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By R. S. Montgomery

Laboratory experiments simulating rock drilling were conducted on a number of commercial grades of tungsten carbide in order to determine their wear rates when they are used as inserts in percussive rock drill bits. The test rock was Barre granite and tests were made at conditions similar to those of the carbide buttons near the periphery of a large, down-hole, button bit. In addition, some wear rate measurements were made at a low blow energy. Wear rates of these carbide buttons were an extremely sensitive function of their cobalt contents and hardnesses and were proportional to e-°.57Hup to a hardness of about 91 RA. The point of minimum wear rate, which occurs at about 92 RA, corresponds to the point of maximum compressive strength. Modern percussive rock drill bits have inserts of cemented tungsten carbide on their wear faces. These inserts have drastically reduced bit wear in comparison to that of earlier all steel bits. The most common cemented carbide grade used in percussive rock drill bits contains about ten weight percent cobalt, although grades containing more or less cobalt are also used. Contrary to the case with carbide in metal-cutting tools, alloying materials are rarely used in mining grades. There are a number of designs of rock bits in current use. The most common form is an X bit which has four chisel-form radial wings. The button bit is another important design and one which has been recently developed. This design uses a flat steel face studded with relatively small hemispherically tipped carbide buttons. These types are illustrated in Fig. 1. Studies have been made of the sliding wear of cemented tungsten carbide on rock 1-4 and multiple-impact fracture', 5-6, b~t there has been comparatively little published on the percussive wear of this material although the wear of the impact face is the most important. There is some available data on the rate of dulling of rock bit inserts in actual drilling 7 but no laboratory studies. Sliding wear studies are useful for understanding the wear of coal and mineral cutting tools and gauge wear of percussive drill bits. but the

Jan 1, 1970

By W. A. Hockings, D. W. Fuerstenau, A. L. Mular

This paper briefly describes a simple air pycno-meter and its use for rapid determination of the composition of mixtures of solid particles. Research on such problems as the pelletizing of solids, the mixing of solid particles, and the comminution of mixtures can be simplified by means of this analytical tool. THEORY OF OPERATION Liquid pycnometers1 are commonly employed to measure volumes. These devices are time consuming and sometimes give inconsistent results. The liquid used in the pycnometer may have an undesired influence on the material to be measured; moreover, complete displacement of air by the liquid is seldom

Jan 1, 1963

By George Weaton

Two years ago the general features of the St. Joseph Lead Company's zinc-smelting process were described.1 At that time the discussion was limited to a description of the production of high-purity electrothermic zinc oxide. The present paper will describe the commercial production of electrothermic zinc metal. Since a fairly complete description of the plant of the Josephtown smelter was given in the earlier paper, the brief recapitulation given here will be limited to mention of additional equip-ment recently installed and a bare outline of the preparatory process. The raw material is zinc sulphide concentrate received from the com-pany's mines in St. Lawrence County, New York. An average dry-weight analysis of this material is: Zn, 58.28 per cent; Pb, 0.56; insoluble, 1.6; Si02, 1.12; Fe, 6.4; CaO, 0.47; MgO, 0.27; S, 31.9; Cd, 0.1; Cu, 0.06; Mn, 0.24. Moisture content is usually about 3 per cent. Three 21-ft. 6-in. diameter, 12-hearth Nichols-Herreshoff furnaces roast the concen-trate to a calcine of average composition (first 10 months of 1938) : Zn, 67.69 per cent; Pb, 0.06; insoluble, 1.75; Si02, 1.26; Fe, 7.24; CaO, 0.47; MgO, 0.36; S, 1.88; Cd, 0.1; Cu, 0.07; Mn, 0.27. The sulphur dioxide gas, after passing through a waste-heat boiler, proceeds through a recently redesigned low-resistance gas-purification assembly to the contact sul-phuric acid plant, of which the capacity is 200 tons of concentrates per day. The calcine is mixed with a portion of returned furnace residues and sintered on 42-in. by 44-ft. Dwight-Lloyd sintering machines, gas-fired. Wind-box gases pass through air coolers before filtering in a 1440-bag Dracco unit, and thence to stack. The Dracco fume is mixed with Cottrell dust, from roaster gas cleaning, and sent to the leach plant, where it is roasted (SO2 to acid plant) and leached with sulphuric acid to recover, as end products, lead sulphate, zinc sulphate and cadmium.

Jan 1, 1939

By E. L. Affleck, W. G. Stevenson

In both Canada and the United States, a company making a public offering of securities must comply with regulations which have been passed by Federal, State and/or Provincial Legislatures. These regulations usually require the distribution of an acceptable prospectus which provides essential background information about the issuer, the project and the share offering. when the public offering has been accepted, the unlisted company may then seek a listing of its shares for trading on a Stock Exchange. Once listed, the company will be subject to rules of the Stock Exchange. This paper will deal with the specific information required for inclusion into a prospectus being submitted for a resource company and particularly those parts of concern to mining engineers and geologists.

Jan 1, 1985

By G. H. Wigton

THE oxidized ores of the Chief Consolidated Mining Co., in the Tintic mining district, have never yielded to metallurgical treatment by any standard method except smelting. These ores occur in comparatively small, irregular, siliceous replacements in limestone, and carry silver, lead, and gold as the principal valuable metals. But smelting methods. are unsatisfactory, as the lead smelters heavily penalize the large amount of silica in the ore, and the copper smelters do not pay for the lead in the ore; therefore, an alternative treatment method was sought. In 1916, a metallurgical research department was organized under; the direction of the writer. Many standard metallurgical methods were investigated but, on oxidized ore, none yielded extraction great enough to make its use feasible. During some chloridizing-roasting experiments in 1916, made in an assay muffle, the writer noted that large proportions of the silver, lead, and gold were volatilized from certain oxidized ores. The possibility of volatilizing the metals and collecting them in the form of a concentrated fume was then studied. But, as it was shown that satisfactory chloride-volatilization would be limited to a furnace feed with a high fusing temperature of the non-volatilizable constituents, and as the results obtained in a rotary kiln with the admixture of common salt with the ground ore were inferior to muffle tests, further volatilization experiments were discontinued until 1920. During this interval, an experimental sulfidizing and flotation plant was operated. After the cessation of attempts to float the oxidized minerals, chloride-volatilization experiments were resumed. The highly infusible flotation. tailing from the operation of the flotation mill was used for furnace feed. The first tests made on flotation tailing mixed with 10 per cent. common salt showed -nearly complete lead and gold volatilization but considerably less volatilization of silver than in muffle tests. In attempts to increase the silver extraction, the percentage salt in the furnace feed was varied, and it soon became apparent that the use of smaller percentages of salt raised the fusion temperature of the furnace charge and thus,

Jan 8, 1925

By L. Obert, D. E. Stephenson

The objectives of this investigation were to develop a laboratory procedure in which core discing could be produced under known (and variable) stress conditions, and to study the discing characteristics of several fypes of rock. Discing of rock cores refers to the formation of discs or wafers of relatively uniform thickness which fracture or rupture on surfaces approximately *Fracture is a type of failure in which there is a complete loss of cohesion and fresh surfaces are created. Rupture is a type of failure in which there Is only a partial loss of cohesion. normal to the axis to the core (see Fig. 1). Usually the surfaces of the discs are concave-convex with the concave side toward the collar of the hole. The surface of the fractured discs are like those created by a tension failure (or possibly a shear failure with virtually no normal compressive stress). This phenomenon has been observed by a number of investigators1-5 in the course of diamond drilling in underground mines, especially in areas suspected of being under high stress. The state of stress in the core required to produce discing is not exactly known. Tranter and craggs6 theoretically investigated the stress distribution in an infinite cylinder, subjected to hydrostatic pressure, minus p, from z = 0 to z = 8 and unloaded from z = 0 to z = 8, Fig. 2. The exact solution to this problem shows that a tensile stress develops in the loaded region near z = 0 with the greatest tensile stress on the axis of the cylinder. A tensile stress also developed on the surface of the cylinder at a point just outside of the loaded zone. Jaeger and Cook3 experimentally investigated the discing mechanism by biaxially loading cores in a pressure jacket sealed at the ends by O-rings. According to the Tranter and Craggs theory it would be expected that failure should occur at the pressure discontinuity at the O-rings. The experimental results showed that if the specimen was unjacketed it broke at random points within the pressurized zone and at a pressure somewhat greater than the tensile strength of the specimen, presumably due to the development of a

Jan 1, 1965

By J. L. Gillson

The word "other" in paragraph 4, line 11, column 1, page 205, should read "over;" the correct version of reason 2, this paragraph, is: 'L. . . 2) to evaluate the usefulness of certain geo-chemical techniques, V. C. Kennedy and S. W. Hobbs of the USGS had already studied the distribution of copper, lead, and zinc in the soils (both in background areas and over veins) and in the water and plants, providing a criterion for measuring the magnitude and effect of soil contamination; ...9 On page 206, in the top left hand corner of Fig. 1 (in the area bounded by 47°35' and 116°10), the reference to Fig. 3 is incorrect. The area of Pine Creek, South Fork Coeur d'Alene River, and portion of Big Creek (the area which includes, from left to right, Kingston, Pinehurst, Smelterville, and Kellogg) should be identified as that of Fig. 2A. The headings for columns 1, 3, and 4, Tables I and 11, page 209, column 2, were reversed when the paper was printed. The corrected tables are:

Jan 1, 1961

By T. Sekimoto, T. Kokubo, M. Yamamoto, K. Masuda, T. Moro, H. Sakamoto

The choking-free cyclone was developed primarily to remove solid particles suspended in a slurry containing fibrous materials, such as municipal solid waste. This cyclone is characterized by a screw conveyor at the underflow side of the cyclone. The screw conveyor has a hollow rotational shaft for air supply and is driven by a variable speed motor for discharge control. Even if the underflow discharge is highly concentrated, this type of cyclone can be stably operated without nozzle choking. High classification efficiency similar to that of a conventional cyclone can be obtained as a result of air introduction through the hollow rotational shaft. The recovery of organic matter and the removal efficiency of inorganic matter were actually improved by the application of this cyclone to municipal solid waste. After applying this cyclone to the desliming of fine sand, sand product of low water content was recovered.

Jan 1, 1980

By F. A. Olson, S. L. Pohlman

A unique method of measuring weight loss as a function 3 of time, with a sensitivity of 10-5 grams, while leaching copper minerals with a flowing acid leach solution has been developed. Kinetic results obtained coupled with visual and microprobe analyses show topochemical reaction for the leaching of chrysocolla with sulfuric acid. The kinetics follow a shrinking core model and show ion diffusion through a product layer, chemical reaction at the unreacted core interface and mass transfer through the boundary layer as being important.

Jan 1, 1974

By A. H. Larson, L. G. Twidwell

DURING the roasting of zinc sulfide concentrates and by-product recovery from flue dusts, the zinc sul-fate phase may occur in various stages of the processes. In addition to zinc sulfide, other sulfide phases are usually present such as CdS, PbS, CuzS, and FeS. Consequently, the effect of these sulfides on the thermal decomposition of ZnS04 was investigated. Merck high-purity, anhydrous zinc sulfate was used as the starting material. The sulfate was heated under an argon atmosphere, at a rate of 10°C per min. With the first slight indication of decomposition as determined by gas analysis, the sample was removed from the furnace and allowed to cool. X-ray patterns showed no other phase present. It is estimated that less than 0.05 pct of the ZnS04 decomposed. The metal sulfides were also heated under an argon atmosphere to drive off any adsorbed water. The materials were then sized (-200 to +270 mesh), mixed in predetermined mole ratios, and pressed into pellets. The experimental measurement of the reaction rate consisted of purifying the argon carrier gas, continuous flushing of the heated reacting mixture with argon, and collection and analysis of the SOn product gas. The reaction system was heated to 600°C and al-

Jan 1, 1967

By M. R. J. Wyllie, Michael A. Torcaso

With the continued deep drilling of today, increasing numbers of high pressure and high temperature gas-condensate reservoirs are being discovered. Correspondingly, the ranges of properties of gas-condensate reservoir fluids are also being increased. The literature1*'." contains several excellent reviews of the property ranges in presently known condensate reservoirs. When one examines these property ranges, it becomes apparent that the need for reliable data is great if the engineer is to evaluate properly or appraise a gas-condensate reservoir. It is the purpose of this paper to present phase-behavior data that will point out some of the important variables that influence recovery from gas-condensate reservoirs produced by pressure depletion. All these variables may be resolved into two major categories: the hydroc:arbon composition of the reservoir fluid and the physical properties of the reservoir. But the variables which we will consider are those which are usually determined from well tests shortly after discovery and are, consequently, readily available to the engineer. They are as follows: (1) the producing separator gas-stock-tank liquid ratio, (2) stock-tank liquid gravity, and (3) reservoir temperature. Laboratory depletion studies have been performed on several reservoir fluids to illustrate the effect of changes in the cronsidered variables upon ultimate recoveries. The deviation factors, Z, of a series of reservoir fluids were determined experimentally to illustrate their order of magnitude and their effect upon the calculation of in-place reserves existing at high pressurcs and temperatures. The procedures followed in conjunction with the performance of these studies and their associated calculations are illustrated in Fig. 1. For the purpose of this paper, the depletion recoveries are expressed only in terms of pcr cent of initial stock-tank liquid, with the abandonment pressure assumed to be 500 psig. VARIATION OF RECOVERY WITH INITIAL PRODUCING SEPARATOR GAS-STOCK-TANK LIQUID RATIO The producing separator gas-stock-tank liquid ratio has long been one of the principal criteria in assumptions and generalized correlations' used for the estimation of ultimate recovery from gas-condensate reservoirs. Fig. 2 presents a plot of the cumulative recovery of stock-tank liquid at abandonment as a function of the initial producing separator gas-stock-tank liquid ratio. The graphical illustration represents the results of 44 laboratory depletion studies performed on actual gas-condensate fluids. These data are presented not only to illustrate the general trend of ultimate recovery increase with initial producing ratio increase but to emphasize the considerable variation in possible recovery at any given producing ratio. Table 1 presents the properties of two actual reservoir fluids chosen to illustrate the approximate extremities of producing ratios for gas-condensate systems. The fluids designated as A and B exhibited initial producing ratios of 3,400 and 114,000 scf/bbl, respectively. Fig. 3 presents a graphical comparison of the cumulative stock-tank liquid recoveries, calculated from the well-stream compositions and produced volumes for each fluid during depletion. It is to be noted that Fluid A exhibited a recovery of only 16.5 per cent when produced to an assumed abandonment pressure of 500 psig while the corresponding recovery for Fluid B was calculated to be 62.2 per cent. This difference in recovery, which exemplifies the general trend of recovery increase with initial producing ratio increase, is readily explained by consid-

By L. F. Bishop

THE ore bodies of the Butte district1 are found in many different vein systems having many different structural characteristics; some are narrow with self-supporting ore but with weak walls; some are wide with weak or strong ore and weak walls; some of the veins dip steeply and others do not; some have well defined walls, and others, in the "horsetail" area, are mined to sample limits. Consequently, many types of stoping methods are used in mining these ores. The stoping methods used in the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's properties are the square-set and cut-and-fill. The square-set method is the principal stoping method used because, generally speaking, the ore and walls are weak, the ore is high grade, and good extraction is required. These square-set stopes may be classified as conventional, vertical slice, slot, timber rill, and Mitchell slice types. The conventional type square-sets are those of various shapes and sizes, mined by horizontal slicing to the boundaries of the stopes. The rock is slid to the chute and the filling is moved by gravity. The ore and waste may be handled with a scraper when local conditions require it. The vertical-slice square-set system is the type used in narrow veins that are mined in vertical panels. The slot stopes are stopes in wide veins that employ a slot across the vein instead of a con- ventional chute to handle the ore. The timber rill fs a type of square set in which the ore is mined as in inclined cut and fill but the square-set timber is used. The Mitchell slice is the type used for some broken or heavy ore blocks, or for pillar extraction between two converging slot stopes. The cut-and-fill method is used where the ore will stand without much support although the walls may be weak. The principal type of this method is the horizontal cut-and-fill, with mechanical scraping. The inclined cut-and-fill, or rill, stopes are used in some veins too narrow for scraping. The production from the various meth: ods in use for the second six months of 1944 are shown in Table I. [ ] This paper deals mainly with the vertical slice and slot types of square-set stoping, because of their effect on production locally and their potential possibilities here and in other districts, with sufficient reference to conventional square-setting for comparison.

Jan 1, 1945

By D. N. Dietz

Jan 1, 1969

COUNCIL OF ECONOMICS, AIME Formerly Mineral Economics Division Established as a Division December 15, 1948 Established as a Council February 26, 1957 Sheldon P Wimpfen, Chairman John D Ridge, Vice-Chairman (Mining) A J Philips, Vice-Chairman (Metals) Warren B Davis, Vice-Chairman (Petroleum) COUNCIL OF EDUCATION, AIME Formerly Mineral Industry Education Division Established as a Division January 15, 1932 Established as a Council February 26, 1957 James D Forrester, Chairman Charles V Kirkpatrick, Vice Chairman (and Chairman-elect) Lysle E Shaffer, Past Chairman Truman H Kuhn, Secretary-Treasurer Colorado School of Mines Golden, Colorado John S Bell, Contact AIME Director

Jan 1, 1960

The pellet plant, built by Dravo Corp, in Groveland, Mich., for the Hanna Mining Co., is now in full operation. Although using jasper, a type of iron ore with low iron content (approximately 28% Fe), the plant has a rated capacity of 1,250,000 tans of pellets per year. In its four years of existence, the nearby concentrating plant has seen its capacity increase from 700,000 tons to 1,500,000 tons a year as part of a major expansion program at Groveland. Utilizing the Dravo-Lurgi continuous grate process, the pellet plant produces %a-in. pellets of more than 60% iron content. The fully-hooded pelletizing grate, largest in the U.S., is 9 ft. 10% in. wide and 223 ft. 1% in. tong over 34 windboxes, with an effective hearth area of 2195 sq. ft. Drying, firing, and cooling functions are all carried out on this single piece of equipment.

Jan 4, 1964

By AIME AIME

THE week, of April 5 will long be remembered by those that attended the Birmingham meetings of the Open-Hearth and Blast Furnace committees of the A.I.M.E. Iron and Steel Division. Birmingham iron and steel own received the 450 delegates with open arms; described and discussed their southern metallurgical practices and problems and compared experiences with their northern brother metallurgists in two days of technical sessions on Wednes-

Jan 1, 1937

By W. R. Ingalls

DUPING the last two years, and especially during the last six months, a number of important articles upon the new methods for the desulphurization of galena have been published in the technical periodicals, particularly in the Engineering and Mining Journal and in Metallurgie. I proposed for these methods the type-name of "lime-roasting" of galena as a convenient metallurgical classification,' and this term has found some acceptance. The articles referred to have shown the great practical importance of these new processes, and the general recognition of their metallurgical and commercial value which has already been accorded to them. It is my present purpose to review broadly the changes developed by them in the metallurgy of lead, in which connection it is necessary to refer briefly to the previous state of the art. The elimination of the sulphur-content of galena has been always the most troublesome part of the smelting-process, being both costly in the operation and wasteful of silver and lead. Previous to the introduction of the Huntington-Heberlein process at Pertusola, Italy, it was effected by a variety of methods. In the treatment of non-argentiferous galena concentrate, the smelting was done by the roast-reduction method (roasting in reverberatory furnace and smelting in blast-furnace); the roast-reaction method, applied in reverberatory furnaces; and the roast-reaction method, applied in Scotch hearths 2 Precipitation-smelting, simple, had practically gone out of use, although its reactions enter into the modern blast-furnace practice, as do also those of the roast-reaction method.

Sep 1, 1906

By Paul H. Lu

Methods and results of measuring three basic parameters for ground stability control, ground pressure, strata movement, and geomechanical properties of mine rock are presented in this paper. It is found that these parameters can be measured in situ by simple and practical techniques with nonsophisticated and inexpensive instruments. Specifically, a drillhole dilation technique employing a cylindrical hydraulic borehole pressure cell (CPC) was used to determine the modulus of rigidity. Premining ground pressures were determined by pressure convergence tests with a combination of one CPC and two pre-encapsulated flat hydraulic borehole pressure cells (BPC) installed in a single drillhole. Abutment pressures and pillar loading were monitored with BPC's. Differential strata movements and bed separations were measured with self-recording 10-anchor-point extensometers. Roof-to-floor convergence was measured with self-recording convergence meters. Some applications of these in-situ-determined parameters to mine design and ground stability control are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Jack G. Gill, Richard A. Dick

Blasting safety is a subject that cannot be overemphasized. Two years ago, a study was published describing g a series of fatal blasting accidents which took the lives of ten metal and nonmetal miners during the period of May 1973 to August 1974.1 Each accident was described, and the direct causes were delineated. In each instance, specific MESA safety regulations were violated. Four of the victims were killed by drilling into explosives; two were killed by lingering too long in the vicinity of fuse rounds; two fatalities resulted from improper guarding of shots; one blaster did not retreat far enough to avoid the blast concussion; and another used an improper tester for checking an electric blasting cap. All of these fatalities could have been avoided by adhering to the MESA blasting regulations contained in 30 CFR Part 55 (Health and Safety Standards-Metal and Nonmetallic Open-Pit Mines), Part 56 (Health and Safety Standards-Sand, Gravel and Crushed Stone Operations), and Part 57 (Health and Safety Standards-Metal and Nonmetallic Underground Mines).

Jan 11, 1977