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By Tim O’Neil

“America’s mining industry brings good jobs to communities across America and provides the energy, minerals and equipment that are vital to our economic security and our way of life.” That was the surprise videotaped greeting from President George Bush at the official opening ceremony of MINExpo 2004in the Las Vegas, NV Convention Center. Jack Gerard reinforced the upbeat mood at MIN-Expo. He praised Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn for his support of the mining industry, the state’s largest manufacturing sector. Gerard is the president and chief executive officer of the National Mining Association, the sponsor of MINExpo 2004.

Jan 1, 2004

By Robert L. Clayton, Arthur Baker

Two massive sulfide zinc-copper ore bodies are in quartz-sericite schist (probably formed by regional metamorphism of sediments) and andesite of the Precambrian Yavapai Series, on opposite sides of a large rhyolite mass. The Copper Queen ore body is conformable with bedding of its schist host rock, but the Old Dick ore body probably crosscuts the strata. A lens of low-grade mineralization in chlorite schist, associated with the Old Dick ore body, crosscuts through 150 feet of strata. The ore bodies are almost entirely enclosed by premineral faults with less than 150 feet of displacement. The minerals of the ores are pyrite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, with minor arsenopyrite and galena and small amounts of intimately associated chlorite, sericite, and calcite. Old Dick sphalerite-chalcopyrite intergrowths have mutual boundaries, and sphalerite grains contain abundant exsolved chalcopyrite. Copper Queen sphalerite-chalcopyrite intergrowths have extremely ragged boundaries, the sphalerite contains no exsolved chalcopyrite, and the ore overall has a schistose texture. The pre-mineral fault on the hanging wall of the Copper Queen ore body has had 100 feet of post-mineral displacement. Wall rocks of the Old Dick ore body locally have been sericitized. Andesite and quartz-sericite schists for at least several hundred feet around both ore bodies have been chloritized erratically and contain traces of copper.

Jan 1, 1968

By Robert H. Carpenter

Molybdenite mineralization occurs in the hood zone of the Questa mine aplite-porphyry intrusive, one of the three sil ica-rich intrusive5 occurring along the east-west trending Red River Trench that crosses the northerly trending Sangre de Cristo Mountains in north-central New Mexico. The Trench is located immediately north of the circular Gold Hill positive block between the Red River and Cabresto Creek drainages. The aplite-porphyry bodies intruded a mid-Tertiary volcanic section consisting of lower andesites, overlain by latites and rhyolites. They occur largely in the andesites and were emplaced mainly by metasomatism rather than by sloping. Hydrothermal alteration occurs both as blanket propylitization in the volcanics and sericitization and kaolinization in the porphyries and as halo-type alteration outward from veins and shear zones resulting in strong biotization in the volcanics and sericitization and kaolinization in the aplitic rocks. Mineralization consists of: ( 1) molybdenite- quartz veinlets; (2) banded molybdenite, quartz veins frequently with biotite and potash feldspar along the walls and occasionally with minor lead, zinc, and copper sulfides and with fluorite and carbonates when again reopened; ( 3) high grade molybdenite locally along shear zones; and ( 4) molybdenite paint along joint and fracture surfaces. The mineralization was associated with faulting that resulted from numerous periods of gravity adjustment along the Trench and was controlled by the major shear systems that trend northeast, east-west and north-south to northwest. Molybdenite has been well oxidized in nearsurface exposures to ferrimolybdite and the molybdenum-bearing ferric hydroxide, akaganeite. The oxidation of the abundant pyrite within the veins and shear zones and of the alteration pyrite in the volcanics resulted in a low pH environment under which the acid molybdate ion released by oxidation was fixed either in the ferrimolybdite or the akaganeite molecule in the veins and shear zones or in the soils. Little has been lost in the runoff.

Jan 1, 1968

By S. Warren Hobbs

The section of the Northwestern United States that includes the northern Rocky Mountains and adjacent areas to the west and east is one of large mineral production and important mineral potential. The metallic ore deposits vary widely in age and type and their geologic settings are similarly diverse. A brief resume of the region's physiographic characteristics and geology sets the framework for the selected ore districts that are described in following papers and makes it possible to place these ore deposits in their proper reference to space and time.

Jan 1, 1968

By Walter Stephen

MODERN developments in alloy steels have been so rapid and diverse that engineering practice has scarcely had time to re-appraise all items of past experience wherein conclusions became axiomatic under conditions that no longer apply. A case in point is the wet screening of abrasive ores within the fine range still looked upon as belonging exclusively to classifiers. By virtue of the development of stainless steels (18 per cent Cr, 8 per cent Ni), it is no longer true that classifiers are more economical than screens in closed circuit with large-tonnage ball or rod mills at 65 or even 100 mesh, provided a selective overgrind of the higher-gravity constitu-ents of the ore is not desired. Wet screening of ores is a highly corrosive as well as an abrasive opera-tion, because of the inevitably high degree of oxygenation of the water. Screen cloth of ordinary or spring-steel wire almost at once becomes pitted and covered with a film of corrosion products, which causes rust-blinding of fine-mesh screens and offers high frictional impedance to the flow of ore particles. On the other hand, the well-known properties of stainless steel enable it to maintain a bright surface, and so to eliminate blinding either by ore particles or by corrosion products. That a large-tonnage mill grinding hard ore to 65 mesh can be oper-ated economically in closed circuit with screens instead of classifiers has recently been demonstrated at the Copper Cliff concentrator of the International Nickel Co.; in the test to be described, a 6 ½ by 12 ½ -ft. Marcy rod mill ground from 625 to 820 tons. of ore per day to approxi-mately 65 mesh, operating in closed circuit with three 4 by 5-ft. Hum-mer screens, without any classifier.. Stainless-steel cloth gave an indicated life of several months. There was no difficulty with blinding, yet dilution and spray water could be controlled so that screen undersize averaged not less than 40 per cent solids. In contrast, ordinary carbon steel was pitted and blind with rust within 40 hours.

Jan 1, 1938

By Walter M. Stephen

MODERN developments in alloy steels have been so rapid and diverse that engineering practice has scarcely had time to re-appraise all items of past experience wherein conclusions became axiomatic under conditions that no longer apply. A case in point is the wet screening of abrasive ores within the fine range still looked upon as belonging exclusively to classifiers. By virtue of the development of stainless steels (18 per cent Cr, 8 per cent Ni), it is no longer true that classifiers are more economical than screens in closed circuit with large-tonnage ball or rod mills at 65 or even 100 mesh, provided a selective overgrind of the higher-gravity constituents of the ore is not desired. Wet screening of ores is a highly corrosive as well as an abrasive operation, because of the inevitably high degree of oxygenation of the water. Screen cloth of ordinary or spring-steel wire almost at once becomes pitted arid covered with a film of corrosion products, which causes rust-blinding of fine-mesh screens and offers high frictional impedance to the flow of ore particles. On the other hand, the well-known properties of stainless steel enable it to maintain a bright surface, and so to eliminate blinding either by ore particles or by corrosion products. That a large-tonnage mill grinding hard ore to 65 mesh can be operated economically in closed circuit with screens instead of classifiers has recently been demonstrated at the Copper Cliff concentrator of the International Nickel Co.; in the test to be described, a 6 ½ by 12 ½ -ft. Marcy rod mill ground from 625 to 820 tons of ore per day to approximately 65 mesh, operating in closed circuit with three 4 by 5-ft. Hum-mer screens, without any classifier. Stainless-steel cloth gave an indicated life of several months. There was no difficulty with blinding, yet dilution and spray water could be controlled so that screen undersize averaged not less than 40 per cent solids. In contrast, ordinary carbon steel was pitted and blind with rust within 40 hours.

Jan 1, 1938

By Gordon B. Brox, Joseph F. Mcaleer, Charles C. Goddard, Edward P. Shea, Robert G. Ingersoll, Lester G. Zeihen, George J. Burns, John M. Guilbert, Richard N. Miller, Charles Meyer

The Boulder batholith is a composite intrusive in which the Butte quartz monzonite is the dominant rock type. Quartz porphyry dikes intruded the quartz monzonite in directions which were subsequently followed by the eastwest- striking Anaconda system of veins, the earliest major veins in the district. Anaconda veins are faulted by northwest-striking veins of the Blue system, which are most prominent in the central third of the district. Anaconda veins are the major producers in the western third of the district and also in the eastern third, where the "horsetail" zones break off from them. Individual oreshoots are thousands of feet long as well as deep on both systems of veins, but they are generally more persistent and thicker on the Anaconda veins. Viewed broadly, the mineralization in the big veins is arranged in crudely concentric zones of zinc and manganese around a central zone of copper. Only slightly offset from these zones, but earlier structurally, is a zone in which quartz-molybdenite veinlets are prominent. This zone tops at about the 2800 level and widens downward. The pattern of distribution of Cu-Fe-S series minerals in the large veins of the copper zone is not symmetrical with respect to the metal zones. There is a fringe of chalcopyrite-bornite all around the copper front. However, within the copper zone, pyrite-chalcocite-enargitecovellite- digenite assemblages are prevalent near its eastern edge from the 3800 level to the surface, whereas deep on the large Anaconda veins in the western part of the copper zone, chalcopyrite is dominant. Here the chalcopyrite grades upward into bornite-chalcocite ores and eastward into the high-sulfur assemblages of the Leonard mine. Sericite-biotite-K-feldspar alteration envelopes, containing up to about 2 per cent copper as chalcopyrite, are present on some of the quartz-molybdenite veinlets at deep mine levels in the molybdenite zone. These envelopes contrast sharply mineralogically and chemically with the later sericitic and argillic alteration envelopes around Main Stage veins. K'0-Ar'0 ratios indicate that they may be older by about 4 m.y. Secondarily enriched copper ores are mined in the Berkeley pit in the southeastern part of the district. At the present time they account for about half of Butte's production of copper.

Jan 1, 1968

By Verne C. Fryklund, S. Warren Hobbs

The Coeur d'Alene district in the panhandle of Idaho is one of the major lead-zinc-silver producing areas in the world. The value of recorded production to date has exceeded $2 billion. Country rock comprises six formations of the fine-grained, highly siliceous, and slightly metamorphosed Precambrian Belt Series. Small stocks of monzonitic rocks and several varieties of dikes intrude the sediments. The district is at the intersection of a north trending major anticlinal uplift and the west northwest-trending Lewis and Clark line of which the Osburn fault is the dominant feature. The district structure is complicated and comprises folds, some of which are overturned, and a complex of faults of diverse ages and directions of movement. Late Cretaceous stocks but are also probably Cretaceous in age. The productive veins are localized within a series of 12 subparallel, straight mineral belts that trend approximately N65°W and that appear to be controlled by deep fractures in the basement rocks. The mineral belts are in two groups, separated by 15 miles of post-mineralization movement on the Osburn fault. Veins and ore shoots are variously disposed within each mineral belt. Many crop out at the surface, but others apex several thousand feet beneath it. Local controls that influence the position of ore shoots within the mineral belts include the brittle character of host rock attitude of bedding relative to the mineralized fracture, and the amount and direction of movement on faults. Depth appears to have had little effect on the occurrence or type of ore. Ore occurs in a series of steeply dipping replacement veins of relatively simple mineralogy. Six periods of mineralization, ranging from Precambrian to Tertiary in age, are recognized. The productive galena sphalerite-bearing and tetrahedrite-bearing veins-of the main period of mineralization-are younger than the

Jan 1, 1968

By A. L. Slaughter

The Homestake mine, located in western South Dakota, was discovered in 1876. The first reported production was in I 878. Total production through 1965 is 6,554,249 troy ounces of silver and 27,961,276 troy ounces of gold, worth $987,000,000 at present prices. Precambrian sedimentary formations at Lead total 20,000 feet. The Poorman Formation, the oldest, is chiefly ankerite carbonate. The Homestake Formation is iron-magnesium carbonate. The younger formations are argillaceous with some quartzites. The Cambrian Deadwood Formation unconformably overlies the Precambrian. All are cut by Tertiary intrusives. Sideroplesite schist of the Homestake Formation was converted to cummingtonite schist in the zones of higher-grade metamorphism. The Precambrian rocks show the effects of extreme isoclinal folding. A second stage of folding ( cross folds) may have been caused by the Tertiary intrusives. All folds plunge to the southeast. The Homestake ore bodies are pipe-like replacements of the Homestake Formation in zones of cross folding. It is believed that dilatation of the schists has increased permeability in these zones. Chloritization of the schists is the most widespread effect of the mineralization which is divided into four stages. Principal minerals of the first stage are quartz, chlorite, and arsenopyrite; in the second stage, quartz, ankerite, and pyrrhotite. In the third stage only pyrrhotite was deposited. The fourth stage followed the intrusions of Tertiary dikes and deposited mostly pyrite and calcite. Gold accompanies all stages and is always the last mineral to be deposited. It is most closely associated with arsenopyrite of the first stage but can be interpreted as having been deposited during the fourth stage and superimposed on the products of the earlier stages.

Jan 1, 1968

By Roy A. Anderson, Roger H. McConnel

The Metaline district from 1906 through 1965 has produced nearly 16 million tons of ore yielding 400,808 tons of zinc and 178,062 tons of lead. The sediments, ranging from Precambrian into the Devonian, are schist, phyllite, conglomerate, greenstone, quartzite, limestone, dolomite, and carbonaceous slates. Quartz monzonite and granodiorite of the Cretaceous(?) Kaniksu batholith are exposed over a large area beginning a few miles south of the district. There is minor Tertiary conglomerate and basalt. Abundant glacial deposits obscure much of the bedrock. Northeasterly trending folds, having steep to overturned northwesterly limbs, and thrust faults, striking northeasterly and dipping southeasterly, characterize the deformation of the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks. Recent drilling indicates that the Slate Creek fault, too, is also a southeasterly dipping thrust fault. This new evidence suggests that the Valley Block, like the other major structural blocks, may in part be a thrust plate rather than a graben, and that thus the district may have greater structural unity with the surrounding region than has heretofore been apparent. The Cambrian Metaline Formation of limestone and dolomite contains essentially all the lead-zinc mineralization. Most of the ore mined to date has come from a carbonaceous and irregularly siliceous breccia of sedimentary and diagenetic origin, locally called the "Josephine Horizon," that makes up the top few to 200 feet of the formation. The Josephine Unit is a breccia of gray limestone, coarse light gray dolomite, very thin-bedded, dark gray siliceous dolomite, and "zebra rock" believed to be of algal origin, embedded in a matrix of black dolomite or black jasperoid or some mixture of these two. The jaspcroid fragments and irregular blobs embedded in the black dolomite matrix and the jasperoid laminae in the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite suggest that jasperoid was formed at the same time as the breccia matrix and as the laminated dolomite. So too, the marked tendency of sphalerite and galena to be disseminated mainly in the dark breccia matrix and their tendency to be most abundant in the jasperoid laminae of the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite, even where the mineralized and laminated dolomite is fragmented and engulfed in black dolomite breccia matrix, suggests that in these ha bits the sulfides also were deposited contemporaneously with the sediments. Yet very commonly, veins and vague veinlets and patches of white quartz, usually carrying rather coarse sphalerite and sometimes galena crosscut all rock types. These contradictory relationships throughout the Josephine Unit suggest that both the black jasperoid and the sulfides were original constituents of the Josephine Unit but that, locally, they later were remobilized and deposited as white quartz and coarser grained sulfides. Possibly, at least in part, this "metamorphism" is one of the effects produced during or shortly after the intrusion of the Kaniksu batholith.

Jan 1, 1968

By Roy P. Full, Robert M. Grantham

Regional structural adjustments in early Tertiary time resulted in the development of the Republic graben, a major down-dropped block that is from 6 to 10 miles in width and more than fifty miles in length. The graben became the center of extensive volcanic activity during Eocene and Oligocene time, resulting in a thick sequence of water-laid tuffaceous sediments, volcanic flows, and associated intrusives. A younger series of sediments, pyroclastics, and flows were deposited in structural depressions within the graben following the period of widespread volcanic activity. The Republic mining district is located along one of the major intragraben structural zones, where continuing subsidence during the period of volcanic activity resulted in an increased thickness of flows and associated flow breccias and pyroclastics. Intrusive masses in part healed early graben-forming faults, but later subsidence reopened old faults and created new fracture zones which later became the control for the gold-quartz veins. Considerable block adjustment along the subsidence area is evidenced by the structural pattern in the mines, and telescoped vein structures indicate north-south compressional stresses and east-west graben-forming tensional stresses prior to and during the emplacement of the veins. The veins, varying from a few feet to more than 50 feet in width, are filled primarily by fine-grained quartz, commonly chalcedonic or porcelain-like in appearance. Finely laminated dark-gray to black concentric banding within the veins generally distinguishes the better-grade ore zones, which contain finely disseminated sulfides and ore minerals that include principally electrum, stephanite, naumannite, and native silver.

Jan 1, 1968

NIOSH recommends that exposures to respirable coal mine dust be limited to 1 mg/m3 as a TWA concentration for up to 10 hr/day during a 40-hr workweek, measured according to current MSHA methods (see Section 5.1 and Appendix J). NIOSH recommends that sampling be conducted with a device that operates in accordance with the NIOSH accuracy criteria [Busch 1977; Busch and Taylor 198 11 and the international definition of respirable dust [ACGIH 1994; CEN 1993; IS01993; Soderholm 1991a,b; 1989].* The REL represents the upper limit of exposure for each worker during each work shift. For single, full-shift samples used to determine noncompliance, NIOSH recommends that MSHA make no upward adjustment of the REL to account for measurement uncertainties [NIOSH 1994c] (see also Section 5.6.2). NIOSH further recommends that all reasonable efforts be made to reduce exposures to respirable coal mine dust below the REL through the use of engineering controls and work practices.

Jan 1, 1997

By Aly M. Mohammad

The design of large diameter drilled shafts in weathered rock has always presented a challenge to the foundation engineers. Degree of weathering and load transfer mechanism through the rock are essential elements required for the design. From the Contractor's perspective specifying the right equipment and estimating the rate of drilling in the weathered rock are key elements for successful construction. The Delaware River Tramway Project has provided an opportunity to address the design and construction of drilled shafts in weathered rock. The Tramway, supported by twin 300-foot towers, will shuttle eight-person gondolas across the Delaware River in about four minutes. Each tower, founded on four high capacity drilled shafts, is designed to resist large axial and lateral loads. At the New Jersey tower, each 7-foot diameter shaft extends 145 feet deep and terminates in weathered Mica Schist. The shafts are situated in the Delaware River where the mud line is approximately 20 feet below Mean Low Water. Below the mud line, there exists a very soft, 20-foot thick layer of organic silt, followed by a 40-foot thick dense sand stratum. Below these sand and silt strata, a 70-foot thick layer of weathered Mica Schist underlies the entire site. Both skin friction and end bearing in the weathered rock stratum were utilized in the analysis to compute the axial capacity. AASHTO and the PennDOT design methodologies were utilized independently during design of the drilled shafts to verify the design. The drilling of large diameter drilled shafts embedded into weathered rock and situated in a marine environment provided a unique challenge in the construction. A permanent steel casing was installed for a specified depth and proper equipment was used to drill and keep the shaft open through the weathered rock. In addition, a 5000 kip Osterberg load test was performed on one shaft to verify design assumptions and confirm the shaft capacity. The results of the test were utilized to establish load transfer characteristics within the weathered rock and to develop foundation design parameters to be used for the remaining shafts.

Jan 1, 2003

By L. Whitby-Costescu

The Shebandowan mine and concentrator, with a capacity of 9072 t/week (10,000 st per week), was opened in 1972 after several years of environmental study and planning. The mine is located in a popular vacation cottage .area about 96 km (60 miles) west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Undertaken before environmental assessment procedures had become an established requirement, Shebandowan is one of the first Canadian examples of effectively integrating environmental work into overall planning. Although it is an underground mine, many of the environmental considerations are common to open-pit operations, and hence, it provides a case history for the use of all mine planners. Computers can play a part in such studies by simulating the annual production of mine wastes, by on-line polling of environmental sensors and by processing sensor data. Early attention was focused on establishing base-line conditions in a two-year water quality monitoring program. Since production began, water quality monitoring has shown that mining has not caused any significant changes. However, mine drainage disposal arrangements had to be modified in the light of operating experience. There is no townsite associated with the mine, and workers commute from established municipalities. Harmonious relations have been achieved with local cottage residents after their initial fears were dispelled. Plans are ready to begin revegetating the tailings when a sufficient area of dry elevated tailings has been accumulated. Rehabilitation of the land disturbed during development was begun before start-up and was completed during initial operations.

Jan 1, 1979

By John E. Frost

The Gibralter Mines Ltd. complex is 61 km (38 miles) north of Williams Lake in central British Columbia, Fig. 1. The discovery of these deposits evolved in stages such that each stage revealed a bigger piece of the elephant. When the elephant was mostly revealed, Placer Development Ltd. brought the property into production. Although Gibralter is aporphyry copper deposit, it is certainly not a typical one. Copper and minor molybdenum mineralization occur in a foliated and saussuritized quartz diorite. Ore bodies tend to be tabular in form because foliation exerts a major control on localizing mineralization. A generalized geologic map of the Gibralter-Pollyanna area is shown in Fig. 2. Mineralization was first identified in 1917 in the Pollyanna area. Several shallow pits were sunk on flashy, but low grade, lenticular quartz veins. Duval Corp. made the initial commercial discovery, the Pollyanna ore body, on what were then called the Pollyanna claims. These claims, staked by R.C. Glen and C. Gennis in 1963, were the first to be optioned by Duval in British Columbia in October 1964. Placer Development joined Duval in late 1966 as a 50% joint venture partner, and after optioning the adjoining Gibralter claims, proceeded to evaluate and develop the four ore bodies that make up the Gibralter deposit. The Gibralter claims south of the Pollyanna claims provided the name for the Gibralter deposit.

Jan 1, 1991

By Robert S. Young

During the last quarter-century, exploration for metallic deposits in Maine has been sporadic with peaks generally coinciding with periods of high metal prices. Known cases of regional or semi-regional evaluations are few; most efforts have been local and usually intensive. On the basis of broad geologic groups, the State has been divided into five fundamental environments: ( 1) coastal metamorphic belt; (2) southern volcanic belt; (3) Silurian slate belt; ( 4) northern volcanic belt; and ( 5) Devonian slate belt. Although not restricted to these areas, exploration in recent years has been concentrated in the northern and southern volcanic belts. Notable examples of recent exploration activity, directed to sulfide minerals, include: ( 1) the Knox County nickel-copper-bearing ultramafic rocks; (2) the Harborside (Cape Rosier) copper-zinc deposit; (3) the Second Pond (Black Hawk) zinc-copper-lead-silver deposit; ( 4) the Big Hill-Barrett lead-zincsilver- copper-gold zones; (5) the Parmachenee copper-zinc belt; ( 6) the Moxie Lake nickeliferous peridotite; and (7) the Attean quartzmonzonite molybdenum-copper occurrences. The Second Pond and Harborside prospects appear to be close to production. Systematic investigations for non-metallic deposits appear to have been aimed principally toward limestone, asbestos, diatomaceous earth, and spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Advances in prospecting methods, high metal prices, a favorable business outlook, increasing cooperation from large landholders, and some discoveries support the probability of increased exploration activity in Maine during the coming decade.

Jan 1, 1968

By Robert Glass Cleland

[Incorporated under the laws of the State of New York OFFICE, 41) WALL STREET, NEW YORK 5, N. Y. Authorized4,000,000 shares $150,000,000.00 Outstanding-5,071,260 shares 126,781,500.00]

Jan 1, 1952

By Richard A. Bideaux

During 1977 and 1978, a comprehensive study was made of the drill-hole data obtained by Urangesellschaft, USA, from their Juniper Ridge, WY, uranium deposits. This included uranium grade data acquisition, application of a variety of mineral deposit modeling techniques, and estimates of minable reserves, which pointed towards a possible production decision.

Jan 1, 1979

This section is addressed to the computing needs of corporate (top) management which are less specialized than the computing needs of operating or divisional management described in the previous sections. It is essential that the computer be used as a tool to serve corporate management and that information and results are presented in a succinct form. A key responsibility of the manager of computer applications is to communicate well with corporate management. A common trap for computer management is to allow the development and implementation of sophisticated and academically interesting computer applications which do not enlighten corporate management in its decision-making task. Thus it is essential to devote sufficient time and effort to designing and specifying a computer system before developing and implementing the system.

Jan 1, 1979

By Conné Spangenberg

Contents ?Introduction ?Metal accounting environment ?Problem statement ?Investigations & Achievements ?Metal Accounting ?Principles ?Standards ?Audits ?Questions

Jan 1, 2005