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By Richard Mcivor, Largo Albert

"Inco Limited has operated aluminum mine shaft conveyances since 1968. Aluminum conveyances are used where the hoisting in system requires lightweight conveyances to maintain the hoist rope safety factors and mine hoist rope pulls as dictated by government regulations. Inco Ltd. currently has 20 skips (including spares) operating in the Ontario Division mines. The main problems encountered are with galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals and metal fatigue. This paper will highlight some of the problems encountered and illustrate methods utilized to overcome the problems and improve the conveyances performance.IntroductionAluminum mine shaft conveyances have been in use at Inco Limited's various Sudbury district mines since 1968. All of the conveyances currently in use are skips used for hoisting mine ore and rock. Inco had an aluminum quick change Kimberley-type skip and cage in operation at its Totten Mine in the early 1970s, but this mine is no longer in operation and no further comment will be made.The primary reason why aluminum conveyances are chosen over conventional steel conveyances is because of their light weight. Typically an aluminum conveyance will weigh about 60% to 70% of a steel conveyance of similar design. The lighter weight conveyances will allow higher payloads to be used and still maintain the statutory hoist rope factors of safety. It must be remembered that increasing the payload will increase the power required to raise the load and the hoist will have to have the necessary horsepower for the increased payload or the system will be overloaded.The front dump (Rola-chute) skips are of the bail-less design, i.e. the box structure also supports the load and has the shaft guide shoes attached directly to the side of the box structure. The Copper Cliff North Mine and South Mine skips have a joint in the centre of the conveyance and are installed in the shaft in two sections and connected with pins. This feature allows very long (42 ft) skips to be used in areas where a one-piece bail-type conveyance could not be installed. It is not practical to make sectionalized bail-type conveyances"

Jan 1, 1988

By Fabiola Alvarez, Ana E. Bote, Daniel Pasquevich

"The oxidation of aluminum and its alloys was extensively studied for improving the corrosion resistance in structural materials having high specific strengths. But this reaction involves the formation of a very thin barrier layer on the metallic pieces. Furthermore, the ·recent development of the directed melt oxidation process for producing metal-ceramic; composites has renewed the interest in the study of interaction between gases and metals. Oxidation experiments in the presence of different chlorine partial pressures and at different temperatures were performed in ·a thermogravimetric balance, and microstructures were analyzed by electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The oxy-chlorination kinetics was determined and the oxide formed W(IS amorphous at temperatures below 600 °C and crystalline .at higher temperatures. The appropriate experimental conditions for the fastest completed oxidation was further determined.IntroductionThe use of fine powders for the manufacture of ceramic components has significant advantages. They include excellent sinterability; low sintering temperature and better microstructure leading to improved mechanical properties. The conventional method of producing fine oxide powders involves controlled precipitation and pirolysis of suitable salts. The main limitation of the high temperature decomposition route is the evolution of environmentally unacceptable and corrosive gases. Controlled precipitation of hydroxides from solutions of salts, followed by thermal treatment involves large volumes of solutions and the calcination step that can induce grain growth (1).Direct oxidation of aluminum metal for producing alumina powder requires high temperatures for the direct oxidation of molten Al alloys by a vapor phase oxidant process (2, 3) or high technological process like thermal plasma reactor ( 4).Oxidation of high purity aluminum (5, 6) below the melting temperature· is initially characterized by a nearly linear reaction rate, followed by a rate which decreases rapidly with further weight gain. However, the oxidation rate of an aluminummagnesium alloy is much faster and it does not conform to any common oxidation law, but it is nearly parabolic at temperatures between 200 and 400 °C, an nearly linear· above 400 °C."

Jan 1, 2000

By Philip D. Wilson

AS thin most important and vital component of an airplane aluminum hay rapidly become the heart and tome- of the war program. Its production ham increased amt will continue to increase, in comparison with its pre-war position further than that of any of lie other important critical metals except magnesium. Compared with the 1939 production of tons of primary ingot coming from four plants, all owned by the Aluminum Company of America the 1942 figures are more than three timer as large. Including, recoverable scrap and contracted ingot from Canada the 191,, supply of aluminum for the United States will be over siren times dial of 1939- A substantial part of this increase has been achieved during the past year as total production in 1941 was only some 307,500 tons. During 1942 six great new ingot plants sponsored and owned by the Government have come into production and three others are nearing completion.

Jan 1, 1943

By Turan Uysal, Ramazan Aydogmus, MURAT ERDEMOGLU

The paper investigates the effects of calcination for thermal activation and intensive milling for mechanical activation on aluminum recovery by acid leaching of pyrophyllite ore enriched via attrition scrubbing and froth flotation. The study compares these methods in terms of energy consumption and aluminum recovery, concluding that mechanical activation is more economical and environmentally friendly.

Nov 1, 2023

By F. Kassabji

This publication presents the main experimental and theoretical results on the recovery of aluminum scrap (dross and Used Beverage Can) without use of any addition of fluxing salts. Dross and UBC's processing experiments have been conducted in a rotary plasma furnace operating in the transferred and non-transferred mode, using different plasma gases. The investigation involved the treatment of more than 100 kg of dross and other aluminum residues using plasma torches with less than 100 kW power. The experimental work showed that this process is .far more economical and kind to the environment than the conventional route using a salt flux. An equilibrium thermodynamic calculation at elevated temperature makes possible the prediction of by-products at various temperatures for different plasma gases.

Jan 1, 1994

By T. Lamb

There are many honor stories about aluminum in the marine environment and many are not based on facts, so they are myths. Myths must be addressed before progress can be made. This paper attempts to dispel the myths and state the facts. A common perception is that aluminum ships cost significantly more than steel ships. This paper illustrates that even though the cost of the aluminum structure is over 50% more than the steel structure, an "equivalent" aluminum naval ship can be built within 7% of the acquisition price of a steel ship. This is possible because of the cascading benefits of the aluminum ship's significantly lighter weight. Aluminum ships also have a life-cycle cost advantage over steel ships because of reduced maintenance and fuel cost savings.

Jan 1, 2011

By Reza Kamali, Mohsen Bashiri, Hadi Fanisalek

"Nomenclature: A: area (m2), C: heat capacity (WIK), cp: specific heat (J/Kg K), d: internal tube diameter (in), F: correction factor for multi-pass and crossflow heat exchanger, h: convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K), k: thermal conductivity (W/mK), L: length (m), m: mass flow rate (Kg/s), W: flow rate, N: number, Q: heat rate (W), R: thermal resistance, T: temperature (°C), U: overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K), ;1,,P: pressure drop (Pa), ;1,,T: temperature difference (°C), p: density (lb/ft3), N: number of tube passes, U,: velocity in tubes, iJh: head loss in feet of flowing fluid, Up: velocity in the pipe leading to and from the heat exchanger (ft/sec), µ: viscosity ( cp ), Llpf frictional pressure loss (psi/l 00 equivalent ft of pipe) Subscripts: b: baffle, c: cold, cf counter flow, ex: exchanger, f: fouling, h: hot, i: inlet-inner, ib: inlet baffle, lm: logarithmic mean, m: mean, o: outlet-outer, s: shell, t: tube, w: wall AbstractThe main bottleneck for primary aluminum production industry is dealing with a huge amount of input energy. The fact is that part of provided energy to aluminum production smelters will be lost as waste heat and it never used for aluminum production. One part of waste heat is escaping from the potroom exhaust gases, which was studied for possible recovery in a desalination plant to produce distilled water and the paper was presented in 2011 TMS Annual Meeting. However, it was shown that waste heat recovery plant to produce distilled water is highly profitable but the main fact is that the exhaust gases from potroom are highly corrosive, abrasive and dusty. The main challenge for desalination plant construction, which is using aluminum smelter exhaust gases as the main heat source, is the highly corrosive environment that makes the situation difficult and complicated for equipments design and plant construction. In this paper, we are trying to study a detailed investigation regarding the heat exchangers fouling, corrosion in heat exchangers including heat exchangers' material, how often we need to shut down the plant for maintenance or cleaning, and plant thermal efficiency with considering fouling."

Jan 1, 2012

By Hannon, J. W. G.

Silicosis is today's most important industrial disease and probably dates back to the Stone Age. Since the industrial revolution, increasing attention has been paid to those occupations where mineral dust is present in the air breathed by the workers. For many years it was assumed that the inhalation of all mineral dusts was hazardous. but investigations conducted in several countries pointed the statistical finger of guilt at free silica in any of its numerous physical forms as a dust of outstanding toxicity. Recognition of silica as the chief hazard has resulted in widespread use of the term "silicosis." Depending upon the concentration of finely divided silica dust to which the individual is exposed and the duration of exposure, silicosis may become a disabling condition in from one to thirty years. The structure of the lung and respiratory passages is such that only minute particles of silica can gain entry to the air cells in the lung (5 microns or under are most toxic). When these minute particles gain entry to the lung tissues they stimulate certain protective cells in the lung to multiply at an excessive rate. The cell's undergo inflammatory changes which result in nodular scars and a low-grade inflammation of the lung tissue. These progressive changes in the lung structure gradually encroach

Jan 1, 1949

By Delahant A. B, Dworski M

From the Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis of the Edward L., Trudeau Foundation, Saranac Lake, New York:We are assembled to honor the memory of our friend and colleague, Donald Cummings, one of the founders and a past president of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. I deem it an Unusual privilege to have been asked to give this first memorial lecture and hope that what shall have to say may be worthy of the occasion. It is fitting that we should discuss here the subject of Silicosis to which he devoted such a large part of his life and it is doubly fitting, I think, that I should report to you an extended series of investigations carried on by his associates at the Saranac Laboratory.The subject of silicosis may seem hackneyed to this audience which is so familiar with the tried and accepted methods of prevention and control.But in spite of our efforts, the condition is still with us and unfortunately is still being produced in many places. In industries that now maintain good control of dust, fresh cases are appearing on annual re-examination, whose major exposure date back to the days before the hazard was recognized.A few new employees, with apparently ineffective upper respiratory protection against inhaled dust, develop silicosis precociously in environments that are comparatively harmless to their fellows. In plants that have relaxed their vigilance under the urgency of war production schedules, conditions again prevail that will produce, disease in the future.Silicosis acquired new interest with the announcement by Denny, Robson and Irwin(1) in 1937 that it could be prevented by the inhalation of powdered metallic aluminium. It so happened that without knowledge of their work, we at the Saranac Laboratory had for some months been conducting similar experiments with one of the hydroxides of aluminium.Quite independently we discovered that hydrated alumina would also protect animals against quartz. Our approach to the problem had been empirical; we were trying to neutralize quartz particles by coating their surfaces with an insoluble material following the lead of Kettle who in 1932 had shown that this could be accomplished with iron. He neglected to describe his method and the chemist who prepared his coated...

Jan 1, 1945

Following the experimental work of Denny, Robson, and Irwin, and the clinical investigation by Crombie and Blaisdell, an investigation of aluminium therapy was begun at Washington, Pa., which is situated In a very large industrial section of the State. Some of the men to be studied were from plants manufacturing silica brick, refractories used in steel and glass manufacturing, and semi-porcelain table-ware; others were workers in foundries, sand blasters, and men engaged in the quarrying of ganister rock.This group of workmen gave an opportunity to study the effects of aluminium on various types of silicosis which differed somewhat from that found in hard-rock miners.EXPOSUREIn their occupations, the men studied were exposed to silica dust concentrations ranging from 17 to 97 per cent free silica. In the silica brick industries, the unfired product averages 96 per cent silica in the form of quartz, whereas the fired brick contains 50 to 62 per cent. cristobalite plus 11 to 80 per cent. tridymite, forms of silica that, on account of their higher solubility, are more toxic than quartz. The operational dust counts in the plants varied from 15 to 9,500 particles per c.c., and the median particle size from the aerial samples was 1.0 micron for the green product and 2.0 microns for the fired product. The length of exposure varied with the occupation as well as with the individual plant, but disabling silicosis could be produced in less than four years in certain exposures. The average time needed to produce radiological silicosis in those susceptible to this disease was eight years. Some of the men in our series of cases have been treated as long as fifteen years after exposure had ceased, and have improved under treatment.The dust counts mentioned above had been reduced prior to the aluminium therapy studies and the presen.t exposures do not exceed '900 particles per c.c., the average being 370 particles. per c.c. This improvement in dust conditions was due to improved dust control apparatus, which was installed before aluminium therapy was instituted. Aluminium powder is not a substitute for dust control.PATHOLOGYThe pathological picture of silicosis in men engaged in the ceramic industry is somewhat different from that in hard rock miners." Due to exposure to high concentrations of dust containing high percentages of silica of varying degrees of solubility andvery small particle size, these men are subject to a relatively rapid type of silicosis, which sets up an acute...

Jan 1, 1945

By Jan Petter Maehlen

Solid H-absorbing materials are in focus of ongoing R&D to offer viable solutions for the hydrogen storage and supply systems aimed on use of hydrogen as energy carrier for automotive transportation. Low operating pressures, combined with high gravimetric and volumetric efficiencies, together with fast kinetics of hydrogen release at ambient temperatures (providing conditions for a low energy loss due to decomposition), are the most important features of the ?ideal? H storage material. Hydrides of the light elements are the only possible candidates to build systems with an overall efficiency similar to those accommodating liquid or compressed (700 bar) hydrogen. One promising material from this point of view is aluminium trihydride, alane AlH3 with a gravimetric storage capacity of 10 wt.% H. This work was focused on studies of the crystal structure and thermal decomposition of alane by application of powder synchrotron X-Ray diffraction.

Jan 1, 2006

This paper states how alloy and welding advances have made possible the rapid development of the use of aluminum in the construction of equipment for earth moving and off -highway rock hauling. The main details are given regarding the construction and field testing carried out on an aluminum prototype body. The test results of strain gauge readings are analysed, and a description is given of how these have been applied in subsequent designs. The increase in the number of aluminum units put into the various types of service in Canada, as well as the problems encountered, is described, and the experience gained from five years of field service is discussed in some detail. An assessment is also made of the durability of the e units. The economics of using aluminum, together with the current development position, are reviewed, and predictions are made for considerable future increases in the use of aluminum units in open-pit and off-highway operations.

Jan 1, 1964

By W. L. Fink, R. S. Archer

THIS paper describes results obtained on aluminum-beryllium alloys and aluminum-beryllium-copper alloys in the preparation of which aluminum of 99.95 per cent. purity was used. The constitution and structure of the high purity binary alloys are given. The aluminum-beryllium eutectic occurs at 0.87 per cent. beryllium and 645° C. The solid solubility of beryllium in aluminum at 631° C. is 0.05 per cent. beryllium, and at room temperature is less than 0.013 per cent. beryllium. The densities of the alloys are substantially the same as the values calculated on the assumption that the densities of the elements are not changed by alloying. All of the alloys age-harden at room temperature after a solution heat treatment, and the chill cast aluminum-beryllium-copper alloys age-harden at room temperature without a prior solution heat treatment. Hardness and tensile properties are given. Salt spray corrosion tests on sheet specimens are described. It is shown that beryllium does not lower the corrosion resistance of aluminum to salt spray provided the alloy has received a solution heat treatment. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF BERYLLIUM ALLOYS Beryllium has certain properties such as low density, high hardness, good corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion and fairly good electrical conductivity, which would indicate that it is worthy of consideration as an ingredient of light alloys. It was not until recently, however, that beryllium could be produced with sufficient ease to encourage research along this line. The production of beryllium by electrolysis from a fluoride bath has now developed to the stage where it could be used commercially if there were sufficient demand for the element. Claims made in certain newspapers and technical articles in regard to the strength and corrosion resistance of the aluminum-beryllium alloys are not justified by experimental results. Moreover, beryllium is an expensive metal ($200 a pound at the time this work was done) and, on account of the nature of its ore and the consequent difficulty of its extraction, it will in all probability continue to be a relatively expensive metal, although the cost would undoubtedly be a great deal less than $200 a

Jan 1, 1928

By D. Eugene Rannels, Yu-Chen Lee, John W. Swisher

"Inhaled dust particles of appropriate size contact cells of the alveolar region.' The acute response to coal dust appears to involve a variety of cell types, including alveolar epithelial cells, interstitial fibroblasts, both resident and recruited macrophages, and cells of the immune system. Direct and indirect effects of dust, which may be mediated by soluble factors,'' can initiate acute and long-term lung injury. While it appears that epithelial cell growth and differentiation, along with integrity of the epithelial basement membrane, may play a role in the long-term response to dust exposure, little is known of the role the alveolar epithelium may play in the progression of injury. The broad hypothesis that underlies these experiments is that short- and long-term consequences of coal dust exposure involve changes in structure and function of the alveolar epithelium and the underlying extracellular matrix. Recent studies show that coal dusts exert direct effects to modify pulmonary epithelial cell-extracellular matrix interactions in vitro.3EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESType II cells isolated on day 0 by density centrifugation and differential attachment4 were plated overnight in D MEM containing 10% fetal calf serum before exposure to anthracite dust PSOC 867 sonicated into culture medium (750 ug/mL).3 Synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins was determined on day 3 of primary culture, as detailed elsewhere. 5 Cells were removed from extracellular matrix by extraction with NH4OH and high salt. Extracellular matrix synthesis and fibronectin content were evaluated based on radiolabeling with 3 H-leucine and on Western blot analysis, respectively. Additional analytical methods and calculations are detailed elsewhere.3-5"

Jan 1, 1998

By D. Eugene Rannels, Yu-Chen Lee

"Lee, Yu-Chen, and D. Eugene Rannels. Alveolar macrophages modulate the epithelial cell response to coal dust in vitro. Am. J. Physicl. 270 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 14): L123-L132, 1996.-The response of the alveolar epithelium to coal dust exposure is poorly understood. Coal or other dusts may act on the epithelium directly or indirectly through nearby alveolar macrophages (AM) that produce cytokines and other soluble products. AM and type II pneumocytes (T2P) were thus exposed to dust in coculture to evaluate their possible interactions. Anthracite coal dust PSOC 867 increased synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM) components by T2P. AM alone did not produce ECM. Similarly, coculture ofT2P with AM (3.75:1) had little effect on epithelial ECM synthesis. In contrast, coculture ofT2P with AM significantly increased PSOC 867 effects on T2P rates of ECM synthesis, ECM fibronectin content, and T2P levels of fibronectin mRNA. AM-conditioned medium did not change the PSOC 867 effect on T2P. Neither control nor PSOC 867-treated AM on Falcon culture inserts (0.45-µm pore size) over T2P stimulated ECM synthesis by either untreated or dust-exposed epithelium. Thus AM-mediated changes in ECM synthesis by PSOC 867-treated T2P require close cell-cell interactions, suggesting a role for cell-cell contact or for short-lived soluble mediators of the AM effects. DEVELOPMENT OF PNEUMOCONIOSIS, a chronic disease of coal workers that results in pulmonary fibrosis and low lung compliance, is associated with inhalation of mineral or coal dust in the work place (14). Although the pathology of pneumoconiosis has been studied extensively, cellular mechanisms that cause changes in lung structure and function are not fully understood. Particulate matter that enters the respiratory system distributes according to size, with larger particles being removed in proximal airways. Dust components of small size may enter distal alveolar region, which is populated by two types of epithelial cells, type I and - type II cells, and by alveolar macrophages (16). Each of these cell types may interact with inhaled particles, but only the effects of coal dust on alveolar macrophages have been studied extensively. Less is known regarding the response of the alveolar epithelium, or of effects on epithelial cell-alveolar macrophage interactions, in the dust-exposed lung.Function of the alveolar epithelium is well known to be influenced by the underlying basement membrane, or extracellular matrix (28). Alveolar epithelial cell extracellular matrix interactions, which may involve modulation of cell migration, attachment, or differentiation (17), are reflected in type II cell morphology, metabolism, secretory activity, hormone responsiveness, lamellar body content, and gene expression (21). The extent to which basement membrane modulates differentiation of the overlying epithelium is determined by both molecular composition and three-dimensional structure of the matrix. Type II epithelial cells in vitro synthesize, secrete, assemble, and degrade a variety of basement membrane components, including laminin, fibronectin, type IV collagen, and thrombospondin (22, 27). How expression of these components is regulated, directly or indirectly, upon exposure of the alveolar epithelium to injury by coal dust or by other particulates remains to be resolved."

Jan 1, 1998

By Sebastião Raimundo de Jesus Bélem Leitão Filho

A simulação física é uma alternativa no estudo dos eventos durante o processamento termomecânico, sem necessidade de equipamentos industriais, permitindo a realização de projetos de deformações similares as de escala industrial, porém em diferentes condições de atrito e transferência de calor. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar o retardo na cinética de amaciamento estático no aço inoxidável austenitico ASTM F-1586, usado na confecção de implantes ortopédicos. A metodologia aplicada consistiu no cálculo da fração de amaciamento (Xs), após realização dos ensaios de compressão a quente com duplo passe de deformação num dilatômetro, nas temperaturas de 1000 - 1200 oC, taxa de deformação de 1,0 s-1 e intervalos entre passes variando de 1 a 1000 s. Os resultados indicaram que o aço ASTM F-1586 sofre recristalização metadinâmica em deformações maiores que 0,30, onde as curvas Xs vs. t para temperaturas abaixo de 1100 oC apresentaram formação de patamares com atraso na cinética amaciamento, resultante da interação recristalização-precipitação (Fase Z) induzida por deformação no interpasse, sendo menos efetivo quanto maior a temperatura e a deformação.

Oct 30, 2017

By F. F. Lins

There is a large use of mercury in Brazil by the gold miners in the so called "garimpos" (non registered mining operations), where it is usual to recover the gold contained in the gravity concentrates by amalgamation, which is highly deleterious to environment if not conducted properly. Unfortunately, this is a common practice there. After presenting in brief the modus operandi generally practiced in the garimpos and the environmental problems, this work reviews some of the research conducted in CETEM according to two approaches: (i) replace amalgamation by other processes and (ii) develop technology to treat mercury-contaminated soils and effluents. Conventional processes like froth flotation, to recover gold from gravity concentrates, and centrifuges were considered. Also as alternatives to amalgamation, innovative process like the recovery of gold by coal-oil agglomerates and a technology that is currently under development in our laboratory, called gold-paraffin process, are described in brief, some results presented and their potential use assessed. To reclaim sites already polluted a technology was developed to float mercury selectively from contaminated soils. The potential use of centrifuges to pre-concentrate the mercury is also discussed. The scope for applying the last techniques is to concentrate the pollutants in a small volume of mass which would be suitable for recycling or isolation from the environment. A prospective technology to treat contaminated soils, or mercury concentrates, is the immobilization of mercury by adding inorganics. Concerning the ionic mercury which may be present in effluents, precipitation of the ions and flotation of the precipitates are being studied.

Jan 1, 1994

By A. E. Flynn

THERE is at the present time a revived interest in amalgamation, due to the number of mines starting up, usually on high-grade ore, and utilizing this relatively cheap and convenient means of recovering gold, more especially in their initial stages of production. The marked increased use of the amalgamation process has revealed a dearth of amalgamators and there is no doubt the art of amalgamation has stood still for a generation or two and is not readily applicable to the modern practice of milling gold ores. Mill operators of long experience are learning the art for the first time and are giving it intelligent study, and considerable testing and research work is now being undertaken Most millmen consider amalgamation a simple process, and so it is when we have a clean ore with coarse gold, specially when stamps are used for crushing. In treating Nova Scotia ores by stamps and amalgamation, recoveries of 95 to 97 per cent are common and easily obtained. So-called 'under-water feed' is almost universally used in Nova Scotia and is quite beneficial. The water is supplied through jets between the dies and below the die surface and maintains this space as a live trap which catches the gold particles before they are overground and spoilt for amalgamation. With this method, the portion of gold recovered in the battery is higher than usual and often amounts to 80 per cent of the total gold in the ore, the remaining 20 per cent being caught on the plate. As a continuous amalgamator, the simple plate cannot be excelled. Some of the modern devices having moving or covered and not very accessible plates, which cannot be readily inspected and dressed to keep them in condition, do not give the best results in service. An exception might be drawn in the case of amalgamation of very heavy ore or concentrate which would bank up unless the plate is carried at such a steep inclination as to weep mercury. Difficulties in stamp-mill amalgamation are encountered when acid water is used or when grease is present. Also, certain sulphides and graphitic and talcose ores give trouble, resulting in poor gold recovery and high mer-cury loss. The older literature on gold milling deals with the common troubles of this type and the old-time amalgamator was well able to take care of day-by-day difficulties. When the difficulties were unsurmountable, the ore was classed as 'refractory' and other processes were used.

Jan 1, 1939

By James P. Sloss

MOST students that plan to enter the mining profession attempt to obtain some kind of practical experience before graduation. Six or seven years ago it was an easy matter for undergraduates to find employment during the summer vacation and return to school in the fall filled with enthusiasm to dig deeper into the theoretical field. However, during the past few years it has become extremely difficult for an inexperienced undergraduate to obtain even a menial job in mining. This was the situation which presented itself to the author and his partner, T. M. Patten several months before school closed in May, 1934. At that time, Mr. Patten's training consisted of two years study in Mining, and mine included three years' study in Mining Geology at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. With this technical training and no practical experience, we conceived the idea that custom assaying in some of the western mining districts should be a lucrative business. We thought that the renewed interest in prospecting for gold and the opening of new mines should provide more assay work, and believed that we might secure it if we were on the spot where the assaying was needed. We realized that it would be out of the question for us to obtain the necessary equipment with which to establish an assay office. Even if such an office were established we had a maximum of but three months during which to operate. So we determined to build some kind of inexpensive equipment that could be placed in an automobile, or trailer, and be moved from one camp to another. We then began to study the theoretical aspects of assaying and started experimental work with the equipment that we proposed to build.

Jan 1, 1935

By Steve Kral

Amax Coal Industries Inc.'s Delta Mine is a medium-sized. high-sulfur coal producer that has lived up to the challenges posed by nearly six decades of a highly competitive domestic coal market. The mine now faces one of its biggest challenges - the same one staring at the dozens of other high-sulfur producers in the Midwest - the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The 59-year-old mine, located in the coal fields of southern Illinois, has remained one of the state's oldest continuously operating mines by rolling with the ups and downs of the coal market and by incorporating new technologies and innovative productivity improvements into its operation.

Jan 1, 1993