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By R. O. Burt, R. W. Bruce

"IntroductionGravity concentration, the separation of two or more minerals due to the difference in their relative specific gravity and usually in a fluid medium, is the oldest recorded form of mineral processing.The principles of gravity concentration were known to, and practiced by, the ancients and Hoover's commentary to De Re Meta/lied'' notes many early references.Over the centuries, as direct smelting ores became more and more uncommon, the mineral processing industry developed and along with it many varied methods of concentration. Gravity concentration declined rapidly in importance in the early twentieth century, and it is only in the last decade that its advantages are being re-evaluated.A significant proportion of ores are processed by gravity; a large proportion being in the iron and coal industries<'>, or in the treatment at very high volume of relatively coarse alluvial deposits. The tin dredges of South East Asia and Beach sand plants of Australia are prime examples.An indication of the broad application of gravity concentration is the variety of minerals presently recovered. A list is given in Table 1; this list is not exhaustive.Principle of Gravity ConcentrationGravity concentration methods separate minerals of different specific gravity by their relative movement in response to gravity and one or more other forces, the latter often being the resistance to motion offered by a viscous fluid, such as water or air.The relative movement of minerals to one another is achieved by a variety of methods. These are: separation in a fluid of intermediate density (heavy media separation); by stratification (such as in jigging); in a flowing fluid (cones, spirals, sluices etc.) and with a horizontal shear (shaking tables etc.)."

Jan 1, 1989

By Gary A. Almeraris, Thomas F. Peyton

This paper describes the innovative procedures employed during the construction of 3 deep shafts within the confines of New York City. The shafts, which varied in diameter from 1.8m (6ft) to 7.3m (24ft) and had an overall depth of 199m (650ft), were excavated by both mechanical and conventional methods. These were subsequently concrete lined, clad steel riser pipes installed and associated surface structures were constructed. Tricky surface rock blasting coupled with the unearthing of unexpected obstructions caused constant uncertainty during the excavation phase. In addition, the necessity of handling men and material in restricted yet deep openings required the development of a safer and more productive shaft construction procedure.

Jan 1, 1989

By B. R. Mohal, F. F. Aplan, S. Chander

"The wetting behavior of coal has been determined in the presence of nonyl and octyl series of nonionic surfactants containing polyethoxy groups of different sizes. The wetting behavior was determined by a modified Walker technique and contact angle measurements. The results show that the wetting rate of coal varies with coal rank, structure of the hydrocarbon chain and number of ethoxy groups in the hydrophilic group of the surfactant. A close relationship has been observed between the wetting rates and the short-time advancing contact angles.INTRODUCTIONNonionic surfactants are used in many applications to improve wettability of solids. They can be used as dispersing agents [ 1 ] or dust suppressants [ 2-5] and to control the flotation, flocculation, filtration and, flowability of particulates. This study was undertaken to study the effect of a series of nonionic surfactants on the wetting behavior of coal. Two series of surfactants, namely, ethoxylated nonyl and octyl phenols were used. The nonyl phenol series con tains a linear hydrocarbon chain containing nine carbon atoms (CH3 ( CH2 )8-C6H4- ( OC2H4 ) n, where n is the number of ethoxy groups) . The octyl phenol series contains a branched hydrocarbon chain containing eight' carbon atoms ( ( CH3 ) 3CCH2C ( CH3) 2-C6H4- ( OC2H4 ) n ).Initial wetting rates — modified Walker techniqueWalker et al. [ 6 ] developed a sink test to determine the wettability of coal particles. In this technique, coal particles are dropped individually onto the surface of surfactant solutions of different concentrations, and the most dilute concentration in which coal would sink ""instantaneously"" is determine& This technique is a variation of a procedure initially developed by Draves and Clarkson [ 7 ] to determine the effect of surfactants on wettability of cotton fibers."

Jan 1, 1989

Historical Background. South Africa&apos;s industrial history began with the discovery of gold and diamonds during the last century, and the mining industry was the first chief component of our technological development. During the past six decades, quantum leaps were made in other fields, too, when other industries and research bodies such as Escom, NDC, Iscor, Sasol, Foskor, Alusaf, Mintek, cs I R, SA B S, and A E C were established. These meaningful additions have two outstanding characteristics. Firstly, they were linked mainly to primary activities such as energy and minerals and, secondly, their establishment was to a large extent due to the driving force of individuals such as Van der Bijl, Van Eck, Rossouw, Schonland, and Roux, rather than to impersonal government policy. Encouraging signs of the evolution of such policy has emerged during the past few years.

Jan 1, 1989

By Frederic Chavan, Hans Jakob Windier, Shane Yanagisawa, Willy Ritz

The Zurichberg twin track tunnel is the main segment of the Swiss Federal Railway&apos;s new expressline. A heavy concrete lining with a circular cross-section was chosen to cope with the swelling tendency of the surrounding rock. The 4,356 m (14,300 ft) long, 11.52 m (38 ft) diameter tunnel was driven using a shielded Robbins TBM. A 1.20 m (4 ft) wide, 25 cm (10 in) thick precast lining was placed from within the shield tail as the excavation progressed. Tunnel excavation and initial lining operation were completed in 18 months, averaging 11.86 m/day (40 ft/day) in two nine hour shifts. After breaking through, the final 28 cm (11 in) thick concrete arch lining was cast in place.

Jan 1, 1989

By G. T. Lineberry, R. S. Mateer

Often only after years of "technical dormancy" do errors in published literature become apparent and meaningful. To prevent duplication of effort for future generations, the fol¬lowing corrections are offered. These errors were discovered during a recent study in which a computer program for mine hoist rope selection was developed (Lineberry and Mateer, 1988). In order of increasing gravity: Captions for Figs. 3 and 4 are transposed. • Purported to be a more accurate method of rope selection than the process of successive approximation, the direct method assumes linearity between a given rope&apos;s minimum breaking strength, T, and unit rope weight, Wv. Because of the sensitive location of the constant, K, in equation (8) for breaking strength, the significance of this nonlinearity is magnified. For a typical 6 x 37 class fiber core wire rope (Wire Rope Corp. of America, 1985), K actually varies from 43,650 to 52,190, depending upon rope diameter. Although the direct solution permits a rapid selection of hoist rope, an indirect (iterative) solution procedure is favored because of its im¬proved accuracy and ease of computerization. • Equation (8) for minimum breaking strength is in error. It should read:

Jan 1, 1989

By P. A. Rona

The first hydrothermal mineral deposits found at a seafloor spreading center were discovered in the Red Sea by multi-national research vessels between 1963 and 1965. At that time, the deposits were considered a special case related to continental rifting and an early stage of opening of an ocean basin. Since that time, examples of almost all major varieties of volcanic- and sediment-hosted hydrothermal deposits associated with basaltic rocks in the geologic record have been found at present spreading centers. Review of over 100 hydrothermal mineral occurrences presently known at oceanic ridges and rifts indicates that a range of deposit sizes from small to large (> 1 x 106 tonnes) occurs at all seafloor spreading rates. However, larger deposits but fewer per unit length of spreading axis appear to form at slow- than at intermediate- to fast-spreading centers based on available data. Larger deposits are more common in sediment-hosted than in volcanic-hosted settings regardless of spreading rate. A spectrum of hydrothermal deposit varieties (stratiform, stockwork and disseminated sulfides; various forms of sulfate, carbonate, silicate, oxide and hydroxide deposits) occurs in almost all of the tectonic settings. High-intensity, ore-forming, subseafloor, hydrothermal convection systems that conserve heat and mass and concentrate hydrothermal precipitates are extremely localized by anomalous physical and chemical conditions relative to nearly ubiquitous low-intensity hydrothermal activity at and flanking seafloor spreading axes at all spreading rates. Two distinct shapes of volcanic-hosted

Jan 1, 1989

By Xintan Chang

A computer software package, named CFIRE, for the general ventilation network analysis and fire control, mine fire and/or coal spontaneous combustion, has been developed at Xian Mining Institute in China. It is a multipurpose package with adequate capacities of ventilation map drawing, ventilation network analysis, gob fire simulation, steady state ventilation simulation and transient state ventilation simulation. It was written in a user-friendly style, driven by menus, facilitated by on-screen messages and supported by the allowance of user interferences. CFIRE has used up-to-date research findings focussing on the practical needs of coal mines. This paper discusses briefly also the relevant theoretical principles on which this package has been perceived.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. E. deMasi

Over the past 12 years, Exxon Coal U.S.A., Inc. has shipped over 150 million tons of coal from two mines, Rawhide and Caballo, located in the Gillette, Wyoming, area. These mines are operated by The Carter Mining Company, a division of Exxon Coal. Shipments have moved to more than 25 electric utility plants in the west, midwest, southwest, and south. The customer plants have represented a wide variety of configurations, sizes. design criteria, emission standards, and operations in different parts of the country. We have learned a great deal about the performance of Gillette area coals in utility power plants during this period. This paper covers some of the highlights of Exxon&apos;s experience with these coals in customer plants. I will focus specifically on things mining engineers may be able to do to make the product better for the customer&apos;s use.

Jan 1, 1989

By R. J. Watters

Many rock sass classification systems exist&apos; to assist the engineer in assessing the rock support requirements for underground design. Our ongoing research in this area is directed at attempting to utilize the fractal dimension and the acoustic emission&apos; response of the tuffs at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to further aid in rock mass classification. The Topopah Spring&apos; member, the proposed nuclear waste horizon, is characterized by welded and partly welded tuffs, exhibiting a wide range in moduli, strength, porosity and degree of fracturing. Differentiating between the different&apos; types of porosity can be extremely difficult if not impossible. An attempt was made to correlate the acoustic emission response with the porosity of the sample. Events and the peak amplitude may offer a means-to distinguish between, fracture porosity and pore porosity. In addition-, fractal dimension were calculated for several fractures in densely welded tuffs. Two techniques for calculating fractal dimension were-applied&apos; to describe-fracture geometry and roughness. Fractures in-welded-tuff were-found to be relatively smooth.

Jan 1, 1989

By M. Townsend, E. L. Petsonk, B. Fedders, M. Niggemeyer, H. Abrons, E. Daniloff, J. Griffin, K. Kinsley

In certain populations, nonspecific airway hyperreactivity (HR) is associated with increased respiratory symptoms and decreased lung function. We analyzed standardized pulmonary symptom questionnaires and pre-shift spirometry with methacholine inhalation challenge (Chatham, M. et al, Chest 82: 15) on 228 control workers (C) with no known exposure to occupational hazards, and 200 underground bituminous coal miners (M). M and c were similar in age, height, sex, and smoking status. HR (defined as >15% fall in FEVI after up to 5 vital capacity breaths of 25mg% methacholine) was found in 25% of M and 28% of C (NS). M showed higher% predicted FEVI (%PFEV) than c (M 107%, C 104%*). 28% of current smokers showed HR versus 22% of never smokers (NS). Current smokers showed reduced %PFEV but were not different from lifelong non-smokers regarding prevalence of HR. Subjects with HR showed reduced %PFEV, (HR 101%, not HR 107%*) but M and c with HR showed similar reductions. M had more dyspnea and chronic cough than c*. Hyperreactivity was associated with increased symptoms in controls but not miners. In our study, the prevalence of HR in coal miners was similar to nonminers, and did not explain miners' respiratory symptoms. * P < 0.05

Jan 1, 1989

By B. C. F1intoff, R. G. Bradburn, E. Groiss

"The concentrator at Brenda Mines Ltd. treats a copper - molybdenum porphyry ore with current head grades of 0.185% Cu and 0.036% Mo. The consistently low head grades provided the driving force to explore methods of improving plant productivity. Computer based process control was recognized as one means of addressing this objective. Over the period from 1974 to 1982 a control system evolved which now extends to every area of the mill. Control strategies are built on elements of classical, modern and rudimentary expert control. In addition, the control system has often served as a catalyst for other technological developments. The economic returns associated with the system are very significant and it has played an important role in the mine's survival in times of poor metal markets. This paper presents an overview of the computer control system at Brenda.PreambleOne can scarcely avoid picking up a trade magazine or newspaper today without seeing some reference to technology and its potential impact on North American business. _A recurring theme is the need to apply technology to raise our standard of plant automation in the manufacturing and process industries. The general thesis of these articles has been concisely captured in the mutually exclusive set:AUTOMATE or EMIGRATE or EVAPORATEProcess control is one form of automation that has been successfully exploited by various sectors of these industries. In minerals and metal processing the wide scale adoption of process control technology has, until recently, been largely limited to a few companies - most of whom have a history in the area dating back to the early 1970’s. However, there is definitely an increased and much broader interest in process control as a technology which can improve performance, productivity and profit.The economic hardships that were visited on the mining industry in the early 1980's are not easily forgotten. It is the authors' conviction that the mining industry must move to implement proven technology, in particular process control, in order to be well postured for the next (inevitable) down cycle.In pursuing the technical and trade literature, one can discover a number of example of the successful utilization of process control systems in mining and related applications. In the text which follows, the authors describe the process control efforts undertaken in the Brenda Mines Ltd. concentrator."

Jan 1, 1989

By Batric Pesic

Silver dissolution with thiourea was studied by using the rotating disk technique. The major parameters studied were: thiourea concentration (0-0.5M), ferric sulfate concentration (0-0.5M), sulfuric acid concentration (0-0.5M), and the effect of many foreign ions (Mn, o.i, Co, Ca, Na, etc.). Temperature effect was studied in the range 5-35 .C. The activation energy was 5.4 Kcal/mole. The dissolution of silver was first order with respect to ferric sulfate, and the secord order with respect to thiourea. Among the additives, copper had a dramatically negative effect. The strong oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide were also detrimental for silver dissolution. Silver does not dissolve with thiourea in the absence of ferric ions. Sulfuric acid does not participate in the dissolution reaction either. Chemically, the most important parameter for silver dissolution is the ferric sulfate/thiourea ratio. Thus, in the solutions with excess of ferric sulfate, a solid silver-thiourea complex is formed, which precludes transfer of silver into solution. In the solutions with the excess of thiourea, the free thiourea reacts with formed solid silver-thiourea complex and silver goes into the solution. The solid silver-thiourea complex was characterized according to its chemical composition. The complex contains 6.54%C, 2.49\H, 14.77%N, 16.09%0, 21.62%8, and 37.13% Ag. This composition corresponds to a Ag2so4.3&apos;1U.2ff:i0 compound The soluble silver species are present in the solution as the dimers of AgTU+3 complexes.

Jan 1, 1989

By G. Roy, C. B. Pettersson, S. Nandagiri, D. J. Ivor-Smith

The Coastal Water Authority&apos;s 2,740mm/2,590mm (108 in./102 in.) pipeline, known as the Northwest Lateral Project, will transport raw water from an existing pipeline over 14.3 km (8.9 miles) to the City of Houston&apos;s East Water Purification Plant. The new pipeline crosses under Houston Ship Channel and Greens Bayou in tunnels at approximately 30.5m (100 feet) and 25.9m (85 feet) depths, which present unique experiences in tunneling under open bodies of water in the Gulf Coast&apos;s soft ground conditions. An earth pressure balance TBM is being used for the deep tunnel sections where the ground demonstrates high overload factors and variable conditions ranging from clays to silty sands. This paper discusses the design approach for the tunnels and shafts, ground conditions, constructability, and selection of the primary lining system.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. Kircher

Nevada Goldfields&apos; Aurora Mine consists of a 270 mtpd (300 tpd) precious metals mining and milling facility located 28 miles southwest of Hawthorne, Mineral County, Nevada and lies within five kilometers of the Nevada-California border. (Figure 1) Ore production presently is derived 85% from an open pit source with the balance from underground. The Aurora Mill is a compact conventional cyanide plant utilizing a carbon-in-leach extraction process followed by stripping of loaded carbon and electrowinning at Nevada Goldfields Kingston Mine, located near Austin, Nevada. Production commenced in December 1987 and annual gold production is currently 20,000 troy ounces of gold and 22,000 troy ounces of silver per annum, produced at an average cash cost of $178 per ounce of gold. Tailings handling at, Aurora was originally accomplished using a belt filter press producing a solid cake that was then transported to a final storage area. Although overall operating costs at the mine were&apos; in the lower percentile of producing gold mines, the tailings handling portion of the operating costs were inordinately high.

Jan 1, 1989

By Fredrick L. Johnson

In 1984, at the request of the U.S. Forest Service, the U.5, Bureau of Mines began a study of the 94,370-acre Arc Dome study area (4-667) in order to appraise its mineral resources, The Bureau of Mines mapped and sampled mines, prospects, and mineralized sites in and near the area, The study area is located in the Toiyabe National Forest, about 54 mi north of Tonopah, Nye County, NV, It is estimated that over 500 claims have been staked in the study area since the mid-1800?s. In January 1986, there were 108 active mining claims completely inside and 59 on the boundary. Another 283 active claims were outside the study area but within 1 mi of the boundary, In addition to the large number of claims staked, exploration activity is also reflected by the almost 700 inactive workings that were found during field investigation.

Jan 1, 1989

By Pamela J. Watson

A novel technique has been employed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines to determine the zeta potential of particles for a far-reaching series of material types in a wide variety of baseline waters, both alone and with many different chemical additives. The materials tested ranged from naturally occurring Sioux Quartzite and Tennessee marble to commercially produced magnesium oxide bricks. The waters tested ranged from ultrapure distilled, deionized water to municipal tap water and mine-site water. The chemical solutions tested included inorganic additives, such as aluminum chloride (AICI3) and sodium chloride (NaCl); organic additives, such as dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB); and nonionic polymers, such as polyethylene oxide (PEO). The results of precise zeta potential determinations have application in a large number of laboratory studies as well as in various mining and processing operations.

Jan 1, 1989

By Butters S. E, Deslandes J. V

The selection of loading and haulage equipment in a proposed or oper- ating mine is vital in ensuring the cost effective achievement of produc- tion targets. To assist in the evaluation of different haulage systems, a truck haulage simulation model has been developed at BHP Melbourne Research Laboratories. The operation of the model is described and exam- ples of an actual application at Mt. Whaleback Mine is presented.

Jan 1, 1989

By John Jonkman

Many companies in the mining and minerals processing industry are finding themselves in the transition stage from the Industrial Age to the Information Age and are trying to become prepared for the Knowledge Age. To remain competitive in the decades ahead, they are faced with integrating the enterprise through the use of computers and networks. This paper discusses some common human and organizational barriers to enter- prise integration. It proposes how to develop the organizational and human&apos; networks to match the capabilities of the technical networks which are being&apos; implemented. Ten practical considerations are then presented for consideration in the executive suite in addressing the human side of implementing the computer integrated enterprise.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. W. Leonard

Breakage, handling and treatment techniques that result in the placement of greater quantities of coal in fixed volume haulage units such as ships, railroad cars, trucks, mine cars, shuttle cars and scoops can do much to increase productivity by improving bulk density to reduce delivered cost, surprisingly enough, only in steel industry by-product coking has this subject been investigated and applied to practice, where as much as 20% or more productivity has been achieved. Research at UK Mining using popular coal mine loading cycle simulators shows that for typical Central Appalachian mining conditions a 10 to 20 percent gain in bulk density can produce a 15 to 30 percent increase in the loading cycle time of fixed volume shuttle-car/scoop based mining systems.

Jan 1, 1989