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By C. E. McWhorter

IN underground mining recent trends toward mining large tonnages of low-grade ore have created, among other things, a need for cheaper and more flexible ore transport. A relatively new development has been the adaptation of shaker conveyors to meet this need. Although widely used in coal mining, only in the last few years have shaker conveyors been used in underground metal mining. The equipment consists of a driving engine, either electric or air powered, upon which is mounted a drive trough supported in ball-bearing frames. The trough line, or conveying medium, is made up of a number of sections, each section connected to another, usually with bolts. The length of each trough section is controlled by the length that can best be handled underground, but is usually from 9 to 13 ft over-all. The length of a complete conveyor line is determined by the character and weight of material to be handled as well as by the size of the ore body. Trough lines vary in lengths from 100 to 300 ft and the trough has a cross-section area of 127 sq in., and is 22 in. wide by 6 ½ in. deep.

Jan 1, 1948

By Gopalan Ramadorai

Tailings water from primary flotation concentrators usually contains minor amounts of pollutants such as heavy metals, cyanide and solubilized molybdenum, which are solubilized in the flotation process. A review of various techniques to reduce pollutants to acceptable levels is presented. Generally, molybdenite ores are processed by conventional size-reduction techniques, followed by flotation to produce a metallurgical-grade concentrate of 88% to 92% MoS2. Reagents commonly used in the milling process include: vapor oil (collector); pine oil, MIBC (frother); Dowfroth 250 (water-soluble frother); lime (rougher pH control); and sodium cyanide (Fe and Cu depressor). For lead depression, Nokes reagent is stage-added to the regrind mills and cleaners. Flocculant is added to obtain clear overflows in the intermediate thickeners.

Jan 9, 1978

By R. V. Norris

In a former paper on this subject,' I summarized Murgue's theory and experiments, and presented a large number of tests of mine-fans, stating some conclusions, " more or less warranted by the evidence," as to design, capacity and efficiency. Since that time the very valuable report of Mr. M. Walton Brown: Committee on Mechanical Ventikators, Institution of Mining Engineers, has appeared, and I have made additional experiments which tend to clear up some points in connection with this subject. Design and Tests of the Luke-Fidlbr Colliery Fan. The Luke-Fidler fan (see Figs. 1, 2 and 3), built to replace an old wooden fan at a very fiery colliery, presents some pecu-

Jan 1, 1905

By T. H. Oxnam

The predominating value of the ores now being treated by the Palmarejo and Mexican Gold Fields, Ltd., is silver, although some gold also is carried. The present method of treatment consists of wet-crushing and concentrating, followed by the cyanidation of the un-roasted sands and slimes. The sands are treated by leaching, and the so-called " accumulated slimes " by a system of agitation and decantation. It is only within very recent years that the cyanidation of unroasted silver-ores has been commercially successful. In fact, at the time operations were begun at the cyanide-plant at Chinipas, February, 1902, I knew of no other leaching-plant treating similar ores successfully. The cyanide treatment of the Palmarejo ores differs but little from the ordinary practice in cyaniding gold-ores; and perhaps but little, if any, new information concerning the metallurgy of silver is to be gleaned from it. Palmarejo Mines. The Palmarejo mines are located in the southwestern part of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, at an elevation of 3,200 feet. The mills, 12 miles distant, are situated on the Chinipas river, near the town of Chinipas, which is about 150 miles northeast of Agiabampo, on the Gulf of California. Supplies are shipped via this port as this route is the best and most direct to the property. The ore-bodies in the Palmarejo mines have been deposited along a series of rock-fractures, caused by an intrusion of eruptive rock. The most important of these fractures or fissures, both in width and value, are the Prieta and Blanca veins, which

Jan 1, 1906

By Thomas W. Healy

Particles present in mineral processing systems that are termed ultrafine are those that are small enough to be unaffected by gravity or the flow conditions imposed on the pulp. As such, their interaction with one another and with other larger particles are controlled by specific attractive and repulsive colloidal or surface interactions. Electrostatic repulsion between ultrafines is dominated by surface potential, double layer thickness and specific adsorption potential effects - controlled by pH, salt and complexing ion concentrations. Attraction due to van der Waals interactions must be assessed in terms of bulk and surface coating effects and of particle size and shape. The net effect of attraction and repulsion must finally be related to the average kinetic energy of particles in the real system.

Jan 1, 1979

By John McCaslin

ONE of the most common technical terms in the U. S. today is automation-a word not listed in the 1946 dictionary. The influence of automation on the national economy has been tremendous. It has even been the subject of congressional investigations. Automation, writes Aronson, substitutes mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and electronic devices for human effort and decision? Automatic devices and instruments are used extensively in some industries, but many others have yet to take full advantage of these great discoveries. The petroleum industry has been a leader in using automatic controls-some refineries are almost completely controlled by automatic devices. The field of geophysics is entirely dependent on instruments and has progressed at almost exactly the same rate as improvements in instrumentation. In metallurgy and mineral dressing use of instrumentation is increasing very rapidly. Mining engineers throughout the country are beginning to think in terms of instruments and controls.

Jan 3, 1958

By E. Topanelian

In recent years considerable progress has been made in the development and application of mathematical techniques for the solution of certain problems involving economic "strategies". Such a problem might involve, for example, the scheduling of shipments of a commodity from a number of sources to a number of destinations. The object would be to schedule the shipments in a manner so as to satisfy the destination requirements and at the same time minimize the transportation costs. The solution to such a problem is not necessarily intuitively obvious. The "obvious" solution is frequently far from optimum. If the shipments are to be made from, for example, only two sources to four destinations, the optimum schedule is readily found. However, if shipments are to be made from, say, 10 sources to several hundred destinations, even a competent and experienced scheduler may spend considerable time in finding a reasonable answer. Even then he is not sure that he has the optimum solution. Furthermore, he has no way of knowing how far from optimum the answer is. Consequently, he does not know whether he should accept this solution or seek a better one. Prior to the advent of large high-speed digital computers, little more could be done with such problems because of their great size and multiplicity of possible solutions. A problem involving 20 sources and 50 destinations would require choosing, from a very large number of possible combinations, the optimum combination of 1,000 variables. The best one could do was to utilize intuition, extrapolation from past experience, and other non-exact approaches. With a high-speed computer, however, such problems can be solved providing a reasonable computational procedure (or algorithm) can be utilized. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a procedure (linear programming) and to apply this procedure to a production scheduling problem. THE RESERVOIR PROBLEM A simple reservoir model is used throughout this analysis to illustrate the use of linear programming. Even the simplest reservoir behavior problem is nonlinear in both space and time, but if the geometry is fixed for a particular study and the time variable is quantized, the resultant system may be described by linear constraints on the variable production rates. Crude oil is available from five separate sources and is delivered to a pipeline. Sources 1, 2, 3 and 4 are ideal reservoirs and therefore are subjected to reservoir flow restrictions. Source 5 is labeled "Outside Source" and crude oil from this source is assumed to be available in unlimited quantities without considering reservoir conditions. The general problem is to determine the schedule of crude oil production from five sources which, over an eight-year period and subject to certain restrictions, will result in maximum profit. "Profit" is defined to encompass all economic factors and expenses involved in producing and selling crude oil to a pipeline facility. Such economic factors are lumped to the extent that the term represents the dollars profit from one barrel of crude oil from any of the five sources entering the pipeline system. Table 1 presents the assumed profit per barrel for oil from any of the five sources over each of the four time periods. In this chart the eight years is broken into four equal intervals of two years. The selection of four time periods of two years each and the values representing the potential profit are completely arbitrary selections for the purpose of illustrating this idealized reservoir problem. In any practical application of this work a careful economic study would have to be made in order to estimate potential unit profits for time periods as far in the future as eight years. In this particular study it is assumed that all of the potential unit profits (C) are known and fixed before the production schedule is attempted. For each reservoir arbitrary values are assigned for

By Walter E. Heinrichs

The following is a condensed version of an open letter addressed to Bil Gilbert of Sports Illustrated: Your article, "When a Law Fights a Law, Sports Illustrated. April 26, 1971, betrays considerable unfamiliarity with the subjects of ecology, social science, mining law and history. In a magazine as widely circulated as Sports Illustrated, an article of such a slanted nature misleads the general public.

Jan 1, 1971

Coal Division Industrial Minerals Division Minerals Beneficiation Division Mining, Geology and Geophysics Division Established as a Society February 26, 1957 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES J W Woomer, President A B Cummins, President-elect S D Michaelson, Past President C E Lawall, Eastern Regional Vice-President D W Scott, Central Regional Vice-President 3 D Forrester, Western Regional Vice-President R B Ladoo, Treasurer John Cameron Fox, Secretary

Jan 1, 1959

By AIME AIME

MICA is perhaps our No. 1. strategic mineral problem because of its large requirements in a variety of equipment for use in the military services, and because the principal source of this material has heretofore been British India, a source now threatened partly because of distance and lack of ships. [Block mica and bauxite were added to the "most critical" list published by the W.P.B. on Nov. 6.] No satisfactory substitute has yet been found for most of the uses of mica, which largely involve electrical insulation. Brazil is now our nearest and best major source of this material. No splitting plants have yet been established there but in 1941 we imported about a million pounds of block mica from that country and in 1942 that quantity will be considerably exceeded. In Brazil, mica is found almost exclusively in the pegmatite dikes along the mountain range bordering the eastern part of Minas Gerais. A belt, roughly 180 miles long by 100 miles wide, extends from Theophilo Ottoni to Carangolo. The principal mica-mining districts in this belt are the Governador Valladares area to the north and the Espera Feliz district to the south. The dikes are usually 10 to 50 meters wide and a mile or two long and intrude the old metamorphic schist formation. They are weathered and easily mined.

Jan 1, 1942

By Richard L. Gordon

Minerals long have been important commodities in international trade. As an inevitable result, the governments of the world have employed a wide variety of programs that affect the flow of trade. Roughly speaking, we may distinguish between the desire of more developed countries (MDCs) like the United States, western Europe, and Japan to control imports of minerals and the concern of less developed countries (LDCs), like India, about exploiting and exporting their minerals. The terminology used to describe different countries and the classification of specific countries into groups is unsettled and often changing. The poorest countries have been characterized as backward, undeveloped, underdeveloped, and developing. The problem seems to be in selecting a term that is both accurate and polite. Less developed seems, for reasons outlined by Hagen [pp. 51-57], the most convenient term. The borderline between an LDC and an MDC is always open to dispute. Objective measures are difficult to develop because of deficiencies in basic data, and enormous conceptual problems arise in making valid comparisons from even good data [see Hagen, pp. 7-28]. Thus, policies of the MDCs can be evaluated chiefly by using a few basic arguments for protectionist attitudes towards international trade. In dealing with the LDCs, a more far-ranging evaluation that covers general economic policy goals, the role of foreign investment, and the indirect effects of trade is required. This duality breaks down when trying to deal with the depressed areas in an MDC; here the issues are more akin to those associated with problems in an LDC. Similarly, variants of arguments used in LDCs appear in debates about foreign investments in MDCs. The whole discussion of minerals in LDCs, moreover, has obvious implications for MDCs like Canada and Australia. They, too, must face problems about the best utilization of their resources. THE RESTRICTION OF MINERAL TRADE BY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES[a] At least to some extent, the world's leading industrial nations have intervened to control the inflow of minerals. Such regulation is particularly pronounced for energy. Both the United States and western Europe employ

Jan 1, 1976

By Herbert Hoover

THE desire of the engineers over the last few years, growing out of their contact with public affairs, that this Institute should take a wider vision than the narrower field of technology and should apply its skill to the development of civic problems which must lay in their foundation on engineering, has led to this discussion today. Some of us in San Francisco, in discussing this question of the relation of the engineers to civic problems, raised the question as to whether or not in this national emergency it was not the duty of the Mining Engineers to bring, forward their combined skill and knowledge and experience to bear upon the problems of the coal industry. This industry, considered as a whole, is one of the worst functioning industries in the United States. It is equipped with capital, with machinery, plants and labor to a peak load at least 20 per cent. above the average necessity. This peak load, therefore, involves the use of probably 100,000 men diverted from other productive industries; it involves an intermittency of employment through its whole personnel that results not only in a long train of human woe, but results also in a higher cost of coal -to the general public. The problem of whether the industry can, by any device, be cured or even partially cured of its intermittency, is solely an engineering problem. It is therefore an apropos problem for this Institute. Your President and myself and others thought that we could best develop this discussion by calling upon men of large experience in the particular branches of the soft coal industry, to bring the facts in front of this general committee, with a view to an exhaustive discussion and perhaps subsequently the appointment of a committee to formulate those facts and such remedies as may be developed into a report that would be of constructive value.

Jan 3, 1920

By R. H. McLean

Jet impingement produces two mechanisms to clean the bottom of a borehole during jet-bit drilling operations. One is an impact-pressure wave in the immediate area of jet impingement. The other is crossflow, which spreads across the bottom away from the pressure wave. Measurements of the vertical distribution of the cross-flow at several positions beneath a 4 3/4-in. tricone jet bit in a laboratory model show that the maximum velocity in the crossflow is directly proportional to the square root of the product of the rate of flow and the velocity of the jets through the nozzles (QV). Other measurements in the laboratory model show that gradients in the impact-pressure wave are directly proportional to the jet QV if the diameters of the nozzles are held constant. Consistency of the basic relationships through changes in the Reynolds numbers of the jets from 31,000 to 93,000 suggests that the laboratory results should be representative of typical flow in field operations having higher Reynolds numbers. Estimates of the impact-pressure waves under conditions other than those in the jet-bit model may be made by comparison with a less complex model—impingement of a jet against an unrestricted flat surface normal to the jet. Equations derived from current jet technology describe the wave in this simple system for a wide range of conditions. INTRODUCTION The efficiency of rotary drilling operations is strongly linked to the efficiency with which cuttings are removed. Cuttings remaining on the bottom of the borehole will impede further penetration by the bit until they are removed. Wasteful regrinding is prevented if the fluid circulated past the bit removes cuttings as rapidly as they are made. Most investigations of bottom-hole cleaning under bits have been concerned with the rate-of-penetration effects of bit type, nozzle configuration, fluid properties, pressure gradients and utilization of hydraulic horsepower. These investigations have shown that drilling muds, weighted to keep the pressure in the borehole greater than in adjacent formations and carrying material which forms a filter cake, apparently plaster cuttings against the bottom, making them difficult to remove. In addition to a demonstration of the factors causing poor cleaning, the most significant result of these previous investigations has been the increased use of jet bits accompanied by better hydraulic programs and better selection of drilling fluids. Undoubtedly, these practices have improved bottom-hole cleaning, but rates of penetration when drilling with muds are still often lower than would be expected with perfect cleaning." Although there is general agreement with the concept that increasing hydraulic energy at a jet bit often increases the rate of penetration by improving cleaning, research workers have differed as to the best criterion for evalyating hydraulics. Some lean toward maximizing the product of the rate of flow and the velocity through the nozzles (QV) others prefer to maximize the hydraulic horsepower at the bit;'"-' "till another says that neither criterion is universally suitable."' This controversy shows that conclusive field evidence has not established the superiority of either of these criteria. Analysis of the fluid flow which cleans the bottom should contribute to resolving the controversy. Impinging jets clean the bottom by creating two mechanisms capable of dislodging cuttings. One is the impact from the momentum of the jet and the other is the flaw parallel to the bottom away from the area of impingement. The impact force appears in the form of a pressure wave on the bottom and, in this paper, is called the impact-pressure wave. The flow parallel to the bottom is called crossflow. Fig. 1 illustrates these two mechanisms. This paper describes crossflow and the impact-pressure wave beneath jet bits and relates them to controllable parameters. Through these relations, criteria for use in designing hydraulics to achieve maximum use of the mechanisms of cleaning are derived. PROPERTIES OF CROSSFLOW CONCEPTS DEVELOPED IN PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS Concepts of scavenging the bottom by crossflow have been well discussed by Bobo, et al." They examine the means by which crossflow may create forces on cuttings and conclude that the cleaning action of crossflow can be increased by increasing the velocity of the flow stream close to the bottom. Using boundary layer theory, they indicate that a reduction in the viscosity of the drilling

Jan 1, 1965

Jan 1, 1913

By Harvey Brooks

Jan 1, 1963

By H. M. Howe

The chief purpose of this note is to call attention to the triaxial diagram as a convenient means of illustrating the properties of slags, and by this example of its use to commend it to those inclined to graphical studies having other possible applications. Explanation.—In the common or di-axial diagram, the properties corresponding to any point are determined by its perpendicular distance from each of two axes. For example, in an ordinary stress-strain diagram the properties of a given point in the curve are, first, a stress cd so many pounds per square inch, because its perpendicular distance from the horizontal axis of the diagram corresponds by the vertical scale to that stress; and second, a strain or elongation of so many per cent., because its perpendicular distance from the vertical axis corresponds by the horizontal scale to that elongation. It happens that, as a matter of convenience, we habitually place these two axes at right angles to each other; so that our measurenieilts happen to be made not only at right-angles to

Jan 1, 1899

By Herbert Haas

GEORGE W. HAWKINS, Tucson, Ariz. (communication to the Secretary*).-The paper by Mr. Haas will no doubt be followed with considerable interest, as it covers the power-plant problem in quite a comprehensive way, including not only the usual operating costs but also the fixed charges on the investment, and for load factors ranging all the way from 25 to 100 per cent. and fuel oil ranging from $1.25 to $2 per barrel. The very fact, however, that his paper does cover such a wide range of conditions, makes it the more imperative that any conclusion drawn from his analysis be very carefully considered for any specific case, for in making such analysis the type of prime mover and size must be selected for some one condition which might not be the proper selection had some other condition been assumed as the basic one, resulting in an unfavorable comparison under all conditions except that condition assumed. From the reasons given by the author for his selection of the large turbine units, it is evident he had in mind very high load factors, ranging

Jan 12, 1916

By William Fink

MANY investigators have attempted to determine the true nature of the internal changes taking place during aging. Merica, Waltenberg and Scott1 were the first to propose a theory of age-hardening. They attributed the age-hardening of duralumin to the precipitation of minute particles of the compound CuA12. Later Zay Jeffries and R. S. Archer2 augmented the above theory by suggesting that the small CuA12 particles acted as "keys" causing "slip interference." Many other investi-gators3 have devoted much time to the mechanism of age-hardening, some corroborating the "precipitation" and "slip interference" theory, others coming to different conclusions because of effects that to them seemed unexplainable by the early theories; e.g., the increase of electrical resistance upon aging, the fact that no change in lattice parameter could be detected during the early stages of aging even at elevated tempera-tures, and the fact that the density did not change as would be predicted. In 1932, Merica revised4 his earlier precipitation theory to take care of these presumably anomalous effects. This revised theory, the "knot" theory, assumes that substantial age-hardening occurs before actual precipitation of solute as discrete particles. The assumed mechanism is one of diffusion of solute atones into groups forming distorted regions which act as "hard" spots and cause slip interference. These "knots" are assumed to have approximately the same lattice arrangement as the solvent.

Jan 1, 1936

By William H. Morris

At the Glen Summit meeting, the question of controlling the silicon in pig-iron WAS raised; and as this has been deemed by most furnace-men for years past a matter of special difficulty, an account of our experience in the matter may be of interest. When running on mill-iron, some years ago, we aimed to keep

Jan 1, 1893

Sec. 1. The membership of the Institute shall comprise six classes, namely: 1. Members; 2. Honorary Members; 3. Senior Members; 4. Associates; 5. Junior Members; 6. Rocky Mountain Members. All shall be equally entitled to the privileges of membership, excepting that no member of any class whom residence shall be outside of the United States of America, except those residing in Mexico and Canada, shall be entitled to vote. SEC. 2. Members: A person to be eligible for election or transfer into the claw of Member must be at least 27 years of age and must have had at least six years' employment in the practice of engineering, mining, geology, metallurgy, or chemistry, during at least three years of which he must have held positions of responsibility in one or more of these fields. This shall not apply to Rocky Mountain members.

Jan 1, 1944