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By Richard H. Johnson

White Pine Copper Company began operating a plant designed to recover copper matte particles from its discarded reverberatory furnace slags in April, 1972. Seasonal operation, generally the months of April through November, continued through October, 1974, shutting down due to feed exhaustion. White Pine reverberatory furnace slags contained economically recoverable amounts of copper for a variety of reasons. Among them: 1. White Pine concentrates yield extremely high matte grades (65+% Cu) and viscous slags. The viscous slags hinder matte settling causing matte "prill" entrapment in the slag 2. White Pine's total refined copper output is accomplished through fire refining requiring special techniques for impurity removal, especially small amounts of nickel introduced from purchased pyrite and chalcopyrite fluxes. These special techniques result in high-copper slags, refractory to smelting, being reintroduced into the reverberatory furnace. 3. Furnace bottom build-ups resulting in mechanical matte entrapment through the formation of "dams" hindering matte flow. 4. Occasional concentrate fluxing and furnace atmosphere control problems.

Jan 1, 1975

By K. P. Bingham

Lime is one of the largest volume chemicals produced in the United States. In 1979 approximately 21 million tons were produced. Lime is, in fact, second only to sulfuric acid as the largest volume basic chemical produced. Lime, also known as quick lime (calcium oxide) and hydrate lime (calcium hydroxide), is the principle alkali used in a multitude of industrial processes. In addition to its use as a principle industrial alkali, lime has experienced dramatic growth in four general market areas during the past 30 years. These four areas are: 1. Water Treatment - Lime is used extensively in treating and purifying water for industrial and potable use, Although significant tonnage is shipped to this market of municipal and industrial water treatment plants, the end-users are widely spread geographically and individual shipments are relatively low tonnage. Lime, which is nonhazardous, can safely be shipped by truck or rail to these small end-users. 2. Municipal and Industrial Waste Treatment - Environmental agencies at all government levels,

Jan 1, 1980

By C. O. Brawner

A recent advance in slope dewatering-depressurization and stabilization is the use of vacuum assist horizontal drainage. (Brawner and Pakalnis) Horizontal drains have been used for several decades to reduce water pressures in slopes to improve stability. The benefit from vacuum assist arises from an increased hydraulic gradient caused by an induced negative atmospheric pressure. A research program included a laboratory model whereby the effects of vacuum drainage were evaluated. Three case studies are described where the technique has been successful. The first is in a rock slope where flows increased from 0.1 1/min. under gravity drainage up to 1.2 1/min, upon vacuum. The second study involves installation of 17 drains placed at a slightly downward gradient to intercept and de- pressurize aquifers under a major tar sand deposit in Canada. The third study was on a large open pit copper mine in British Columbia where flow increased about 30 per cent.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. Norman Sims

A number of forces are at work that are now having an influence on coal handling systems. Changes are occurring and will be occurring at an increasing rate during the next few years. 1. Environmental concerns will dictate that dust pollution and spontaneous combustion and its resulting problems be rigidly controlled. 2. Slurry pipelines will be a reality despite the opposition of the railroads because they are economical and make good business sense. Artifical roadblocks can only survive for a limited time. 3. Coal is now and will remain the most economic fuel, particularly for power generation. This is true in most of the developed nations not just the United States. Increase in demand requires a close inspection of transportation systems. 4. A projected major increase in the export of U.S. coals may never occur without major port developments not the least of which will be the ability to accommodate large ships without demurrage time now affecting such shipments at U.S. Ports.

Jan 1, 1982

By Raj K. Singhal

Canada produces close to 42 million tonnes of coal per annum of which some 38 million tonnes is produced by surface mining methods. The two Western Canadian provinces, Alberta and British Columbia, produce 31 million tonnes of coal by surface mining. These two provinces provide the bulk of the metallurgical coal for export. The geological conditions in the Western provinces particularly in the mountain region are complex. The coals are friable and the seams are steeply inclined, sheared, intensely folded and faulted. There may be as many as 15 to 20 coal seams present with true thickness ranging from 2.5 m to over 8 m. This paper reviews the surface mining methods used to extract such seams. The difficulties associated with steep seam and multiple seam mining of friable coal resulting in lower coal recovery, high dilution and the problem of cleaning fine coal in the wash plant have been highlighted.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. Colijn

Feeders are used to provide a means of control for the withdrawal of bulk materials from storage units, such as bins, bunkers, silos and hoppers. This control function can only be performed properly as long as the bulk materials flow by gravity to the feeder in a uniform and uninterrupted fashion. A feeder can do many things, but it should never be considered a suction pump: During the past few years various papers have been written and presented on feeders and their application. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9)* It is not the intent of this paper to cover the same ground, and the readers are therefore ad¬vised to consult the referenced publications for supplementary information. This paper will be confined to some specific design criteria of bin feeders, such as feeder load and power requirements. Special attention is given to the basic design criteria of vibratory feeders.

Jan 1, 1968

By Gordon Cook

American Electric Power Company (AEP operates 31 coal mines in three states, and some 26 electric generating stations (19 coal-fired) located in the Ohio River Basin. Normally the system burns over 36,071,600 tonnes (40,000,000 tons) of coal and generates in excess of 3.6 X 1018 J (100 billion kwh) of electricity per year. In 1975, AEP, in response to the progressively more stringent air quality requirements of the clean air act, acquired large low-sulfur reserves in Carbon County, Utah (Figure 1. Location Map). Price River Coal Company (PRCC) is the operator OF this multi-seam complex, which is part of the Book Cliffs coalfield at an elevation exceeding 1,829 m (6,000 ft.). The topography is mountainous and divided by numerous canyons. Flat areas are at a premium (Figure 2. Castle Gate Area). Modern high production longwall mining takes in some top and bottom waste, and in this particular operation, it amounts to about 14% of the ROM tonnage.

Jan 1, 1983

By A. E. Raddatz

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, is investigating methods for recovering tungsten from domestic resources. A calcine-quench-leach (CQL) technique was developed for the extraction of tungsten from the Golconda, Nevada, hot springs ores. The deposit contains disseminated tungsten, which cannot be beneficiated by conventional techniques and must be treated by hydrometallurgical methods. The CQL procedure consists of calcining the ore at 900° C for 3 hr, quenching in a solution containing 1.5 parts of NazCO3 and 1.5 parts of NaOH per part of WO3 in the ore and at a solution- to-ore ratio of 3 to 1, leaching at 200° C and at 250 psig for 3 hr, and filtering and washing the residue. A series of closed-circuit batch tests showed that 92 pct of the tungsten was extracted from a sample containing 2.32 pct WO3. The pregnant solution contained 11 q of W03/1.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. C. Meyer

The concept of using powdered coal-in-oil-mixtures (COM) as a composite fuel to conserve oil resources and relieve import supply problems is being vigorously promoted by the Department of Energy via the sponsoring of various demonstration units (1). The idea of COM as a useful alternative fuel has been explored on and off for over 100 years (2). The approach must be capable of grinding, mixing, storing, and combusting COM with presumably only minor equipment changes on oil-fired boilers. DOE estimates that 56 000 m3 of oil (350 000 barrels) could be spared daily if a 50-50 COM was used to generate electricity. Of course, the ability of COM suppliers to prepare and deliver a stable suspension of COM at reasonable economic costs must be achieved if the concept is to be successful. This report reviews the various methods used to attain stable coal-oil mixtures. Various physical-chemical principles associated with each method of stabilization are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1981

By Thomas M. Turner

Open pit mining, always a demanding task, faces two relatively new problems today: 1. Availability of equipment. Moderate to large draglines can take as long as 6 years from date of contract to date of operation. 2. Environmental restrictions. Strip mining in the minds of environmentalists compares unfavorably on the scale of social desirability to the activities of Jack the Ripper and Attila the Hun. Specifically, lowering of the water table to allow strip mining in the dry is being looked upon with increasing disfavor. The modern dredge offers relief in both problem areas. Delivery on a major dredge might run 18-24 months rather than 60; and lowering of the water table is precluded, thus minimizing environmental objections. In addition, a lower first cost and potentially increased efficiency may offer real advantages to the miner who is forced away from his traditional mining methods. This talk is dedicated to acquainting the miner with dredge types, advantages, and limitations.

Jan 1, 1975

By Steven W. Hunt, Glen R. Frank

Assessment of abrasivity and cutter life are necessary to properly manage risks when tunneling in mixed face ground which includes ground with cobbles and boulders. Maximizing cutter life requires: (1) abrasivity and strength parameters for soil matrix and rock clasts, (2) methods of combining both, (3) proper selection of cutters and (4) modified TBM operation including use of boulder detection methods from the TBM to help make operation decisions. This paper presents approaches for addressing these factors sufficiently to improve tunneling success in mixed-face and cobbly-bouldery ground. Current laboratory abrasivity testing will be assessed along with equivalent quartz content correlations to soil matrix and rock clast abrasivity. New approaches to combining abrasivity testing of both the soil matrix and rock clasts for various cobble and boulder volume ratios will be suggested to estimate cutter life and intervention intervals. Methods for detecting boulders and using detection data to modify TBM operations to minimize boulder impacts are provided.

Jun 13, 2021

By James L. Coburn

Leaching is defined as a form of extraction in which a valuable constituent is removed from a solid body by mass transfer to a solution which, for the purpose of this discussion, is considered to be an aqueous medium. Historically, leaching has been applied to the recovery and purification of many elements. This paper, however, is directed toward the recovery of copper, uranium, vanadium, and precious metals included in the following systems: 1. The leaching of copper minerals, sulfides and oxides, by acid or by ammoniacal leach solutions with or without an oxidant. 2. The leaching of gold and silver, either native metals or as minerals by an oxygen-containing alkaline cyanide solution. 3. The solubilization of certain uranium and vanadium minerals by oxygen or oxidant-bearing lixiviants. Many other systems of this general type exist, but from a production standpoint, these three systems account for most of the major values recovered by leaching.

Jan 1, 1975

By Donald G. Foot

The Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, devised a direct flotation method for treating low-grade carnallice (KC1.MgC12. 6H20) and sylvinite (a mixture of KC1 and NaC1) ores characterized by a high content of water-insoluble impurities. The procedure consists of (1) flocculation-depression of the insoluble slimes, (2) decomposition leach (carnallite only), (3) potash rougher, cleaner and recleaner flotation, and (4) final product leaching. The technique eliminates the necessity of removing the water-insoluble slimes by mechanical or flotation desliming. Laboratory results demonstrated that the direct flotation procedure, when compared with conventional techniques, yielded equivalent or improved flotation results with equal or less reagent consumptions. The direct flotation method recovered 81.6% of the solid-phase KC1 from carnallite ore and 79.7% of the KC1 from sylvinite ore in final products containing 60.5% and 60.9% K20, respectively. A flowsheet incorporating the described flotation procedure is presented.

Jan 1, 1981

By James W. Collins

The bucketwheel stacker/reclaimer is suited for a variety of bulk material handling systems, especially those operating with stockpiles in excess of 30,000 tons. The bucketwheel stacker/reclaimer, although relatively new in the United States (first introduced here in 1964), has been successfully used in European countries since the early 1940's. Basically the machine is the outgrowth of the bucketwheel earth excavator and the traveling tripper boom type stacker. Since their introduction here they have achieved wide acceptance, especially with coal fired power plants. (Figures 1, 2, and 3.) The stacker reclaimer has been utilized in barge and ship loading/unloading facilities, and in the material handling systems for steel mills, where it has been used to stack and reclaim iron ore at rates up to 6000 tph stacking and 4000 tph reclaiming. They have also been employed at mine mouth power plants for the handling and storing of the plant fuel supply and to help balance the mining rate with the fuel consumption rate.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. L. Bourne

The sand dunes which line the east shore of Lake Michigan resulted after the last, or Wisconsin, glacial period in Michigan. Melt-water streams carried vast quantities of glacial debris to the near shore areas of predecessors to Lake Michigan. As the lake levels receded, these vast quantities of sand were exposed to the prevailing westerly winds, which was the last major process that acted upon the sand and resulted in the formation of the dunes. 1 These dunes are one of the significant natural resources within the state. Michigan dune sands supply about 90% of the foundry sand used in the automotive industry, and 40% of the foundry sand used 2 for all purposes within the United States. The deposits owe their importance to the following factors: grain size distribution, grain shape, mineral composition and location with respect to the foundry sand market. In spite of their economic significance these I deposits are in jeopardy through legislative preemption.

Jan 1, 1975

By H. P. Hatch

Ash is a material that many people leave to nature to handle. Others sometimes sweep it under the rug to be disposed of by someone else. In our business we cannot do either. In fact the American Electric Power System spends many millions of dollars in plant investment costs to collect the material, and then many more millions to dispose it. In 1965 alone the coal fired steam generating plants in., the AEP System produced approximately 2,400,000 tons of ash, enough to fill 40,000 coal cars which would extend as a single train across the entire states of Ohio and Indiana. Even though our present ash production is large, this is only the beginning when we forecast the future growth of our system. By 1980 it is estimated that our generating capacity will expand to about three times its present size, and with coal as our primary source of fuel our ash production will increase proportionately to about 7 million tons a year.

Jan 1, 1966

By William W. Shriver

When the Henderson Project is completed in 1975, it will become one of the Free World's largest primary molybdenum producers. The Henderson Mine will be located approximately 50 miles west of Denver, Colorado, on the eastern slope of the Continental Divide. Ore reserves are currently estimated to be 303,000,000 tons with a grade of 0.49% MoS2. The mill and tailing area will be located approximately 14.5 miles from the mine in the Williams Fork Valley, which is on the western slope of the Continental Divide. Ore haulage from the mine to the mill will be by ten miles of underground railroad and 4.5 miles of surface railroad. The concentrator has been designed to mill 30,000 tons per day and will yield approximately 50,000,000 pounds of contained molybdenum per year. This paper is concerned with the tailing and water supply system for the Henderson Project and in particular the environmental considerations affecting their design.

Jan 1, 1970

By Allan Gebhard

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the role of water resource monitoring in mining activities and to discuss the considerations that go into designing and implementing a monitoring program. The design of a monitoring program is invariably based on sound engineering and scientific judgement since no design formulas exist that can be universlly applied to the monitoring of all activities. As discussed in this paper, however, a methodology of designing a water resource monitoring program does exist. In order to cost-effectively monitor the water resource impacts of mining activities, the following three monitoring related items should be understood: 1. the role of water resource monitoring in the planning, construction, and operational stages of mine development, 2. the available water resources monitoring methods and the proper role of each method in the various scages of mine development, and 3. the strategies that should be followed in designing and implementing a water resource monitoring program.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. D. Miller, C. L. Lin, J. Dong

Nano clay mineral particles such as kaolinite — with primary particles typically smaller than 2 μm in size — can cause significant problems in flotation processes and tailings disposal, including the processing of Florida phosphate rock and Canadian oil sands. In this study, the consolidated state of flocculated kaolinite sediment was examined, and high-resolution X-ray microtomography (HRXMT) was applied to describe the structure of the consolidated sediment. Using this tomographic information, the complex geometry of the channel network structure for the consolidated flocs was established for the first time. With the establishment of the experimental channel network structure, permeabilities were estimated by flow simulation using the Lattice Boltzmann method. Results for kaolinite sediment with and without polymer are compared and discussed. Results for flocculated kaolinite sediment in a gravitational field are also presented and discussed. The results show that as polymer dosage increases, the permeability of flocculated kaolinite sediment increases, and as suspension pH increases, the permeability of flocculated kaolinite sediment decreases.

By A. R. Laplante

A test to determine the amount of gravity recoverable gold (GRG) in an ore is described. Typical GRG results are given; an error analysis is detailed; possible uses are discussed. Of the 38 samples tested, the lowest GRG content was found to be 25% (most below 25 11m, or 600 mesh), and the highest 94% (most above 300 11m, or 50 mesh). The average GRG content was 63%, with a standard deviation of 19%. Error analysis shows the test to be reproducible within 5 to 10%, depending on the size distribution and grade of GRG, and the sample extraction protocol. When using the same primary sample, reproducibility improves, 2 to 5%, depending on the amount of gold coarser than 850 11m (20 mesh) and sample weight. The test has been applied to greenfield project and retrofit applications, to determine the suitability of gravity recovery. For existing circuits, it has been coupled with a model of gravity recovery for optimization studies.

Jan 1, 1996