Search Documents

By P. M. Godinho

The debut of the sustainable development concept in the political arena, and the publication of Our Common Future in 1987, represents the starting point of present concerns and efforts associated with the sustainability of the ecosphere and its ecological and human subsystems. The sustainable production and consumption of natural resources, in particular mineral resources, represents a central aspect of the problem. In this context, an important goal has been to develop sophisticated management systems, which consider sustainability principles, in organizations within the system of minerals and metals (SMM). The development of indicators is only part of this challenge. The extractive industries (EI) as an important stakeholder of the SMM (should) have similar priorities. If embraced, this challenge offers great opportunities, one of them being the potential for advancing the understanding of how these organizations learn and change. The identification of its main determinants offers, in theory, the possibility for their management and a faster achievement of the sustainability levels to which they (should) aspire.

Jan 1, 2007

By M. M. Hassan

This report describes the analysis tools developed at West Virginia University which can be implemented to optimally design coal mine electrical systems. The basic analytical tools for all power systems are the load-flow and short-circuit analysis. Well known programs have been developed for analysis of ac transmission and distribution systems, but they are not applicable to a system which has combined ac/dc distribution, such as a coal mine power system. Furthermore, the topology of a coal mine electrcal system changes continuously due to the movement of the locomotives on the track. In the first section of this report, algorithms for carrying out load flow and short-circuit analysis of a coal mine electrical system are described. Results from the study of a typical coal mine system are presented. In the second section a method is described to optimally size power cables for cyclic loads. The method is based on the development of a thermal-electric model for a low-voltage power cable. Results from experimental verification of the model are also presented. These techniques are useful in the safe, efficient, reliable and economical design of the coal mine electrical power systems.

Jan 1, 1979

By David H. Carlson

Mechanical sorting of "poor" rock accumulated from past native copper mining operations has been under study at the Michigan Tech's Institute of Mineral Research for several years. Prior to this work, the poor rock dumps totaling approximately 9 million tons containing an estimated 35-70 million pounds of copper (1) have been considered mainly as a local source of road aggregate used from time to time and consequently of minor value. An electro¬mechanical sorting machine developed by International Sorting Systems Corporation of Santa Barbara, California has been tested for preconcentration of the waste rock before conventional milling (2,3). The ISSC machine has possibilities for underground preconcentration of crushed mine-run native copper ores. The objective of the study described here was to provide information about limi¬tations on sortability due to characteristics of the ore and present crushing practices. When the native copper mines were in operation prior to termination in 1969, two types of ore were produced, amygdaloidal and conglomeritic. In the first type copper occurs in vesicles left by gas bubbles entrapped during rapid cooling of the tops of lava flows. The conglomeritic ore beds consist of rounded pebbles and fragments cemented together by calcite, epidote, chlorite, and feldspar; the copper occurs around pebbles, in cracks, and sometimes as partial or total re¬placements of pebbles. The copper in the conglomeritic ore usually is in finer grain sizes than that in the amygdaloidal ore, and large (plus 4 inch) copper masses are virtually absent.

Jan 1, 1970

By Frédéric Rocher-Lacoste

On July 2nd, 2007, LCPC and LOADTEST performed a static loading test with an Osterberg-cell on a bored pile of 1600 mm diameter. The 56.50 meters deep test pile constructed by Trevi Spa for Soares da Costa group, was near the Cacheu river in Guinea Bissau. This test was conducted to validate the design of the foundations of the Sao Vicente bridge; a project undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Guinea Bissau and funded by the European Development Fund. Sub-surface conditions at the test pile location consist primarily of layers of weak sands and clays. The piles were loaded statically using the O-cell® bi-directional method 25 days after concreting. The maximum sustained bi-directional load applied to the pile was 11.7 MN. At the maximum load, the displacements above and below the O-cell assembly were 6.6 mm and 81.9 mm, respectively. The resulting pile head behavior has been calculated for a combined skin friction and end-bearing load of 29.3 MN. The piles were also instrumented using LCPC removable extensometers, which made it possible to measure the mobilization of shaft friction and toe resistance. The adjusted test data indicated that this pile would settle approximately 12.2 mm for the service load of 12MN applied at the head of the pile. This paper provides a very brief presentation of the bridge project and the test pile instrumentation: LCPC removable extensometers and O-cell® instrumentation. The results are detailed and analyzed herein and the combined use of these two instrumentation systems is a world première.

Jan 1, 2008

By James R. Boyle

The value of Alabama's nonfuel mineral production in 1987 was $446.6 million, an increase over that of 1986 and the first increase in 3 years. Alabama was second in the Nation in production of bauxite and ferroalloys; third in bentonite, crushed dolomite, crushed marble, and fire clay; and fourth in masonry cement. Trends and Developments.-Employment in the minerals industry remained relatively low for the second year even though the overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% by December. Employment in mining and primary metals dropped about 10% and 2%, respectively.

Jan 1, 1989

By Alain Broussaud, Guy Fourniguet, Jacques Franck, Pierre Conil

Steady-state simulation is now in current use to assist mineral processing plant design and optimization. However, the reliability of results generated by simulators has not until now been seriously investigated. A simulator supervision algorithm was designed and programmed to study both the influence of the reliability of experimental data on the accuracy of unit operation model calibration, and the influence of unit operation model accuracy on the results of direct plant simulations. An application to a grinding flotation plant is described and discussed. The approach may open the way to the quantitative analysis of the risks taken in mineral processing projects, which would be similar to the application of geostatistics to mining projects.

Jan 1, 1990

The impact on metallurgical operations of the hydrocarbon energy price hike can be greatly alleviated by recourse to alternative fuels. Information is provided on fuels such as coal, coke, coal-oil mixtures, manufactured gas, wood and charcoal; techniques such as direct and indirect combustion, pulverised fuel injection, slurry burning, fluid bed combustion and various gasification processes. Actual examples of metallurgical operations are used.

Jan 1, 1981

By G. H. Billings

There exists an unconfirmed opinion among many ironmasters that the combination of a small quantity of manganese, chromium, titanium, tungsten, aluminium, nickel, and some of the metalloids with iron has a beneficial effect upon the quality. And the impression prevails in some localities that the excellence of steel greatly depends upon the influence of some of these elements. Brit as the recorded experiments are so meagrely described, and made under such various conditions, the student in search of information upon the subject is somewhat bewildered by the contradiction of the opinions expressed. Observing some interesting phenomena while experimenting with an alloy of iron, copper, and nickel, I was led to determine the effect of some of the metals upon iron as free from contamination by other elements as it is possible to procure in practice, in order that the result of an alloy of an individual metal with iron might be more closely studied; for it is almost an impossibility to determine the influence of a small amount of one element upon a metal combined with a large amount of another, and the mere presence of another sometimes makes this difficult. And as most of the experiments recorded upon this subject have been made with iron containing sufficient carbon and other elements to interfere with the effect of that metal the influence of which it was desired to observe, I have endeavored to avoid these sources of error as far as practicable. In determining the specific gravity of the alloys in these ex-

By Kirk P. Kinart

The mid to late 1980s saw a modern day global gold rush that largely focused on the mature mining countries of the United States, Canada and Australia. This gold rush led to a large number of new discoveries in these countries and phenomenal growth rates in annual gold production. For a variety of reasons, however, gold exploration and development activity appears to have peaked in these countries. The drive for mineral investment is, instead, growing in lesser explored countries (LEC). LECs, particularly those of Latin America, are currently enjoying greatly increased attention from North American mining companies. They are becoming major consumers of mineral investment capital and are important markets for exploration and mining skills. Through sole ownership, joint ventures and subsidiary companies, Battle Mountain Gold now operates or controls gold mines in the United States, Chile, Bolivia and Australia. And it has been or is an active participant in gold exploration or development projects in seven other countries, six of which classify as LECs. In selecting new country entries and opportunities for mineral investment, there are several factors to be considered and parties to be satisfied - shareholders, corporate management, financial institutions and host country governments. This article, though, focuses on some of the more practical concerns of the exploration unit as a whole and the exploration geologist in particular. The exploration unit's "new country" concerns primarily relate to exploration potential, ownership security, quality and availability of data and the ability to operate efficiently. The following material reviews each of these concerns and how they impact the new country entry decision, exploration strategy, chances of success and human experience.

Jan 1, 1993

By H. R. Ogden, E. S. Bartlett, A. G. Imgram

Notched and unnotched tensile specimens of wrought and recrystallized, oxygmted and hydro-genated tantalum and columbium were tested over a range of temperatures selected to encompass the ductile-to-brittle transition. Increasing the oxygen content of tantalum and columbium increased their strength, and raised their ductility transition temperature, but did not cause a marked deterioration of notch properties below that of commercially pure material. The adverse effects of oxygen were more pronounced for recrystallized structures than for wrought material. The effects of hydrogen are complicated by strain aging or slow strain rate hydrogen embrittlement at -105°F. However, in general, hydrogen had only a minor effect an strength, but markedly increased the effective transition tem-terature and caused a deterioration of notch properties . BCC metals including the refractory metals in Groups Va and VIa (V, Cb, Ta and Cr, Mo, W) can be expected to undergo a ductile-to-brittle transition and exhibit brittle fractures at low temperatures.' Notch embrittlement is associated with this phenomenon, and can be a serious design problem. Table I compares the tensile transition behavior and notch sensitivity of commercially pure Group Va and VIa refractory metals. The Group VIa refractory metals have considerably higher transition temperatures, and become notch sensitive at higher temperatures, than do the Group Va refractory metals. In addition, the Group VIa refractory metals are sensitive to metallurgical structure. Recrystallized structures generally have higher transition temperatures than wrought material of the same composition. The relatively poor transition behavior of the recrystallized structures of these metals is generally attributed to the segregation of interstitial impurity atoms at grain boundaries. Pronounced sensitivity to structure is not evident with commercially pure Group Va refractory metals, however. Since these metals have higher solubilities for interstitial elements than do the Group VIa metals ,4 it can be expected that higher total interstitial concentrations are necessary to develop a comparable degree of grain boundary segregation and to produce a similar sensitivity of transition temperature to structure. Increasing only the concentration of interstitial atoms in solution would tend to increase the flow stress of a metal in relation to its cleavage fracture stress and thereby raise its transition temperature, but would not be expected to cause a marked sensitivity of transition temperature to structure. A research program has been conducted at the Battelle Memorial Institute to evaluate the effects of interstitial oxygen and hydrogen on the transition behavior and notch sensitivity of tantalum and columbium, and to evaluate the effects of structure on "contaminated" material. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Notched and unnotched tensile specimens of oxygenated and hydrogenated tantalum and columbium with both wrought and recrystallized structures were tested over a range of temperatures selected to encompass the ductile-to-brittle transition Oxygen levels selected for study in both tantalum and columbium were nominally 500 and 1000 ppm, whereas nominal hydrogen contents were 150 and 500 ppm in tantalum and 150 and 300 ppm in columbium. Oxygen and hydrogen additions were made directly to 6-in. lengths of 1/2-in.-diam electron beam melted wrought bar stock, in a Sieverts Apparatus. Subsequent high-temperature annealing was required for homogenization of the oxygenated material, but was not necessary in the case of hydrogenated stock. The oxygenated and hydrogenated bars were then swaged to 1/4-in.-diam rods. Tensile specimen blanks were cut from the 1/4-in.-diam rods and annealed to achieve stress-re-

Jan 1, 1963

By P. W. Harben

Jan 1, 1985

By Robert R. Abbott

The practice of carbonizing steel for the purpose of case-hardening has assumed great commercial importance within the past 10 years. Formerly, case-hardened steel was held in more or less contempt, since it was considered a cheap substitute for tool-steel. This is no longer the case. The development of the motor-car industry, and coincidentally that of modern alloy-steels, has resulted in overcoming many difficulties formerly experienced in case-hardening. This result has been accomplished by increased knowledge regarding the analysis of the steel which would respond most readily to case-hardening, and by more careful methods of treatment of the carbonized steel. The ordinary method of carbonizing consists in packing the steel with the carbonizing-material in cast-iron boxes and placing them in a furnace at a temperature of from 1,500° to 1,900° F. for a time sufficient to give the required depth of " case." The steel is then either quenched directly from the box, or is allowed to cool without unpacking, and finally given a single hardening-heat, or, for special work, two or three heats. During the year 1911, more than 100,000 tons of carbonizing-material was sold in the United States, at an average price of probably $55 per ton. More than 85 per cent. of this material consisted of granulated bone. Within the past four years, many manufactured compounds have been placed on the market, consisting largely of some form of carbon or carbonaceous material, with or without the addition of chemicals. Steel will absorb carbon placed in contact with it at the temperature of the atmosphere. The reaction is exceedingly slow, but increases rapidly with increasing temperature. Below

Jan 1, 1913

The locality from where these specimens come is distant about 12 miles due south from the township of Bingara New South Wales, and is known locally as Carney's Reef, Barrack's Creek, Top Bingara. The formation traverses the western side of a serpentine spur from the main range, which runs through the country from the other side of Tamworth to Inverell, in the New England District. It has a due north and south trend, with an easterly underlay slightly out of the vertical. The formation has been opened up at different points for a distance of over two miles, and each place showing gold in the stone, and no place more than three to four chlins apart, the whole distance along the line of Reef being leased. The formation varies in thickness, the smallest being about 1 foot and the widest about 10 feet. The following is a list of properties, and description of work done on them at present. First south, and about one and a half miles from Hanion Brothers' old BalIarat claim due north, Court and patty hold a tenacre lease. The formation outcrops near the south boundary, and gold is obtainable in the stone. In the centre of the lease a costeen pit has cut the capping, which shows gold, and about two chains from the north boundary another one cuts the capping, also showing gold. The reef averages, where exposed on this property, 3 feet wide.

By E. Açma

Sivas-Divrigi flotation plant has a capacity of 90,000 tpy. Beneficiation of the tailings of iron ore magnetic separator seems to be attractive, because of its Cu, Co, and Ni contents. In the experimental work, sulfidic flotation concentrate is produced from these tailings. A roasting-leaching-H2S precipitation procedure is used to treat this concentrate, containing 0.55% Cu, 0.51% Co, 0.74% Ni, and 0.027% Zn. Sulfatizing roasting is carried out in a rotary furnace at 690°C. Roasted product is leached with 10 gpl HzSOl at 70°C and 30% pulp density. For the precipitation of desired metal, H2S is bubbled through the concentrated solution of repeated leaching, under controlled temperature and pH. Final metal recoveries of 91% Cu, 91% Co, and 50% Ni, and 92% Zn are attained. Roasting gases with their 13% SO2 content are suitable for H2SO4 production and the leach residues can be integrated with the iron ore processing plant as they contain 57.4% Fe and very low non-ferrous metals.

Jan 1, 1993

By Rossiter W. Raymond

The lead-mining industry of Missouri, as of other parts of the Mississippi basin, appears to have been paralyzed by the shock of competition with the mines of the States and Territories further west. It is difficult for establishments working galena ores, too poor in silver to pay for extracting it, to compete with the producers of the argentiferous carbonates of Utah and Colorado, who look upon their lead as a by-product of little value, and are satisfied if it pays the charges of transportation, or the loss in smelting for silver. But simultaneously with this depression in the lead-mining of the Mississippi States, the development of new zinc deposits has caused a notable revival in the mining of zinc ores. There has recently been a sndden and strong rise in the price of' spelter, which, though probably to a large extent temporary in character, has given important encouragement to prospectors and miners. Apart from the general recovery of business in the United States from the prostration of the past six years, the cause of the advance in spelter has been the falling off in production, resulting from the shutting clown of several leading Western works,—the Martindale and Carondelet works, at St. Louis, and the Consolidated Company in Kansas. At the same time, the principal works at La Salle, Ill., were undergoing repairs, and produced less than usual, while the sheet-mill of Matthieson & Hegeler, at that place, was running as usual; so that this concern, ordinarily a large producer, entered the already depleted market as a buyer. These causes are in their nature transitory, and it is quite likely that spelter will be superabundant in a few months. Having lately received from a well-informed Missouri correspondent some samples of the zinc ores and a general account of the ore deposits of Southwest Missouri, I have thought that it might interest the Institute to examine these specimens, and to hear such brief statements concerning the region as I am able, upon good authority, though without the aid of any personal investigation 011 the spot, to give. The zinc-bearing territory in Southwest Missouri appears to be very extensive; that is to sap, zinc ores have been mined during the last year at various points throughout a district extending from the eastern edge of Kansas, west of Joplin, to a line some 50 miles east

Jan 1, 1880

By H. C. Goodrich

At the Utah Copper mine, steam shovels were first used, in 1906, for the removal of overburden, and in June, 1907, for the mining of ore. Prior to 1907, the ore came from underground development work and from stoping. The use of the steam shovel gradually increased until 1914; since then all material, both overburden and ore, has been loaded by power shovels operating on the various benches of the mine. During these 19 years, there has been a great improvement in open-pit mining, largely in the use of equipment having greater capacity and dependability. The history of the development of mechanical shovels and related equipment, as affecting the Utah Copper Co., would be interesting and would justify considerable space; but of greater interest at this time is the operation of the equipment now in use. The Utah Copper mine is in a great deposit of copper-bearing monzo-nite, which occurs as a prominent headland of the Oquirrh range of

Jan 1, 1925

By Roy T. Sorensen

This Bureau of Mines report presents the results of a study to rank technologies for extraction of alumina from bottom ash and coal shale. The available literature on composition and availability of coal waste was reviewed, and papers pertinent to alumina extraction are referenced. Types of coal waste were categorized by method of waste generation, coal content (heating value), location, coal type (ash nomenclature), and alkaline earth content. The differences and similarities among the categories of coal waste are summarized as to factors that my affect aluminum extraction, especially factors concerning chemical composition, current production, storage problems, and accumulated tonnage. Data available on physical characteristics and mineralogy did not correlate well with the individual categories of coal waste, and discussion on these two aspects is limited to the differences between coal ash and coal shale.

Jan 1, 1983

By L. G. Huntley

Introduction IN View of the recent advance made in the knowledge of the nature and conditions accompanying the occurrence of oil and gas, and of the recent activity in drilling in Wyoming, Montana, and western Canada, a discussion of the probabilities of obtaining production in such a reservoir as the Dakota sand in general, and in particular districts, is thought by the author to be timely and likely to result in more intelligent operating in certain parts of the territory underlain by this sand. In Canada particularly it is thought that these general considerations have equal if not more significance in a consideration of the oil and gas possibilities of the formations than have the various local conditions.

Jan 6, 1915

By Don Blackmar

THE production of non-ferrous secondary metals has become a large and important industry in the United States, and deals with practically every type of manufacturing concern.. Its business is unique in that it generally buys from its customers as well as sells to them, whether they are individuals, cities, corporations, or the United States government. Its operations are of vital importance to the success and prosperity of many of the nation's most important manufacturers; yet there are few industries about which less is generally known by those outside it, whether concerning the magnitude of its operations or the details of its actual technique. The industry itself is to blame for this meager publicity, because its technical men have made few attempts to openly exchange ideas, in spite of the excellent examples set by the iron and-steel or the copper and brass industries. Whether this is due to the ancient shroud of secrecy generally supposed to cover smelting operations, or because its technical men actually felt that the industry was too puny to be interesting, is hard to say. This paper will consider its subject in a 'general way, attempting to show something of the size and importance of the industry, as well as its fitness to do its work well. Attention will be called to the sound economic reasons for the handling of non-ferrous wastes by specialists, and to the often unseen losses of metals and labor which occur when manufacturers reclaim' their own metallic wastes.

Jan 1, 1928

By H. N. Thomson

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) GENERAL. THE Tooele plant. off the International Smelting & Refining Co. is situated at the mouth of Pine canyon, Tooele county, Utah. It is connected with the main line of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake railroad by the Tooele Valley. railway, and is about 7 miles from Tooele Junction. Fig,. 1 is a general view of the plant. The copper plant has been in operation since July, 1910, and the first blast furnace it the lead plant was blown in on Feb. 29, 1912. The location of the plant was selected on sloping ground with the idea of using gravity to the fullest extent and thus keeping labor at a minimum. Practically the entire plant is constructed of steel, reinforced concrete, and. brick.

Jan 7, 1913