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Apply state-of-the-art monitoring and computer systems technology to remotely monitor geostructural data and evaluate ground conditions in near real-time. Background Recently, the coal mining industry has progressed dramatically from a labor-intensive industry to highly mechanized and automated systems achieving significantly higher production rates. In underground longwall coal mines, production and face advance rates have increased by almost tenfold in the last 15 to 20 years. With increasingly high advance rates, geologic anomalies which affect rock mass quality are encountered more frequently, far exceeding the current rate at which ground control information can be processed and analyzed. As a result, mine operators find themselves with insufficient time or resources to cope with the rapidly changing ground conditions. To keep up with the technological advancement in mining and the associated ground control problems, the Bureau of Mines is conducting a multi-phase research pro¬gram to implement a computer-assisted Ground Control Management System (GCMS). Research is ongoing at present, but when completed the system will be designed to 1) monitor and evaluate data on rock properties, geologic conditions, and rock mechanics data from underground sensors in near real-time; 2) interpret the analyses to evaluate the interaction between various critical ground control parameters; 3) assess the structural integrity of the mine; and 4) determine failure modes and provide recommendations for control measures, design modifica¬tions, and alternative support procedures. The system will be expanded into its full capability during various phases of this research program.

Jan 1, 1991

By S. Sillitoe

In mining, as in other business and engineering enterprises, efficient operation depends upon how well and how quickly the lines of communication can function. Mines have used the telephone on and between levels for many years, but in the hoisting shaft maintenance of physical wire connections for communication with the moving cage or skip has been found, for all practical purposes, impossible. A most natural solution was, therefore, the code-bell or buzzer signal system between fixed levels, and this has been standard practice throughout the mining world for many years. However, this system has serious limitations which make it impossible to signal a cage between levels in the shaft, and it requires crude, hazardous or costly methods for signalling during daily shaft inspection. Radio signalling overcomes these difficulties, because the communication medium is never broken and the cage-tender or shaft inspector can safely signal to, and receive signals from, the hoistman at any time from any position in the shaft, whether stationary or in motion. In addition to both audible and visual code signalling, two-way telephone communication and slack cable alarm are facilities made possible in recent commercially developed equipment.

Jan 1, 1949

The paper will cover the basic reasons for alkaline leaching, a brief description of the circuit and the reasons for the flowsheet used. Changes made to the flowsheet, including the use of mechanical agitation of pachuca slurry, the use of oxygen and its effect on extraction, the use of lime and its effect on process economy, and the environment, will be described. A brief description of a unique semi-autogenous mill and future circuit changes will be included.

Jan 1, 1979

By S. S. Hsieh

As part of a program to address long-term needs for ensuring adequate supplies of domestic phosphate raw materials, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has conducted considerable research on dolomitic phosphate rock beneficiation. The discovery that alkyl diphosphonic acids act as phosphate mineral depressants led to the development of several processes involving a carbonate flotation step for the effective beneficiation of these problem ores. Most recently, a partial de-oiling process in which the reagent consumption is greatly reduced has been developed. The reduction is achieved because part of the initial feed is beneficiated without passing through the separate carbonate flotation step. Using this method, a phosphate product containing 30.6-30.9% P2O5 and 0.7-0.8% MgO was obtained from a Florida dolomitic phosphate pebble which contained about 23% P2O5 and 2.0% MgO. The P2O5 recovery was 80.8-86.5%.

Jan 1, 1989

"Caterpillar has developed the Cat GH800B longwall plow system, designed for mining very low coal seams at high rates. Building on the attributes of the proven GH1600 plow system, the Caterpillar longwall team in Lünen, Germany, worked with the German Ibbenbüren Mine to design and construct a system for mining an anthracite seam averaging only 0.85 m (33.5 in.) thick. The result is the GH800B plow and associated longwall system, which is now operating in the Ibbenbüren Mine - where the seam does not exceed 1 m (39 in.) in height.The Cat GH800 plow, with an installed power of 2 x 400 kW, has been the plow of choice for seam heights from 0.9 to 2 m (35 to 78 in.), regardless of seam inclination or coal hardness. But the lower the coal seam, the more difficult the extraction process. Flexibility, reliability, efficiency and serviceability of the whole system had to be refined for maximum productivity in such a minimal height, but several key modifications led to success.The armored face conveyor (AFC) modifications for the GH800B plow system include PF4 plow line pans with a replaceable top trough and a new plow guide made of a one-piece casting to provide extra strength and durability while being lower in height than the previous welded version. External dogbone connectors between the line pans and a strong and flexible relay bar between the AFC and the roof supports (shields) further adapt the conveyor for very low seam operation. To increase coal throughput, the engineering team widened the conveyor crosssection with extended side plates."

Jan 1, 2014

By R. T. Leigh

The continued decline In the production of synthetic soda ash (sodium carbonate) due to high costs and associated environmental factors, has improved the world demand for natural soda ash. The largest resource of natural soda ash is the mineable trona deposits of Southwestern Wyoming. Wyoming trona, a lacustrine evaporite of Eocene Age, is mined by five producers which process over 90% of the United States and 20% of the worlds soda ash. Total world consumption of soda ash is forecast to grow 1% annually. Increased expansion into foreign market's is absorbing the domestic overcapacity.

Jan 1, 1989

By Irina V. Sokol

Alloyed steel chips and swarf formed during metal processing are looked upon as additional raw material In metallurgycal production. The manuscript presents some new methods for steel waste chips and swarf cleaning. One of them Is swarf and steel chips cleaning In ethylene tetrachloride with ultrasonic assistance and following, solvent regeneration. Thermal cleaning of waste chips and swarf provides exit gas products utilization. Catalyst Influence of metal surface on the process of thermal decomposition of liquid hydrocarbons during cleaning process has been studied. It has been our experience that the efficiency of metal waste cleaning technique depends on the storage time of the swarf. Waste chips and swarf cleaning procedures presented in the manuscript have been proved economically advantageous and environmentally appropriate.

Jan 1, 1995

By B. M. Davis

The Colosseum Mine is within the Clark Mountain mining district located approximately 72 km (42 miles) southwest of Las Vegas. Nevada in San Bernardino County, California. Gold mineralization at the Colosseum Mine is hosted in two 150 m by 210 m (500 ft X 700 ft) interconnected. rhyolitic intrusive breccia pipes that intruded Precambrian crystalline basement rocks and over-lying Paleozoic marine sedimentary rocks. Sub-sequent erosion (de-roofing) of all of the Paleozoic section and a portion of the Precambrian section has exposed the pipes to the present level (probably a significant depth in the original breccia pipe system).

Jan 1, 1989

By A. L. Wilder

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation's newest precious metals property is located in the old Rochester Mining District approximately twenty-five miles northeast of Lovelock, Nevada. Built at an elevation in excess of 6 000 feet, the Coeur-Rochester gold silver heap leach property encountered cold weather operational problems typical of most northern Nevada heap leach properties, soon after the start-up of operations last fall. Due to the size of the heap area under leach at Rochester, it was decided that 1 the usual practice of spraying to an "ice field" and waiting for the spring thaw was impractical. Further, the delivery schedule for a solution heating system of the size required was unacceptable. Accordingly, Rochester personnel embarked on a program to seek out a leach solution distribution system that would enable an operation through the winter and yet be cost effective. The findings of this program were rather dramatic and, as a result, the whole perception of heap leach solution application at Rochester has changed forever.

Jan 1, 1988

By Phillip A. Armstrong, Charles A. Lewinsohn, John H. Gordon

"This paper describes the opportunity offered by employing systems based on mixed conductive ceramics, in particular, ceramics conductive to oxygen ions and electrons, in reducing CO2 emissions from metallurgical production. Membranes based on these mixed conducting properties enable commercial viability of several attractive metallurgical processes. One of these processes utilizes modular, ceramic-membrane structures for the generation of pure oxygen, in tonnage quantity. The membrane-based systems offer significant capital savings and operating efficiencies in various metallurgical processes. The current status of this technology is summarized below.IntroductionCryogenic oxygen supply technology is currently the state-of-the-art for applications that require large quantities of oxygen (hundreds to thousands of tons per day). Cryogenic technology, however, requires substantial energy inputs and, hence, adds significant costs and emissions to processes. Furthermore, cryogenic oxygen supply technology is mature and there is relatively little potential for substantial capital cost reduction or efficiency improvement in coming decades. Non-cryogenic technologies offer a means to reduce the environmental footprint and cost of the oxygen supply facility in various applications.Ion Transport membranesCommercially available non-cryogenic air separation technologies, such as adsorption-based and polymeric membrane-based methods, do not afford the economies of scale that the cryogenic distillation enjoys. Therefore, industrial gas industry researchers began searching for alternatives to the relatively inactive and unselective polymeric membrane materials available. In the late 1980’s, Air Products began developing a new class of highly selective membrane materials with exceptionally high activity for oxygen transport. The materials constitute a class of oxide ceramics, and conduct both oxygen (as oxygen ions) and electrons in the same membrane, separating oxygen from air electrochemically. Numerous detailed process economics studies have shown that, based on these ion-transport membranes (ITM’s), the cost of oxygen can be reduced by approximately one-third relative to that obtained from state-of-the-art cryogenic oxygen supply technology, through a combination of capital cost savings and efficiency improvements. [1,2,3]"

Jan 1, 2008

Humic acids adsorb on coal and depress coal floatability in the acidic pH range. In alkaline solutions, their effect is not pronounced. In the neutral pH range, a second small addition of kerosene plus MIBC leads to a significant increase in coal yield and better selectivity. Humic acids present on oxidized coal surface were found to be responsible for the inhibited floatability of the? coal. As expected, the flotation of such oxidized coal also strongly depends on the method of pH adjustment.

Jan 1, 1988

By William Gleason

"Once the primary fuel source for the United States and the economic backbone for communities from Appalachia to Wyoming, coal has been on a steady decline since the mid 1990s, and is now at the center of political debate in the United States.The political spectrum of the United States is divided on the future of coal and its place in the energy sector. The coal mining industry and the communities that rely on coal have increasingly been pitted against forces that wish to regulate coal to the history books.In 2008, President Obama launched what many have called his war on coal, and during his eight years in office, he pushed through numerous pieces of regulations and legislation and that he said were aimed at reducing carbon emissions, but that others viewed as direct assaults on the domestic coal industry. Obama led the United States delegation to Paris to sign the Paris Accord in 2016, a 196-country agreement pledging that the United States would do its part to reduce carbon emissions. His administration also instituted clean air, power and water regulations that added extra environmental burdens to many industries, but perhaps none more so than the coal industry.In this month’s lead feature, “A study of U.S. coal mine closures since 1994” (page 18), the impact of the war on coal, and other factors, can be seen in text and figures. Author Jacob Brinkman and coauthors Jay Schafler and Catherine Johnson scoured the data of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to show how coal production and mines have been impacted since 1994 and how the years 1994 to 2000 and 2008 to 2016 were particularly hard on the industry.For example, in 1994 there were 2,354 coal mines in the United States. Currently, there are 1,035 mines in operation.In 2016, then candidate Donald Trump promised to end the war on coal and to put coal miners back to work. In 2017, President Trump has followed up on those promises. He announced plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris Accord, signed an executive order designed to undo the Clean Power Plan put in place by President Obama, halted the research on the health effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise the guidelines of waste water from power plants and has touted that more than 1,000 coal miners have returned to work since he was elected."

Jan 9, 2017

In the interest of safety in metal mining, the Bureau of Mines recommends: That underground metal mines be equipped with a main fan in a fireproof housing, located preferably on the surface. The fan installation should be designed to ventilate the mine adequately throughout and to permit prompt reversal of direction of air flow. Many metal mines depend for ventilation upon natural flow of air, assisted by the exhaust from pneumatic drills and by compressed air blown into the workings. Others also ventilate separate headings or sections with fans and blowers. Relatively few have o mechanical ventilating system that controls the coursing of air throughout the mine.

Jan 1, 1939

By Elliot P. Rexford

B. C. Burgess-—Prior to hearing this paper presented at the San Francisco meeting, I travelled by car from Yuma, Ariz., across south-central California and up through the San Joaquin Valley. After hearing the paper I returned by the coast route to San Diego then along the Mexican border to Yuma. The striking feature of these trips, related to this paper, was the dry river and creek beds at a time of year not the dry season. Contrasted with this was the wasteful use of water in irrigation canals and laterals. Poland says "at least 90 pct of the ground water pumped is used for irrigation." That being the case, it would appear that first consideration should be given to conservation of this use. Probably a small part of this is actually reaching the plants. Some measure of this loss between pump and crops would be revealing. Methods that might be employed to reduce this loss are pipe lines and spraying of some crops such as the banana planters are using in Central America. Another idea which might be investigated is to line canals and ditches with some water-repelling mineral like pyro-phyllite. Perhaps a comparatively thin sprayed-on

Jan 1, 1951

By H. C. Gunning

The Privateer is the major mine of the Zeballos mining camp; with a total production from May 1937 through the first half of 1946 of $5; 610; 423 from 139; 254 tons of ore. This includes a small production from the connected Prident mine. The entire operation was closed from October 1943 to November 1945.

Jan 1, 1954

By M. M. Leighton

THE engineers of Illinois have been submitting to the State Geological Survey an increasing number of requests for advice on their geological problems, including landslides, unequal settling of fills, laying pavements across peat bogs, shattering and heaving of pavement by frost action, etc. The authors discussed the behavior of landslides, their effects, their causes, a tentative classification, and remedial measures. In the latter connection the efficacy of drainage and how it should be handled in order to be most effective was considered. The principles and efficacy of other remedial measures, such as subsurface blasting, rock anchoring, installation of wood, concrete or steel piling, construction of retaining walls, construction of cribbing and reduction of slope were also discussed. Attention was also given to the matter of applying geological knowledge to avoid undesirable highway locations, and a specific example was cited.

Jan 1, 1929

By A. Niedbalska

A technique was developed for low pressure diamond synthesis using a specially prepared glassy carbon. The glassy carbon is produced in the form of solid plates by slow carbonization process of phenol formaldehyde resin interrupted at temperatures of 1273° K, 1073° K, and 923° K. The diamond synthesis is performed using cobalt plates as a catalyst-solvent. Synthesis was carried out at applied pressures of 6.0 and 3.8 GPa and a temperature of 1970° K and 2170° K. The products were analyzed by the x-ray powder dyffraction method and by microprobe to identify the diamond crystallites. The samples were taken from the place of contact between the glassy carbon and the cobalt catalyst. They were separated from the charge by a chemical method. Diamonds of the best form and the largest size were obtained at pressures that were much lower than those used in the traditional graphite method of diamond synthesis.

Jan 1, 1989

By Juptner von Jonstorff

A discussion of the paper by Messrs. Jüptner von Jonstorff, Blair, Dillner and Stead, read by title at the Lake Superior meeting, but presented first at the New York meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute (October, 1904), and here published under a mutual agreement between the two Institutes. Correspondence. MR. R. HAMILTON (Glengarnock) wrote to say that it was known for many years, that unless certain precautions were taken in dissolving the sample, there was a liability to obtain a solution from which the ammonium-molybdate solution would not precipitate the whole of the phosphorus. In 1877 Blair and Finkiner independently attributed this interference to the presence of carbonaceous matter in the solution, derived from the action of acids on the combined carbon of the metal, and they directed that the solution should be prepared in such a manner as to destroy these carbonaceous compounds. This was practically effected by evaporating the acid solution to dryness and roasting the residue. Adolf Tamm, in 1884, accentuated the same view. There are methods founded on the above-mentioned observations which leave nothing to be desired in point of accuracy, but the evaporation to dryness with subsequent roasting and re-solution consumes much time, besides the minor inconvenience caused by large amounts of acid fumes. In 1888 P. W. Shinier suggested that the incomplete precipitation of phosphorus was due to incomplete oxidation of -.the phosphorus, and proposed to render all the phosphorus precipitable by oxidizing the solution with potassium permanganate, etc. Experiments were made to test the accuracy of this view (details will be found in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, vol. x., p. 904), and the results obtained seem to-prove that it is the correct one. It was first proved that carbonaceous matter in solution did not prevent the precipitation of properly oxidized phosphorus

Mar 1, 1905

By T. V. Moore

DURING 1910, crude-oil production in the United States reached a record level averaging about 3.700,000 barrels daily. Export declined sharply while imports increased with the result that large quantities of crude oil were run to storage during the year. Imports consisted largely of residual fuel oil brought in from South America bit because of a shortage of that product in this country and of Mexican crude. The price of petroleum products followed the declining trend of the last three year resulting in serious disparity between crude and product prices. This condition was aggravated in some areas by the increasing production of distillate by recycling operations and by the high tanker rates prevalent in the last two months of the year. As a result two small purchasers found it necessary to reduce crude-oil price in the Corpus Christie area of Texas.

Jan 1, 1941

By D. Harrington

ALTHOUGH statistical data are not at hand to justify definite statements as to progress in health, and safety in the mining and allied industries during 1935, it now appears probable that in both coal mining and in metal- mining the rate of accident occurrence as well as the absolute number of accidents will show slight increases for the year. Much: of the responsibility for this increase lies with the large number of relatively. small mines that have more or less recently come into existence, partly because of 'the lack of opportunity for work in the larger mines for large numbers of unemployed miners, and partly due to increased prices for some of the mineral products, especially gold. In general, the larger long-established nines show downward accident trends and this is decidedly encouraging as it shows that where mines are operated with real efficiency, mining can be done in relative safety.

Jan 1, 1936