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By Ted H. Eyde

Both private industry and the Interior Department have become alarmed about the enormous amount of Federal land that has been withdrawn from appropriation either under the Mineral Leasing Laws or the Mining Law of 1872. According to a recent article by Gary Benethum and L. Courtland Lee, governmental actions have withdrawn nearly 400 million acres from the operation of the Mining Law of 1872 and over 500 million acres from the Leasing Laws. An addition al 100 million acres for the Mining Law of 1872 and 70 million acres for the Leasing Laws are either encumbered or being managed in such a way as to constitute a defacto withdrawal from mineral development. This means simply that mineral exploration end development under the Mining Law of 1872 is either prevented or discouraged in an area the size of the states of California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and one half of Colorado combined. Under the Mineral Leasing Laws, exploration and development is either prevented or discouraged in an area equal in size to all the states east the Mississippi River, except Maine.

Jan 1, 1976

By Ramon B. Santos

The Atlas Concentrator, reputedly the largest in the Far East today, is located on the island of Cebu in the Republic of the Philippines. It started operation on a 4000 TPD capacity in 1955. An expansion program, coupled with significant improvements both in the Crushing Plant and the Mil, made the Atlas Concentrator what it is today, treating about 14,000 tons of ore per day at a comparatively low cost of about $0.50 per ton treated. The Atlas Copper Mine is at present mainly an open pit operation, with ore supplied from two pits (Lutopan and Biga) north of the Concen¬trator. Development of an Underground Mine, situated on the main ore body at Lutopan, which will be a block caving operation, has been underway since 1963, and this underground mining operation is expected to b e in full production by the latter part of 1966.

Jan 1, 1966

By T. Takamori

This paper reviews the present status of coal preparation in Japan concentrating on the process in coal cleaning and waste water treatment. This paper also discusses recent topics on maintenance, automatic control, raw coal management, etc.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. P. Schneider

The Chino mine, concentrator, and smelter are located in Grant County in Southwestern New Mexico. Chino Mines Company is a partnership two-thirds owned and operated by Kennecott Santa Fe Corp., and one-third owned by MC Minerals Corp. (Mitsubishi) of Japan. The Chino Ore Body The Chino ore body is a widely varied deposit of rock types and contains intrusive stocks and sediments. The stocks contain chalcocite in a matrix of quartz, mica, and feldspar. Much of the feldspar is altered to clay. Some of these stocks are enriched with native copper. The sediments contain chalcopyrite associated with gangue minerals including magnetite, pyrite, garnet chlorite, and epidote. The contact of the stock and sediment is heavily altered to chlorite and clay. The stock ores contain economic quantities of molybdenite. The operating work index of Chino ore varies from 5 to 20 kwh/ton and averages 8.5 kwh/ton. The ore head to the concentrator averaged 0.81% copper and 0.010% molybdenum. Fifteen percent of the total copper head exists as nonsulfide mineralization.

Jan 1, 1985

By J. D. Miller

Contact time during bubble/particle collision is calculated by taking into considera¬tion the effect of bubble and particle motion, buoyant force, bubble size, and particle size and specific gravity density for different cases of collision. From this motion analysis approach for the prediction of contact times and from bubble attachment-time measurements,, fundamental aspects of flotation such as flotability, kinetics, and separation can be explained and are discussed with respect to the effects of bubble/particle motion, bubble size, particle size, and attachment time.

Jan 1, 1987

By M. K. McMullen

Mineral Development Agreements (MDA?s) are a cooperative mechanism in Canada by which the federal and individual provincial governments can coordinate their scientific, techno- logical and market development resources in order to implement measures designed to stimulate mineral exploration and development by the private sector; the objective, ultimately, being to increase the mineral industry?s contribution to provincial economies. In the latest round of MDA?s, which was initiated in 1984, a significant number of planned activities relate to industrial minerals. This paper will describe the nature and importance of MDA's in Canada and will outline the wide range of activities taking place with respect to industrial minerals.

Jan 1, 1987

By Richard A. Levins

The imposition of non-market regulations, such as the proposed SO2 standards for coal combustion, will typically lead to less efficient (thus more costly) production in a free enterprise system. For the coal industry these increased costs will occur in several ways, among which are mining less accessible low sulfur reserves and transporting low sulfur coal to distant markets. There are, of course, social benefits of reducing the S02 emissions from the use of high sulfur coal. The social benefits include decreased health risks, reduced damages to property, and certain unmeasurable benefits associated with the aesthetic appeal of clean air. Proponents of Federal S02 standards argue that the benefits gained from reduced emissions will exceed the costs borne by the coal industry and society in general in meeting the regulations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the degree to which costs of meeting future energy demands from coal will change under different sulfur standards. No attempt is made to estimate the benefits of imposing regulations. Specifically, the impact of SO2 standards on the private costs of meeting regional coal demands, the competitive positions of the nation's major coal producing regions, the degree to which strip mining as opposed to underground mining will be feasible, the amount of coal being processed, and the amount of coal transported over major rail routes will be analyzed.

Jan 1, 1976

By Clayton Williams, Dale M. Hata, Glenn M. Boyce

The Upper Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project in Northern California encompasses portions of the communities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, and unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. The project provides for flood protection improvements along Llagas Creek and two of its tributaries, West Little Llagas Creek and East Little Llagas Creek. Llagas Creek is one of the tributaries of the Pajaro River and drains a watershed of approximately 104 square miles. The river system has a history of flooding the watershed communities, and the project’s goal is to provide 100-year flood protection by creating a bypass infrastructure, including channels, cut-and-cover culverts, and a tunnel. The project has been divided into several phases. This paper describes Phase 2A, which consists of approximately 2,150 linear feet of lined horseshoe-shaped bypass tunnel measuring 14 feet wide by 12 feet high. The bypass tunnel was sequentially excavated using a combination of roadheader and controlled blasting through colluvium and weathered to fresh greenstone. The tunnel was mined near residences, requiring strict noise and vibration controls. Phase 2A also includes the construction of twin bypass concrete culverts, portal shoring, and dewatering systems. It features the use of a Design Review Board and partnering for project delivery. This case study discusses the bypass tunnel design, progress of tunnel construction, plans to complete the work, construction risks, and the software and procedural tools being used to manage the project, including ProjectWise construction management software.

Jun 13, 2023

By Rudolf Fahn

Bentonites are best suited for the preparation of acid activated clays with efficient adsorption properties. They are weathering products of acid volcanic ashes and their natural deposits are world-wide spread. The main constituent of bentonite is the aluminium hydrosilicate nontmorillonite with a high ability to swell. Süd-Chemie owns bentonite deposits in Germany and subsidiaries in Italy, Mexico and Arizona.

Jan 1, 1979

By Roger J. Araujo

A photochromic material is one which undergoes a change of color when exposed to light and reverts to its original color when the light is removed. Review articles carrying extensive bibliographies have been written by Brown and Shaw (1) and by Schwab and Bertelson (2). Organics. Schwab and Bertelson divide the reactions in different organic photochromic materials into some half-dozen categories; Windsor (3) reduces these to the following three main classes of general interest, based on how they work. 1. Stereoisomers. Absorption of light breaks one of the chemical bonds in a. ring molecule, thus allowing the molecule to unwind and form a different geometrical arrangement. The reverse process is a reforming of the bond. Examples of this class are the spiropyrans and the anils. 2. Dyes. A triphenyl methane dye, for example, is oxidized by energetic light; the absorption characteristics of the positive ion so formed are different from those of the original electrically neutral benzene rings. 3. Triplet States. In the class of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, ground-state molecules are excited first to a singlet state by irradiation, and then go, via the lowest triplet state, to an excited triplet state. Visible light is absorbed in the triplet-triplet transition.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. M. Keane

Critical to successful dump and heap leaching for copper is an adequate testing program for evaluation of the applicable parameters. This paper deals with testing methods to establish best conditions for dump and heap leaching of copper so that commercial operations can proceed on a rational basis. Discussion is also offered of ore occurrences suitable for dump and heap leaching.

Jan 1, 1985

"Australia’s largest rail freight network operator, the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), has selected GE Transportation’s Movement Planner solution as the key technology enabler for its Hunter Valley-focused network control optimization program.ARTC’s Newcastle-based network control, is the nerve center of Hunter Valley rail operations, where locally based train control professionals make thousands of decisions every day to safely support the annual movement of more than 24 kt/h (26,400 stph) of freight, and tens of thousands of coal, freight, grain and passenger trains each year.ARTC plans to transform its train control function by integrating and then building on Movement Planner, an advanced software solution by GE Transportation that provides real-time rail traffic planning and optimization to enable freight to move more efficiently. “The Hunter Valley rail network is one of the busiest and most complex in the country, supporting the largest coal export port in the world,” ARTC managing director and chief executive officer John Fullerton said.“As bulk freight demands grow, rail operators like ARTC and supply chains like the Hunter Valley coal network need to be creative in the way they respond so the Australian economy doesn’t miss out. That’s why we have conducted a worldwide search to find globally proven solutions that will improve our network productivity and efficiency,” Fullerton said.The Movement Planner solution considers multiple factors including train schedules, trafficcontrol systems and train movements relative to each other and then develops an optimized traffic plan for the trains throughout the network. Existing GE customers have benefited from increased visibility of network operations, higher velocity, less dwell times, and improved on-time performance across their networks."

Jan 1, 2018

By Eugene F. Eisemann

This paper is concerned principally with the competition between fuels for industrial use in the United States. Total energy consumption in the U. S. is allocated between industrial and other uses The industrial volume is divided into two classifications (1) where-there is competition between fuels and (2) where there is no competition. The pattern of fuel consumption by electric utilities was studied because there, is competition between fuels and because it is the fastest-growing industrial market. Electric utilities fuel consumption is discussed by geographic area. The growth of each fuel in several areas is investigated. The analysis of these areas, includes the study of the relationship between prices where fuels are in, competition:- (1) on the East Coast where price competition occurs between oil and coal, and (2) in the southeastern states where competition exists between coal and gas..

Jan 1, 1961

By Thornton L. Neathery

The low-grade talc deposits in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, are associated with a mafic-ultramafic rock complex that is part of a widely distributed schist and gneiss group. These rocks form a synform structure overlying Inner Piedmont lithology. Paragenetic sequence of the Tallapoosa talc is interpreted as enstatite-anthophyllitetalc. Talc occurs as massive boulders formed by the alteration of enstatite-anthophyllite and as finely disseminated discrete particles in the enclosing saprolite matrix. Weathered rock reaches depths as great as 60 feet. The quality and quantity of the talc, however, are variable. Mineral analyses of the talc-bearing samples, by petrographic grain count, indicate a talc content of 16 to 26 percent. Most of the talc occurs as plates or scales that are moderately stained with limonite. Fibrous talc also occurs in the deposits and is often mistaken for anthophyllite asbestos which is intimately associated with the talc. The size, shape, and occurrence of the talc deposits precludes any method of min¬ing other than open-cut. A small-scale mining operation began in the district in 1969. Potential capacity of the operation is 5, 000 tons per year. Inferred reserves, based on field investigations, are placed at approximately 8 million tons. Approved for publication by the State Geologist, Geological Survey of Alabama.

Jan 1, 1970

By Catherine C. Kilgore

The Bureau of Mines investigated the availability of fluorspar from 35 domestic and 50 foreign, mines and deposits in 13 countries. Only 6 domestic properties are considered to be economic reserves, as 29 domestic deposits were found to have an average total cost of production that was uneconomical at a breakeven (0 pct) DCFROR. The 50 foreign properties evaluated were selected to represent at least 85 pct of the known demonstrated fluorspar resources located in market economy countries and China. All evaluated foreign operations were found to be economic to marginally economic in January 1984 dollars. World demonstrated ore reserves of 344 million metric tons (mt) containing 123 million mt of CaF2 were evaluated for the 56 operations. Average total costs needed to cover all costs over the life of each operation were determined for all recoverable fluorspar products. Comparisons of mining, beneficiation, and transportation costs per mt of fluorspar concentrate illustrate advantages between countries. Of the three largest producing countries, China, with its high-grade, low-cost operations had the lowest weighted average total cost of production ($38/mt concentrate). Mexico was next at $54/mt concentrate, and South Africa needed an average of $90/mt of concentrate to cover all costs of production for its low grade deposits.

Jan 1, 1985

By K. Koizumf, A. A. Cram, K. Whitchurch

The Expert Scheduling is a new, exciting method for scheduling underground and open-cut coal mines. A key feature of the Expert Scheduler is the adoption of an expert or artificial intelligence system. The expert system makes decisions regarding the schedule, such as which area should be mined. With existing scheduling systems these choices are made by the scheduling engineer. Developing one area may be better than another if it offers better quality or lower costs. Information the engineer considers in these decisions could be; • coal tonnage and quality targets, • equipment utilisation, • mining cost, • and other practical constraints. In expert scheduling a number of experts are appointed to make these decisions. A number of mining strategies are examined for each period. Information for each strategy is evaluated by "experts" and the "best" solution adopted. The method is based on the Blackboard Techniques. With this technique information is presented to "knowledge sources” or "experts" by the Blackboard Controller for their "opinions". These "opinions" are examined by the Blackboard Controller to select the best strategy. Engineers can readily add experts to the system, and modify the weighting of experts to suit mining conditions. Using an Expert Scheduler means that many schedule op- tions can be analysed quickly with full repeatability.

Jan 1, 1996

By Lynn Huntsman

INTRODUCTION The Sunnyside mines of Kaiser Steel Corp. are lo¬cated on the west flank of the Book Cliff Range, a tongue of the Wasatch mountain range in Utah. The mines are 193.12 air km (120 air miles) southeast of Salt Lake City and 40.23 km (25 miles) east of the town of Price. The area has a semiarid climate with an an¬nual rainfall of 304.8 to 381 mm (12 to 15 in.) and a temperature range of -23.3 to 32.2°C (-10 to 90°F). The base of the Book Cliff Range is approximately 1981 m (6500 ft) in elevation with some mountain peaks in excess of 3048 m (10,000 ft) (Fig. 1). The Sunnyside mines were opened in the late 1890s and have been operated continuously since that time. Kaiser Steel leased the No. 2 mine in 1942 and pur¬chased the entire property in 1950. There are three mines adjacent to one another, each with its separate access, ventilation, and haulage. The three mines en¬compass an area extending 12.87 km (8 miles) along the outcrop and dipping northeasterly 2.41 to 3.22 km (11/z to 2 miles) into the Book Cliffs. During 1975, only the No. I and No. 3 mines were operating to sup¬ply 908 184.7 t/a (1,000,000+ stpy) of clean coal to the Kaiser Steel mill at Fontana, CA. Sunnyside coal is blended with coal from the Kaiser Steel mine near Raton, NM, and with purchased coal from noncompany sources to form the mix for the coke ovens. At that time, Sunnyside operated three longwall units and five to seven continuous miner units. Typical production for that time came from one miner unit pillaring an area not conducive to longwall mining; one or two miner units on construction or modernization projects, and the remaining units used to develop future longwall panels. Longwall mining has been a part of the Sunnyside scene since 1961 when the first panel was set up in the lower Sunnyside seam of the No. 3 mine. Through 1975, 27 longwall panels were mined (Fig. 2). Of the more than 47 173 604 t (52,000,000 st) of clean coal that were taken from the property through 1975, 6 350 292.9 t (7,000,000 st) were mined by longwall methods. Coal was brought to the surface in 4.5-t (5-st) mine cars and crushed to -152.4 mm (-6 in.) before entering the preparation plant. Coarse coal is cleaned by Baum jigs and fine coal (-28 mesh) is cleaned in flotation cells. The coal is reduced to 50.8 x 0 mm (2 x 0 in.) and belted to an aboveground storage pile with a ca¬pacity of approximately 113 398.1 t (125,000 st). The coal is gravity fed through two 1.52-m (5-ft) diam culverts directly into railroad cars, which pass beneath the storage pile through an arched excavation. Eighty-four 90.7-t (100-st) cars make up a unit train which makes the round trip to the steel mill in four days. Additional trains are scheduled in as demands dictate. Loading rates in excess of 13 607.8 t/h (15,000 stph) have been attained. Geology The coal seams of this area are of Cretaceous age and are classed as a medium volatile bituminous coal. coal, with a sulfur content less than 1 % and 6 to (20-mile) zone of the Book Cliffs, and this area is owned or under lease by either Kaiser Steel or US Steel. Coal in adjacent areas is noncoking but an excellent steam coal, with a sulfur content of less than 1 % and 6 to 7% ash. Sunnyside coal contains 40% volatile, 53% carbon, less than 1 % sulfur, and 51/2 to 61/2 % ash after washing. There are two minable seams throughout most of the Sunnyside property known locally as the upper and lower Sunnyside. Separation between the seams varies from less than 300 mm (1 ft) near the southern boundary adjacent to the US Steel Columbia mine, to over 12.19 m (40 ft) in areas of the No. 3 mine in the center of the Sunnyside property. The upper seam varies in height from 1.2 to 1.98 m (4 to 61/2 ft) while the lower seam varies in height from 1.52 to 4.28 m (5 to 14 ft) in areas of No. I mine where the two seams apparently come together. The majority of early work was con¬centrated in the upper seam which has a stronger roof and a lower sulfur content. When Kaiser Steel began mining the No. 3 mine in the early 1950s, it mined in the lower seam beneath the old workings with conven¬tional and continuous mining equipment. Numerous bounces and pressure points created by unextracted pillars and barriers in the upper seam made this a low¬production, high-cost mine and brought about the ad¬vent of the first longwall system. The first unit, while small by today's standards, successfully mined panels that had been all but given up and saved the mine from closure. There were areas that could not even be mined by longwall because of the erratic extraction in the upper seam. The system was successful enough to allow operations to gain access to and develop virgin areas of the upper seam. Development of longwall mining in the No. 3 mine has been confined to the upper seam since late 1964. With the almost complete extraction afforded by the longwall system, it is felt the lower seam can be successfully worked in future years (Fig. 3). In most of No. 1 mine, only the lower seam (or lower seam and upper seam combined) is minable, except in the northwest portion where a rock split has again separated the seam into two 1.83 to 2.13-m (6 to 7-ft) thick beds. In this area, the upper seam or upper split is being mined. The separation between seams at the present workings in this area varies from 0.609 to 6.1 m (2 to 20 ft). It is hoped that most of the lower split can be mined using shield supports and/or what¬ever new technology is developed in the coming years. The coal seams in this area dip to the northeast at an average grade of 10%. The dip near the outcrop reaches 22% and gradually decreases downdip. Over¬burden ranges from a few meters at the outcrop to 762 m (2500 ft) over some of the deeper workings. In the next several years, some overburden will be in excess of 914 m (3000 ft) as the lower mine workings extend ever deeper under the Book Cliffs. To cope with the

Jan 1, 1982

For nearly two decades, MINExpo International has held the title to the biggest show in mining. The 2012 MINExpo is expected to be the biggest yet, with nearly 1,800 exhibitors rolling out the newest equipment and services across 12 halls. From September 24 to 26 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, MINExpo will present the newest in everything from automation and robotics to safety and communications equipment to reclamation services, and much, much more. The last MINExpo, in 2008, had nearly 38,500 visitors. The show?s sponsor, the National Mining Association, expects this year will be even bigger, with more than 40,000 visitors over three days. Twenty talks on the issues facing mining today are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, but the real action will happen out on the floor. That?s where ultra haul trucks big enough to carry as much as 363 t (400 st) of rock will be assembled next to underground loaders able to lift more than 20 t (22 st) in one scoop. Caterpillar, Komatsu, Liebherr, Sandvik, Atlas Copco: all the big names in mining equipment will be there. Their massive earthmoving equipment and mining machines are the centerpiece of the show. Preassembly for the largest pieces begins on August 6, 2012.

Jan 1, 2013

By P. Raffinot, C. H. G. Bushell, S. Hodgson, E. F. Milner, H. J. Bosshardt, N. Draper, D. E. Pickett, Edwin T. McKnight, J. Prieto

Zinc ranks third and lead fourth in world nonferrous metal conumption. In 1972 the free world consumed 3,333,000 mt of refined lead and 4,422,000 mt of refined zinc. The lead tonnage was divided into the following end uses: storage batteries (42%), lead allows (7%), pigments and chemicals (11%), cable sheathing (9%), gasoline additives (13%), pipes and sheets (8%), and miscellaneous uses (10%). The corresponding distribution of zinc uses in 1972 was galvanizing (39%), die casting (26%), brass (15%), rolled zinc (8%), oxide excluding American Process zinc made directly from concentrate (6%), and other uses (6%). The pattern of usage of lead and zinc varies considerably from country to country. During 1972 in the USA 49% of refined lead was consumed in storage batteries, 19% in gasoline additives, and only 3% in cable sheathing, whereas in the United Kingdom 28% of the lead was consumed in batteries, 14% in cable sheathing, and 14% in gasoline additives. For zinc the major US uses were die casting (41%) and galvanizing (37%), with about 3% consumed as rolled zinc; corresponding usages in the same applications in France were 12, 28 and 28% and in Australia 12, 67, and 3%, respectively. The outstanding resistance of lead to corrosion, its density, and

Jan 1, 1985

By Craig J. Nelsen, J. Leroy Schutz

The Carache Canyon Prospect consists of a hypabyssal breccia pipe which intrudes a gently dipping sequence of Cretaceous Mancos Formation and Mesa Verde Group shales and sandstones. This sedimentary sequence is intruded by a number of Oligocene (34-30 Ma) calc- alkaline sills. The formation of the breccia pipe and its subsequent gold mineralization is related to the emplacement of an alkaline intrusive complex dated between 30-26 Ma. An exceptionally large block within the pipe provides compelling evidence that brecciated sills and sedimentary rocks form a relict stratigraphy that collapsed 400-800 ft (120-240 m) below their counterparts outside the pipe without substantial changes in stratigraphic position. Native gold and sulfide mineralization within and around the pipe occurs in fractures that are primarily controlled by competency differences between sills and sedimentary rocks and secondarily controlled by ductility contrasts between the relatively brittle Mancos Formation hornfels and the more ductile Menefee Group shales. The resulting pattern of gold mineralization is a series of stacked, tabular, mineralized sills and sandstone separated by barren shale in an annular region along the southwest margin of the pipe. A series of near-vertical, subparallel, sill and sandstone breccias separated by barren or weakly mineralized shale breccia occur within shallow levels of the pipe.

Jan 1, 1990