is discussed with particular reference to the needs of the electric generating industry, along with the technologies available for complying with the Act.

Jan 1, 1978

By Richard Collins

The projected depletion and the increasing costs of petroleum and natural gas along with the public and governmental resistance to nuclear energy have caused coal to emerge as one of today's answers to both our short term and long term energy needs in power generation. In order to satisfy this need, major increases in coal production are mandatory, thus requiring more and higher capacity coal transfer terminals. The logic for selecting coal as the major fuel for power generation is based on many different reports on the existing and potential energy sources, which include petroleum, natural gas, hydropower, solar, geothermal, and nuclear. The following is a brief synopsis of these reports for each type of energy.

Jan 1, 1978

By H. M. Brennecke

A new hydrometallurgical process has been developed to recover copper from sulfide ores. Copper is leached in a staged reactor system utilizing nitric and sulfuric acids at 105°C. Iron is removed from the pregnant liquor as a jarosite and cathode copper is electrowon directly from the purified pregnant liquor. The spent electrolyte is recycled. Nitrogen oxides evolved from the leach are reconverted to nitric acid and are also recycled. Sulfur is rejected as S°, jarosite and gypsum. The process is highly versatile and can recover precious metals, molybdenum and zinc, when these elements are present. Continuous, integrated, semi-pilot plant operations using chalcopyrite ores demonstrated 99% copper leaching and production of cathode grade copper. Economic evaluation shows that the process is competitive with pyrometallurgical and other hydrometallurgical processes.

Jan 1, 1978

By William R. Oakley

In order to best-discuss the met spar industry let me take the liberty to review our involvement, that is, my company's. Our organization has been involved in the fluorspar industry for approximately thirty-five years. We started our activity in Western Kentucky as a mining company and a beneficiator of spar, that is, grinding and grading. After a few short years, the mine became contaminated and rather than invest in a flotation plant, the property was sold and our spar activity was moved, primarily to Mexico. It was decided not to establish ourselves as a Mexican corporation, so, it was necessary to take the position of backer-financier of numerous mining operations. We served in this capacity for quite some time. We also built processing plants on the border in Texas, that is, sizing, grading, etc. in order to market into the steel industry. In 1957, generally speaking, fluorspar for the steel industry was purchased as gravel fluorspar with a maximum of 10% -1/16". The price of this material was $23.50 to $24.00 per ton f.o.b. railcar at the Rio Grande Crossings and about $26.00 or $26.25 f.o.b. barge, Brownsville, Texas. Usually the material was purchased on an effective basis. As you know, 2-1/2 times the silica total, subtracted from the total CaF2 gives the effective calcium fluoride. This was normally the extent of the chemical specifications. Consequently, material was shipped with no regard whatever, to anything other than effective units. The variations in material was absolutely unbelievable. In addition to this, quite frequently, cars were shipped, as they say in the industry, topped. This being, good material placed in the top of cars or barges over bad or low grade. The entire shipment may very well have met the effective unit spec, but the complete imbalance of the sub grade vs. the high grade more or less guaranteed that the consumer was probably using a great deal of low grade and therefore, his usage had to be way higher than it should have been. He came to the conclusion, that because of these conditions and the new technology developing in the steel industry, it was just a matter of time that the entire raw material industry would have to improve. Rather than spend our efforts directed to a substitute flux, we put together a sizing and grading plant in order to ship a controlled crude product, with independent laboratory analysis confirming size and quality. The age of control was started. We began shipping 70 to 72-1/2, 80 and 85 effective with sizing 1/2" by 2", 1" by 3", and 2" by 5" with absolute control on the amount of fines. A material with no fines was a premium product. Incidentally it sold for $24.50 -60 effective up to $28.50, $29.50 for 80 effective.

Jan 1, 1978

By Gary L. Mowrey

Visible and sometimes audible indications of excessive underground rock pressure such as pillar fracturing, squeezes on chocks, and "roof talk" are familiar to mining engineers. Such signs often precede rock failure on a larger scale and therefore may be used as a warning. Nevertheless, these subjective observations do not provide an adequate means of evaluating the existing rock pressure conditions in a mine. One method which appears to be extremely promising in determining the stability of geologic structures in general is that of monitoring their associated micro seismic activity. Mining engineers generally agree that during the process of rock deformation and failure small-scale seismic ("microseismic") vibrations are produced in the rock itself. These transient vibrations propagate through the rock structure and may be detected at a considerable distance from the failed rock by employing suitable electronic monitoring equipment. Hardy (1) has presented a detailed review of microseismic research in the mining, petroleum, and geoscience areas, and it is apparent that relatively little application of micro seismic techniques have been made in coal mines. This is especially true in North America since here most coal mines are fairly shallow and consequently are not generally subjected to excessive stresses. Furthermore, strict Federal and State mining laws limit the use of electrical equipment in coal mines complicating the use of the necessary monitoring facilities. In terms of both mine safety and economics, monitoring microseismic activity appears to be invaluable in the detection and location of over-stressed pillars and unstable roof conditions caused by development and production work. In 1970 The Pennsylvania State University Rock Mechanics Laboratory became involved in a research project, sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, to investigate the feasibility of using microseismic techniques to detect and to locate potential regions of instability around a longwall coal-mine operation [Hardy and t10wrey (2); Mowrey (3)]. In this study geophones (velocity gages) located in an array of shallow boreholes drilled from the surface above the active area of the longwall were employed to detect microseismic activity, and a mobile micro-seismic monitoring facility was used to condition and record this data for later analysis. This project is unique in that measurements were made from near-surface geophones rather than geophones installed on the mine itself. Two advantages are apparent, namely that (1) there are no electrical limitations on the monitoring system and that (2) mining operations can continue normally because there is no monitoring equipment or cables in the mine.

Jan 1, 1978

By Sneddon N

In November, 1975, Aberdare North colliery was sealed at the surface to extinguish an open fire underground.The fire had developed from a spontaneous heating in one of the open goaf areas of the mine.The mine was re-entered with normal ventilation methods following the isolation of the working district containing the fire. The isolation was accomplished by remotely sealing the open roadways with lly ash emplaced through boreholes from the surface. A subsequent re-entry operation similarly closed the roadways close to the fire and enabled the re-opening of the sealed district.Most of the mine and the underground equipment was recovered after clearing of numerous falls and production recommenced on 25th October, 1976.

Jan 1, 1978

By Jr. Smith

Borates have been mined in the desert areas of California and Nevada for more than 100 years. To about 1890, playa surface mining provided the chief sources of boron minerals. Underground mining of colemanite and later of borax and kernite was predominate until about twenty years ago. Open pit mining of the large deposits of borax and kernite near Boron, California has been most significant for the past twenty years. Mining of colemanite in the Ryan, California area, near Death Valley, began in 1907. Following the discovery of the large deposits in the Boron area (about 1957), mining in the Death Valley area became nearly nonexistent. Only small tonnages were mined for special uses. Little mining was done in the Boraxo area near Ryan. The first claim was made in about 1915 In 1960 the area became the property of the Kern County Land Company, which was acquired by Tenneco Oil Company in 1967. In 1976 the various borate properties and claims in this region were acquired by American Borate Corporation. The open pit mine is now approximately 400 feet (121.9 m) deep, 3000 feet (914.4 m) long and 1000 feet (304.8 m) wide. The borates in the Boraxo pit consist primarily of three minerals. These are about 50% coiemanite (C2B6O11' 5H2O), about 40% probertite (NaCaB5O9.5H2O), and 10% ulexite (NaCaBcO9.8H2O). The colemanite, along with boric acid and high-grade coiemanite ore from Turkey provide the only sodium-free borates for production of textile grade fiberglas. When heated to its decomposition temperature, colemanite decrepitates to a fine powder. This provides the basis for the concentration process. The gangue minerals in this deposit are primarily calcite and clays, including bentonite. The ore body has a very low arsenic content.which is a desirable feature. Test work had been done with samples prior to the results discussed herein. This paper will discuss results of test work which were the basis for erection of a plant, and the subsequent plant operations.

Jan 1, 1978

By Joklik, G. F.

Most publicity about the copper industry nowadays is focused on the adequacy of ore reserves and on excessive mining capacity. These concerns, stemming from public awareness of actual and potential shortages and oversupplies, relate to production rather than consumption. Perhaps the reason for this one-sided view is that copper is thought of as a commodity which is conspicuously traded in world markets, rather than as one of many industrial materials that serve today's rapidly changing technology. Copper differs from other widely traded commodities in that its real cost of production has progressively increased since World War 11. The reasons for the increase are identifiable by analyzing operations in one of the world's large producing centres, the copper province of Arizona. Another respect in which copper differs from some other commodities is that increases in demand occur less automatically in the case of copper than they tend to in commodities whose consumption is more directly related to population growth. The copper industry's current inability to generate and attract needed investment capital is attributable to these differences between copper and other commodities; it suggests that the concept of copper purely as a commodity is outdated. The key to the problem is better integration between the activities of copper producers and users. Depending on circumstances, integration takes various forms- for example, investment tied to long-term sales con- tracts between producers in developing countries and consumers overseas; common ownership of producing and manufacturing facilities in industrialized nations like the U.S.; and consumer-oriented research and marketing by the copper producers.

Jan 1, 1978

By L. J. Hoover

The objective of this study was to assess the health and environmental impacts of fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) of coal, specifically as applied to baseload generation of electrical energy by utilities. The study* was a short-term effort that based its analyses on information derived from the experience of the group or quickly obtained from the literature. The approach was to compare Atmospheric Fluidized-Bed Combustion (AFBC) and Pressurized Fluidized-Bed Combustion (PFBC) with two current technologies: low-sulfur coal combustion (LSC) and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) used with high-sulfur coals. A wet-limestone process was selected as the FGD technology. The impacts compared involved not only health and environment but also sociology, resource use, and dollar cost. Conditions for comparison were centered around a nominal date of 1988, when initial operation of commercial AFBC plants may occur. The PFBC has a later introductory date, a nominal 1995 (its impacts relative to other competitive technologies now in the R&D stages were not compared.)

Jan 1, 1978