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By T. J. Jr. Corwin

This paper will cover the problems confronting an owner when planning and estimating the cost of a proposed tunnel. Three factors are known: the length, size and the time allocated for the completion of the work. In general the difficulties encountered when driving a tunnel in California are the greatest at the lower elevations and in the Coast Range and are minimal in the Sierra Nevada mountains particularly in granitic formation. The writer will discuss the experience gained from observing the driving of about 120 miles of tunnel in California as well as the repairs of some tunnels. SIZE OF TUNNELS It is known that a small tunnel may be more costly to drive than one of somewhat larger dimensions. This fact was found to be true when a tunnel about 4,000 feet long was constructed to eliminate 7 miles of canal. The formation was lava so it was anticipated the ground would be self supporting because of the small bore. Actually the tunnel required support for most of its length and working conditions were poor. It became apparent that a larger size could have been driven at no additional cost and probably in less time. On another unlined tunnel, to be driven in granitic formation, the contractor was given the option of using

Jan 1, 1974

By M. A. Bartkoski

Today?s surviving companies are being pushed to a heightened level of excellence due to market changes. Therefore, new business strategies must be explored. This paper offers a sequenced plan to retool, empower, and organize the entire team for a common goal. Integrity Process is an operating system that is very comprehensive and is integrated in every part of the business. It relies on a detailed prevention concept intertwined with accountability that produces individual efficiencies and team effectiveness. Integrity Process focuses on the importance between working from commitment motives versus compliance fears. The results are balanced in priority and truly yield a win-win for the owners, management, workforce, and the community. Integrity Process can and is being used in any industry that is challenged to optimize the relationship between people and process.

Feb 23, 2014

By S. C. Schmelter

The destabilizing effect of water pressure on rock mass stability is examined quantitatively by the finite element method. A coupled code that accounts for the simultaneous effects of rock mass deformation and transient fluid flow is used for this purpose. The traditional soil mechanics assumption of an incompressible fluid is shown to be untenable for the analysis of porous, fractured rock slopes. A Mandel-Cryer effect, a transitory but elevated and potentially destabilizing water pressure following a cut, was not observed.

Jan 1, 1997

By R. B. Hopler

Explosives R&D has historically been motivated by coal mining. Whether to solve safety problems or to improve productivity and cost, the result has been the same: better explosives products and initiation systems. This process continues at an accelerated pace today due to the tools presently available to the explosives and mining industries.

Jan 1, 1993

By T. J. DeMull

The business of heap leaching requires accurate forecasting of metal production from the heaps. Business forecasts typically follow a format that project periodic (monthly, quarterly, or annual) product shipments based on anticipated operating results, e. g., tons of ore placed, grade of ore, and rate of leach extraction. Since revenue and cash flow are dependent on the metal production stream, forecasts of metal production are very important for project evaluation and business planning purposes. Nevertheless, production forecasts, particularly for new heap leach projects, have been prone to errors. The present paper identifies some of the pitfalls that would be encountered in preparing production forecasts for new heap leach operations and provides a checklist of considerations to assist in preparing a forecast. Also, the paper presents a case study of copper production forecasting used for the Sanchez Project, a heap leach operation located near Safford, Arizona, that is presently under development by AZCO Mining, Inc.

Jan 1, 1995

By Nathaniel Arbiter

A fully-instrumented driving mechanism has been constructed to study the power, aerating and solid suspension characteristics of several laboratory flotation machines. Machines operating over normal flotation speed ranges give constant power numbers in liquid' systems indicating that they operate under fully baffled turbulent flow conditions. Owing to lack of geometrical scaling, power numbers for different sizes of cells of the same make are different. Even larger differences occur between cells of different manufactures. For a given impeller, varying the tank size did not significantly affect the power consumption. Tank geometry and baffling has a slight effect on power consumption with shrouded impellers. For a given impeller speed, suspension height decreases while power increases with increasing mass of solids in suspension. While power consumption is hardly affected by particle size and clearance between the impeller and tank bottom, the suspension height significantly increases as clearance increases and as particle size decreases. Aeration was found to affect not only power but also the suspension characteristics of the machine. For closely sized particles drastic sedimentation occurred when a critical value of the air flow number was exceeded. The critical air flow number decreased with increasing particle size. This effect was less marked with a wide particle size range. The self-aerating capacity of flotation machines increases with cell size at a given speed for the same impeller-shroud system, but decreases in the presence of frother and solids. Equations have been established for correlating all of the studied variables. Data taken from the literature were also correlated with these equations.

Jan 1, 1968

By A. Suarez, M. Menendez, M. R. Gent, P. Riesgo

"Recent requirements to reduce thermal coal plant emissions, and ultrafine coal's tendency to produce these emissions due to its typically high ash and moisture contents have limited the use of ultrafine coal. Ultrafine coal in beneficiation plants are usually either disposed of in tailing ponds at a loss in combustible material or disposed of by blending with coarser higher-grade products, resulting in a reduction in marketed product quality. A study of the options for processing ultrafine coal, consisting of < 200 µm hydrocyclone overflow, with 38.8 percent ash content is presented here. Ultrafine coal was processed based on 200-µm sieve bend and 10-µm hydrocyclone classifications, enhanced gravity separation (EGS) and froth flotation concentration as well as combinations of these. Yield, combustible material recovery (CMR) and product humidity were evaluated as test results.Depending on the processing applied, product ash content could be reduced up to 49.7 percent, and up to 95.8 percent CMR of the actual run of mill feed could be attained. All of the processing options analyzed could reduce produced thermal electric plant emissions due to ash and moisture from 22 to 38 percent of the actual unprocessed ultrafine coal product.Froth flotation was found to be the optimal process, yielding a product with the lowest ash content attained of 19.5 percent and CMR of 92.3 percent. Being the most versatile of the processes evaluated, it is capable of producing coal with varied ash contents but is subject to potential variations in coal flotability. The most complicated of the processing options, a combined sieve bend recovery of the > 200 µm fraction and EGS processing of the 10 to 200 µm fraction was found to be the next best option, attaining a combined 90.1 percent CMR and 25.0 percent ash content. IntroductionMunicipal, regional and national objectives to reduce fossil fuel combustion emissions and their effects on air quality and global weather changes are affecting thermal electric plant operations. Plans and regulations such as President Obama's Clean Power Plan (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015), the European Directive 2010/75/EU (European Commission, 2010) and China’s proposed Enhanced Actions on Climate Change (Wei, 2015) are of major significance to thermal electric plant operations. Although thermal plant efficiencies depend in large part on the losses of heat by plant components, the ash and humidity contents of thermal coal invariably reduce plant efficiencies and increase emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and dust.Any noncombustible material present in thermal coal will result in higher CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced. Since no particle emission control can be totally effective, it is to be anticipated that any reduction in coal ash content will also result in reduced particle emissions. Kurose, Ikeda and Makino (2001) reported that NOx emissions also increase with coal ash content. The effect of coal moisture content during combustion is complex. Kurose, Ikeda and Makino (2001) showed that an increase in coal moisture content significantly reduces thermal NOx to total NOx production, and Bosoaga et al. (2006) showed that it tends to reduce NOx emissions. Since the humidity, pyrite and ash content of thermal coals directly affect thermal electric plant efficiencies and emissions, minimizing these factors should facilitate, at least in part, compliance with thermal electric plant emission limits. This, in turn, would affect the specifications and prices of the coal preparation plant products."

Jan 1, 2016

By S. Bahrampour

One of the basic requirements for designing an optimized rock support for an underground opening is having reasonably enough geological information. It is often financially impractical to obtain detailed geological information about the rock surrounding the excavations. The geological and geotechnical information which are obtained during the construction phase are also usually inadequate and need periodic operation stoppage. Penn State University- J.H. Fletcher & Co. joint venture is to improve the existing instrumented roofbolter so that the 3D geological and geotechnical map of the rock mass surrounding the underground working can be generated real-time as the data is being collected. This information will also be used to design appropriate support for different sections of mines. In this paper, recent results in improving the performance of the measurement while drilling system will be discussed. Moreover, updates related to borehole probing methods for estimating the properties of the rock masses will be presented.

Feb 23, 2014

By R. W. Wittkopp

The Relief Canyon gold deposit is located approximately twenty- four kilometers east of the town of Lovelock in Northwestern Nevada. At Relief Canyon, the Late Triassic Grass Valley Formation has been thrust over the Late Triassic Natchez Pass Formation. The lower plate Natchez Pass Formation is composed of massive gray dolomitic limestone which is locally silty and sandy. The upper plate Grass Valley Formation is composed of shale, siltstone, argillite and quartzite. Gold mineralization at Relief Canyon occurs along the highly brecciated thrust contact between these two formations. Weak gold mineralization often occurs above the thrust in the Grass Valley Formation, however, most of the ore grade mineralization is present below the thrust in the brecciated Natchez Pass Formation or where the two formations are mixed as a result of movement along the thrust. Several types of gold mineralization have been recognized at Relief Canyon. A large amount of the ore is present as a jasperoid breccia, however, significant amounts of ore occur as a mixed breccia composed of upper plate rock, fresh limestone, clay and jasperoid breccia. Gold ore also occurs in a fresh limestone breccia which contains a large amount of clay. Below masses of jasperoid, jasperoid stringers containing gold extend into the fresh limestone. Gold mineralization at Relief Canyon appears to be truly disseminated and has the typically associated trace elements of arsenic, antimony, mercury and fluorine. The Relief Canyon deposit can be classified as a structurally controlled disseminated gold deposit. Other deposits that fit this classification are the Pinson and Dee gold mines.

Jan 1, 1984

By Jr. Smith

Borates have been mined in the desert areas of California and Nevada for more than 100 years. To about 1890, playa surface mining provided the chief sources of boron minerals. Underground mining of colemanite and later of borax and kernite was predominate until about twenty years ago. Open pit mining of the large deposits of borax and kernite near Boron, California has been most significant for the past twenty years. Mining of colemanite in the Ryan, California area, near Death Valley, began in 1907. Following the discovery of the large deposits in the Boron area (about 1957), mining in the Death Valley area became nearly nonexistent. Only small tonnages were mined for special uses. Little mining was done in the Boraxo area near Ryan. The first claim was made in about 1915 In 1960 the area became the property of the Kern County Land Company, which was acquired by Tenneco Oil Company in 1967. In 1976 the various borate properties and claims in this region were acquired by American Borate Corporation. The open pit mine is now approximately 400 feet (121.9 m) deep, 3000 feet (914.4 m) long and 1000 feet (304.8 m) wide. The borates in the Boraxo pit consist primarily of three minerals. These are about 50% coiemanite (C2B6O11&apos; 5H2O), about 40% probertite (NaCaB5O9.5H2O), and 10% ulexite (NaCaBcO9.8H2O). The colemanite, along with boric acid and high-grade coiemanite ore from Turkey provide the only sodium-free borates for production of textile grade fiberglas. When heated to its decomposition temperature, colemanite decrepitates to a fine powder. This provides the basis for the concentration process. The gangue minerals in this deposit are primarily calcite and clays, including bentonite. The ore body has a very low arsenic content.which is a desirable feature. Test work had been done with samples prior to the results discussed herein. This paper will discuss results of test work which were the basis for erection of a plant, and the subsequent plant operations.

Jan 1, 1978

By W. C. Meyer

Surface tension and its control are important in the concentration of ores by froth flotation, both in terms of producing the proper bubble size distribution and to render the ore surface of interest hydrophobic such that adhesion to a bubble will take place. The influence a substance has on surface tension has traditionally been measured using static, equilibrium techniques. Yet many applications such as flotation involve rate-related effects of surface tension where equilibrium values are not reached. In the time frame of 1 - 300 seconds, aging effects have been noted for bubbles formed in dodecylamine acetate solutions; a slow decrease in surface tension occurs until an equilibrium value is reached, as studied by Finch and Smith (1972). Since stationary bubbles do not exist in flotation cells because of the turbulence generated by agitation and aeration, it is more likely that the chemical composition of the bubble is determined during its formation, under dynamic conditions. The chemical composition is extremely important because the induction time required for a particle-bubble entity to collide and adhere to each other is augmented by favorable surface tension (wetting) proper- ties between the surface of the particle and the bubble air-water interface or envelope, as considered by Mackenzie and Matheson (1963). Finch and Lyman (1976) have established that the probability of a "permanent" attachment taking place during this contact time is aided by the ability of an oil droplet (viz. bubble) to relieve non- equilibrium surface tension effects which are involved in the water-thinning process. This Maragoni effect, or surface elasticity, can be considered in the context of particle agglomeration addressed by Kao and coworkers (1975). Water drainage leads to the formation of a collector-frother meniscus appearing between the colliding entities, arising from their combined partial immiscibility in the water phase and promoted by hydrophobic bonding within the interface. Together they constitute a liquid bridge whose force of attraction drawing the particles together is proportional to the interfacial tension existing between the water phase and liquid bridge. This adhesive force shows an approximate linear decrease with separation distance until rupture occurs, that is, FX = Fmax (1 ? X/Xr) (1) for a distance of separation X and rupture distance G. The greater the surface elasticity of the bubble, the greater will be the rupture distance and the better will be the force of adhesion. Since van den Tempel (1965) has related surface dilational properties of bubbles to the elasticity, E, of the film as

Jan 1, 1983

By D. A. Fenton

The reliability of large diameter, high horsepower ball mill is paramount when large production and minimum downtime is required. The 17 ft. x 56 ft. double compartment ball mill at St. Lawrence Cement Company has the first gearless drive built in North America and has the world&apos;s largest hydrodynamic bearings currently built and running. The machine has seen three years operation and has met its specifications. The mill was designed by Aerofall Mills Limited and the gearless drive built and designed by the Canadian General Electric Company. This paper discusses the operation of the first North American installation of a gearless drive ball mill from the mechanical, electrical and process aspects.

Jan 1, 1977

By R. R. Klimpel

The use of chemical reagents in flotation has been studied in great detail, e.g. (1, 2, 3, 4). Important progress has been made on the understanding of surface chemistry concepts involved in flotation. However, such scientific studies are often very complex even for rather simple idealized systems. Therefore, the deve- lopment of predictive or quantitative tools for plant engineering evaluation is still in the evolutionary stages. Until further progress in fundamental work is achieved, the operating engineer is faced with semi-empirical physical testing of reagent changes on several sizes of the actual equipment under study to be confident of the economic viability of any change.

Jan 1, 1980

By Jon A. Hummer, MICHAEL R. SHAHAN, Aleksandar D. Bugarski, Shawn Vanderslice

A study was conducted in an undergroundminewith the objective to identify, characterize, and source apportion airborne aerosols at the setup face and recovery room during longwall move operations. The focus was on contributions of diesel- and battery-powered heavy-duty vehicles used to transfer equipment between the depleted and new longwall panels and diesel-powered light-duty vehicles used to transport personnel and materials to various locations within the mine. Aerosols at the setup face were found to be distributed among diesel combustion-generated submicrometer and mechanically generated coarse aerosols. According to the data, the submicrometer aerosols downstream of the setup face were sourced to diesel exhaust emitted by vehicles operated inside and outside of the panel. Depending on the intensity of the activities on the panel, the outby sources contributed between 12.5 and 99.6% to the average elemental carbon mass flow at the setup face and recovery room. Extensively used light-duty vehicles contributedmeasurably to the elemental carbon concentrations at the setup face. The number concentrations of aerosols downstream of the setup face were associated with aerosols generated by combustion in diesel engines operated in the shield haulage loop and/or outside of the longwall panels. Entrainment of road dust by diesel or battery-powered load-haul-dump vehicles operated near the measurement site appears to be the primary source of mass concentrations of aerosols. The findings of this study should help the underground mining industry in its efforts to reduce exposures of miners to diesel and coarse aerosols.

Apr 14, 2020

By V. T. McLemore

"Lindgren (1933) defined a belt of alkaline-igneous rocks associated with large quantities of gold and rare earth elements (REE) that extends from Alaska and British Columbia southward into New Mexico, Texas and eastern Mexico. The North American Cordilleran alkaline-igneous belt since has been exploited for numerous types of mineral deposits. In New Mexico, Mid-Tertiary alkaline to calc-alkaline rocks are found with seven types of deposits in these districts: (1) polymetallic epithermal/mesothermal veins, (2) gold-bearing breccias/quartz veins, (3) Cu-Au, Au and Mo porphyry deposits, (4) skarns and carbonate-hosted deposits, (5) iron skarns and replacement bodies (with some gold), (6) gold placers, and (7) Th-REE (with some U, Nb) epithermal veins. Some of New Mexico’s largest gold and REE deposits are found within this belt. Their origin is not well understood, but a compilation of new data (age dates, isotopic and chemical analyses) allows for a better understanding. The diversity of igneous rocks and associated mineral deposits along this belt suggests that this region is characterized by highly fractionated and differentiated; multiple pulses of magmas and involves both upper mantle and lower crustal sources. Once magmas and metal-rich fluids reached shallow levels, local structures and wall rock compositions determined distribution of and final style of intrusions and resulting mineral deposits. INTRODUCTION Lindgren (1933) was one of the first geologists who noted that a belt of alkaline-igneous rocks extends from Alaska and British Columbia southward into New Mexico, Trans-Pecos Texas, and eastern Mexico (Fig. 1) and that these rocks contain relatively large quantities of gold, fluorine, zirconium, rare earth elements (REE), and other elements. Since then, the North American Cordilleran alkaline-igneous belt has been explored and exploited for numerous types of mineral deposits, especially gold. The North American Cordilleran alkaline belt is a north-south belt of alkaline igneous rocks and crustal thickening, roughly coinciding with the Great Plains physiographic margin with the Basin and Range (Rio Grande rift) and Rocky Mountains physiographic provinces (Mutschler et al., 1985, 1991; Bonham, 1988; Thompson, 1991a; Richards, 1995; McLemore, 1996; Jensen and Barton, 2000; Kelley and Luddington, 2002). Deposits within this belt have produced significant amounts of gold in the United States and Canada and include Cripple Creek, Colorado (702 metric tons of gold production), Black Hills, South Dakota (235 metric tons gold production) and Landsky-Zortman, Montana. In New Mexico, the North American Cordilleran alkaline belt extends from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Raton, southward to the Cornudas Mountains, in the northern Trans-Pecos alkaline belt (Fig. 2). The alkaline-igneous related mineral deposits in New Mexico have been referred to as Great Plains Margin (GPM) deposits by North and McLemore (1986, 1988) and McLemore (1996, 2001). Alternative classifications by other workers include Au-Ag-Te veins (Cox and Bagby, 1986; Bliss et al., 1992; Kelley et al., 1998), alkalic-gold or alkaline-igneous related gold deposits (Fulp and Woodward, 1991a; Thompson, 1991a, b; Bonham, 1988; Mutschler et al., 1985, 1991; Richards, 1995), porphyry gold deposits, and the North American Cordilleran belt of alkaline igneous rocks (Woolley, 1987; Mutschler et al., 1991)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Chris Groccia, Damodara R. Chinnasane

Vale is in the process of resuming mining in the lower 810 ore body (810 OB) below 4130L at Copper Cliff Mine – South Side. Production in the lower 810 OB had continued until it was temporarily ceased in 2017 to allow for the execution of activities associated with Copper Cliff Mine Phase 1 project. While mining the stopes in both the lower and mid part of the 810 OB, a seismic response was experienced that resulted in rockbursts and challenging mining conditions. The majority of the rockbursts experienced in the past were associated with stopes mined in a bottom-up mining sequence under a diminishing pillar situation between 3350L and 3540L. The current mining plan is comprised of both top-down and bottom-up mining fronts using a center-out chevron sequence of long hole open stopes to manage induced stresses. Numerical modeling assessments have been carried out to forecast the response of the rock mass due to the planned mining. Seismicity and stress induced damage surrounding excavations are anticipated, and areas requiring extra attention have been identified. A tactical approach is being used to prepare the area for production, including replacement of ground support elements that are damaged or have insufficient residual capacity, and installation of dynamic support in areas anticipated to experience bulking and/or dynamic loading that would exceed the current support system’s capacity. A series of monitoring programs are being put in place to confirm current conditions, and to monitor the response of the rock mass to proactively implement ground control tactics should the need arise. This paper provides a summary of the approach used to forecast, monitor, and manage the behavior of the 810 OB rock mass response to continued mining at depth.

Apr 26, 2022

By Cesar A. Busnardo

The carbonatite orebody in Jacupiranga is situated some 230km (140-mi) southwest of Sao Paulo and is mined by Serrana S/A de Mineragao, producing an apatite concentrate for fertilizer production and a calcite tailing for cement manufacture (see Figure 1). The orebody (Table 1) is mined by open pit and the total production is 4.5 million mt/year of carbonatite ore with a further 2.2 million mt/year of overburden. The carbonatite low-grade ore (Table 2) is fed to the concentration plant at 460 mt/h , comprising of four parallel lines of grinding, by rod mills 2.7m x 4.5m (9 x 15-ft), operating in closed circuit with hydrocyclones. The grinding circuit product is deslimed in four stages using hydrocyclones and the deslimed product is conditioned with corn starch and subsequently floated, using fatty acids as collector to, recover the apatite.

Jan 1, 1985

By RIINA SALMIMIES, ANTTI HAKKINEN, PAULA VEHMAANPERA

Better understanding of the mechanisms and kinetics of dissolution can benefit several industrial processes. For example, iron can be leached from clays, which can be further used as a raw material in the ceramic industry. Another important application is the regeneration of ceramic filter media, which are used in the dewatering of iron ores. Dissolution of iron oxides in mixtures of acids is fairly uncommon and a less well-understood phenomenon, but it can result in a more efficient process. This work also shows that the determination of dissolution mechanisms and kinetics is not straightforward in different acid systems.

By E. D. Gardner, William O. Vandenburg

This chapter on the square-set system of mining em¬bodies the results of a special study of the subject made as a part of the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) general investigation of mining methods and costs. Data for the chapter were gathered by the authors during visits to mines using square-set mining, from information circu¬lars prepared by consulting engineers to the USBM on mining methods at individual mines, and from articles in the technical press and the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. Al¬though some of the properties discussed are no longer in operation, the methods described are still valid. The square-set system of mining has been very widely applied and is one of the oldest methods in use in the US. It is mainly employed for extracting rela¬tively high-grade ore in heavy ground. It is also useful in taking out pillars left in mining by other methods. It is used to some extent as an auxiliary method with many underground systems and as an alternate with cut-and¬fill, shrinkage, and open-stope methods when heavy ground is encountered. In some cases as much as 50% of the ore may be extracted by square setting at mines listed as using some other method of mining. A large tonnage has been mined yearly by square setting, prin¬cipally in the western states. Due to the high cost of timber and the relatively low average production per manshift, this system generally is not used when the ore can be mined by some other method; it usually is adopted as a last resort. Square setting, however, has a special field in that ore bodies not minable by other methods can be stoped by this system. As square-set mining was widely known, there was a tendency for years to use the method regardless of its suitability. With the increasing need for economy and the development of other methods, square setting has been superseded in many mines by cut-and-fill, top slic¬ing, or sublevel caving methods. The term square-set mining as used in this chapter includes all stoping methods in which the space made by the removal of the ore is timbered with framed sets. The sets usually are square in horizontal section. The stope may or may not be filled with waste rock as stoping progresses. HISTORY OF THE SQUARE-SET SYSTEM Prior to 1860, open-stope methods with stulls for casual support accounted for most of the mineral pro¬duction from underground mines. Attempts to mine large ore bodies that required artificial support resulted in disastrous cave-ins and loss of life. The art of mining received a tremendous impetus following the introduc¬tion of methods for mining the bonanza ore body which was discovered in 1860 in the Ophir mine on the Comstock lode, Virginia City, NV. This ore body was phe¬nomenally rich and eventually proved to be 122 m (400 ft) high, 27 m (90 ft) wide, and 98 m (320 ft) long. The mining of this large high-grade ore body taxed the best engineering talent of the time; the problem was finally solved by Philip Deidesheimer. According to Eliot Lord (1882): "At the 50-foot level the vein of black sulphurets was only 3 or 4 feet thick, and could be readily extracted through a drift along its line, propping up the walls and roof when necessary by simple uprights and cap-posts. As the ledge descended the sulphuret vein grew broader until, at the depth of 175 feet, it was 65 feet in width, and the miners were at a loss how to proceed, for the ore was so soft and crumbling that pillars could not be used to support the roof as in coal mines. They spliced timbers together to hold up the caving ground; but these jointed props were too weak and ill-supported to with¬stand the pressure upon them, and were constantly broken and thrown out of place. The dilemma was a curious one. Surrounded by riches, they were yet un¬able to carry them off and their mass of black sulphurets bade fair to become a white elephant on their hands. The Ophir Company began to wish themselves less for¬tunate, as their miners narrowly escaped burial day after day in their attempts to stope out the ore. "A young mining engineer, Philip Deidesheimer, was in charge of a quartz mine in Georgetown, El Dorado County, Calif., in the autumn of 1860, when this serious check to the development of the lode occurred. At the request of William F. Babcock, a trustee of the Ophir Company, Mr. Deidesheimer left his California mine and crossed the mountains with a letter from the direc¬tors of the Ophir Company, authorizing him to inspect the workings of their mines and make such changes in the method of timbering as should seem to him expe¬dient. After examining the vein he designed, in the course of a few weeks, a system of timbering which proved to be exactly adapted to the requirements of the work. Experiments which he had previously made in California gravel and quartz mines furnished the out¬line of his plan. This was to frame timbers together in rectangular sets, each set being composed of a square base, placed horizontally, formed of four timbers, sills, and crosspieces from 4 to 6 feet long, surmounted at the corners by four posts from 6 to 7 feet high, and capped by a framework similar to the base. The cap pieces forming the top of any set were at the same time the sills or base of the next set above. These sets could readily be extended to any required height and over any given area, forming a series of horizontal floors, built up from the bottom sets like the successive stories of a house. The spaces between the timbers were filled with waste rock or with wooden braces, forming a solid cube when¬ever the maximum degree of firmness was desired. By adjustments of these sets the ore bodies along the line of the lode were extracted with comparative ease and security." Most mining methods are evolved slowly and are the result of the combined efforts of a number of minds; Deidesheimer&apos;s feat was remarkable in that his system was immediately successful. He died in 1916 at the age

Jan 1, 1982

By S. M. Hsiung

Chain pillar design formula under weak roof condition was developed by statistically analyzing the results from the three dimensional finite element parametric analyses. The parameters such as mechanical properties of the roof and floor strata, overburden depth, panel width and length, and coal strength were incorporated in the formula. A conversion formula which transfers a rectangular chain pillar into a square chain pillar of equal strength is proposed. The influence of high in-situ horizontal stresses, which are often encountered in the coalfield, on chain pillar stability is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1984