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Jan 1, 1939

Jan 1, 1966

By Allan D. Taylor

INTRODUCTION From the designer's view, the installation starts with the first definition of the orebody, and progresses through a long and complex development. The design is affected not only by the characteristics of the ore, but by all of the personalities and events of the project during its development. The following discussion attempts to touch on the most important aspects which define the context in which the designer must work in apply the do's and don'ts. That context is the basis of the viewpoint. WHAT CAN GO WRONG The Project Is Going Over Budget This is a common and serious concern to the plant designer. The Project Falls Behind Schedule Another common and disturbing condition with which the plant designer must cope. Some Equipment Fails to Perform This can be due to either faulty equipment or operating deficiencies. It can be the result of a wide variety of causes, but the designer will be an interested party in the search for the cause and the cure. The Plant Isn't Flexible Enough Sometimes a plant will handle some or even most of the ore satisfactorily but is unable to treat another type properly. This can be a significant problem. An example might be a case where low capacity of a cyclone feed pump makes it impossible to accompany an increase in grinding mill throughput with a corresponding increase in dilution water. This could lead to an increase in cyclone feed density, and a loss in product grade or a limit on the plant capacity. Spillage And Cleanup Are Excessive This is one of the most common and annoying defects in metallurgical plants, and one for which the designer can rarely delegate blame. Maintenance Is Excessive Another common complaint in new plants, and also one for which the dedesigner must accept most of the responsibility.

Jan 1, 1982

Executive A R LEDOUX, Chairman ARTHUR S DWIGHT CHARLES F RAND E P MATHEWSON J V W REYNDERS Membership E DEGOLYER, Chairman W Y WESTERVELT, Vice-chairman WILLIAM H BASSETT H G MOULTON C MINOT WELD Finance WALTER H ALDRIDGE, Chairman GEORGE D BARRON GALEN H CLEVENGER Library GEORGE C STONE,' Chairman JOHN H JANEWAY ALEXANDER C HUMPHREYS, ROBERT LINTON FREDERICK F SHARPLESS

Jan 1, 1923

By W. R. Phibbs

THE Columbia Steel Corporation, organized in 1922, and taken over by the United States Steel Corporation on Feb. l, 1930, is operating one blast furnace at Ironton, Utah, which was started on April 30, 1924, and is producing approximately 14,000 tons of pig iron per month. Half of the pig iron produced is basic iron and is used in its own plants at Pittsburg and Torrance, Cal. The ore for the blast furnace is shipped from Desert Mound, Utah, near Cedar City, in the southern part of the' State, approximately 231 miles from Iroaton. The ore is a hematite, disseminated with magnetite, the chemical analysis showing approximately 12 to 20 per cent magnetite, and under the micro- scope the ore has the appearance of a magnetite.

Jan 1, 1930

By Nicholas S. Young

The one million ounce Newrnont Gold loan has focussed attention on gold's new role as a financing vehicle. This paper explains the background of the new role for gold, and details various gold denominated products now available to the mining industry. The discussion highlights the importance of gold-based products, and how they should be used in developing business strategy for gold mining companies. [ ]

Jan 1, 1990

Jan 1, 1943

Jan 1, 1943

By Donald A. Cumming

Since the first major mine development, the company has continually looked for ways of improving drifting methods. The planned increase in production to 60,000 tpd, and the lack of trained personnel, requires new development methods to maintain this high production rate. In order to finish the drifting on the 2015 and 2075 levels, a total of 59,000 ft is required, or two years at the present rate.

Jan 4, 1972

Official Program

Jan 8, 1950

By Eugene Guccione

One of the world's most respected scientists, Dr. Hans A. Bethe (see box) has concluded that if anything can solve the energy crisis, it will be coal and uranium. "It is an illusion to think that we can solve our problem by energy conservation alone. For the next few years, conservation must play a very important role, but at the same time, we must see and develop all our alternative energy sources," he said. In his series of five lectures on the energy crisis, given at the University of Utah while he was visiting professor there during February 1974, Dr. Bethe examined all the existing and newly proposed energy sources. He very quickly ruled out solar power, wind power, and tidal power. Solar power, he said, would be 3% to 4 times more expensive than nuclear energy and would only make sense in tropical areas; wind power, which could at best produce one-tenth as much energy as solar, is "for the birds;" and tidal power, which can be exploited in only a very few coastal locations, is "for the fish."

Jan 5, 1975

By P. Barnes

If it be admitted that the use of the metric system of measurement is desirable, and that it will be well, as urged by one of our engineering societies, to show upon all our plans or drawings a metric scale in addition to a scale of inches, then it becomes important to introduce some ready means of drawing these scales. For many present purposes it is quite sufficient to space off and to draw them with the common dividers and the right-line pen, but if the number of drawings made or copied in an engineer's office, and upon which scales must be shown, is more than two or three daily, then some more mechanical or automatic means should be provided. For a great majority of detail drawings, a simple transcript of the surface of a good two-foot rule would answer every purpose, and probably the best comparative showing of the metric scale would be made by drawing a line of millimeters close by the side of the line of sixteenths. This would be in fact little more than the

By P. Barnes

IF it be admitted that the use of the metric system of measurement is desirable, and that it will be well, as urged by one of our engineering societies, to show upon all our plans or drawings a metric scale in addition to a scale of inches, then it becomes important to introduce some ready means of drawing these scales. For many present purposes it is quite sufficient to space off and to draw them with the common dividers and the right-line pen, but if the number of drawings made or copied in an engineer's office, and upon which scales must be shown, is more than two or three daily, then some more mechanical or automatic means should be provided. For a great majority of detail drawings, a simple transcript of the surface of a good two-foot rule would answer every purpose, and probably the best comparative showing of the metric scale would be made by drawing a line of millimeters close by the side of the line of sixteenths. This would be in fact little more than the

Jan 1, 1877

By Donald E. Scheck, Da-Rong Chou

The application of geostatistics to coal reserve analysis is discussed. One problem in particular, the selection of the optimum locations for exploratory drill holes, is considered in detail. A new interactive program to help the geologist determine the best locations is described and applied to a specific property. The steps in the process are described and then illustrated using a mine's actual data. First, a variogram is selected based on graphical displayed information from the known sample data. Kriging estimates are made for the region of interest and the blocks within the region. The location of future exploratory drill holes is selected based on the criterion of minimizing the region estimation variance for a given number of exploratory holes. The least number of exploratory holes required to meet a specified upper limit on the regional variance is also determined. The computer generated recommendations for the exploratory drill holes are compared to a manually prepared drilling plan. The post- drilling analysis of the results is compared to the predicted values.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. E. Warren, J. H. Hartsock

An asymptotic solution to the equation that describes the flow of a slightly compressible fluid in an infinite porous medium has been used to estimate the interaction between two adjacent wells producing from a common reservoir. A direct method for approximating the interference time defined by Stevens and Thodosl has been suggested. An alternative definition for the time of interference, based on the minimum pressure change in the interference region, has been proposed; also, a direct method of determination has been prescribed. Examples have been employed to illustrate the use of both methods.

By Donald H. McLaughlin

MINERAL industry activities have not been seriously hampered by a lack of men with higher training. The balance between opportunities for employment and advancement and available personnel has been a happy one, with enough competition to stimulate effort but not the unfortunate conditions arising from an overabundance. of employment seekers. Nearly all mineral industry educational institutions have been concerned about the falling enrollment in mining and metallurgical courses of study during the past decade. But industry has drawn upon a supply of many types of technically trained men apart from those who prepared their careers specifically in the mineral industry. Some schools have made this possible by uniting geologists, mineralogists, and others with students in mining and engineering. On the other hand, some schools have combined their department of mining engineering with an over-all engineering department and continue to send their graduates into the mineral industry by another route. On the whole, this seems to be a good trend and is likely to result in men better trained for current problems than would have been possible under the older rigid curricula.

Jan 1, 1947

By RICHARD L. HUMPHREY

IT IS proper that there should be a brief accounting of the stewardship which was entrusted to the Joint Conference Committee by resolution adopted by the. Organizing Conference on June 4, 1920, in part as follows: RESOLVED, that it is the sense of this Organizing Conference that the Joint Conference Committee should be entrusted with making provision for putting the conclusions of this Conference of engineers into effect, etc. Pursuant to this authority, the Joint Conference, Committee has acted as an Ad-interim Committee has- prepared, a synopsis of the proceedings of the Organizing .Conference, has edited and published the Constitution and By-Laws adopted by this Conference, and. has issued an invitation to become Charter Members of The Federated, American Engineering Societies; to the list of organizations to whom invitations had been extended to attend 'the Organizing., Conference. The Committee in connection with this invitation offered to the extent of its ability, such assistance as might be-desired; and arranged in many cases for one or more of its members to be present when the matter of membership in The Federated American Engineering Societies was considered. . .

Jan 1, 1920

By Horace Mann

A FEW years ago, it was generally thought that from 15 to 18 per, cent. of zinc oxide was the upper limit of a workable lead blast-furnace slag. With slags above this zinc-oxide content, the furnaces gave so much trouble because of hearth, wall, and crucible accretions that the campaign was very short. The time lost in cleaning out the frozen furnaces, for it was seldom possible to blow them out, and blowing in was so great that it was considered uneconomical to attempt the running of high-zinc slags, even if this were metallurgically possible. It is true that there are, references to one or two slags much higher in zinc than the foregoing,1 but the average smelterman regarded these, as freaks and not to be considered for regular furnace work. One or two plants, notably the plant of the United States Smelting Co, at Canyon City, Colo., ran charges, higher in zinc. At this plant, the zinc-oxide content of the charge was frequently 20 per cent. and higher but the slags from these furnace's seldom ran over 10 to 12 per. cent. zinc oxide. The furnaces were run with a large volume of air under a relatively low pressure, a low smelting column, and a very hot top; as a result, a large amount of zinc was volatilized. Even with the low smelting column and hot top, accretions caused much trouble and barring, down was a daily occurrence. At the time most of the theories on lead blast-furnace work were promulgated or worked out, it was necessary to run a furnace with a cold top in order to avoid an excessive loss due to fines and fume. At the same time, the smelting conditions had to be such that the lead and silver would be reduced and would enter the bullion. The slag had to be liquid but the charge must not give excessive accretions either in the hearth or on the walls of the furnace. This forced the operators to run the furnaces with a comparatively low blast, which, in turn, caused a small fuel consumption per unit of time with the accompanying result of a low working temperature.

Jan 8, 1925

By Hokuichiro Ohmachi

INTRODUCTION Metallic minerals have been formed only through complex geologic processes which took place at certain stages of the earth's histrory. Their concentration, abundance, and distribution are, therefore, restricted geologically, and very small in global scale. Ore is a mineral deposit or mineral concentration from which metals can be economically extracted by the contemporaneous technology. By this definition, several factors should be considered before any mineral deposit is regarded as an ore. The grade of mineral concentration and the scale of the reserve are most important. Demand for the metal and its price are the other factors. Advancement of technology in mining and extraction are also vital. Copper, for example, is now commonly extracted from the ores containing less than 0.3% of the metal. However, in the 1700's the common minerable grade was about 13%, and in the 1900's between 5 to 2.5%. This decrease in minerable grade is a function of not only the demand for copper, but also technological progress in mining and metal extraction in this case. Availability of ores has recently been subject to political factors, which were not the primary concern in the past. The petroleum of the Middle East is the prominent example. The metallic minerals are classified into three categories. The first one is the minerals free from these factors mentioned above. Iron and manganese belong to this category. The second category include aluminum, copper, nickel, cobalt, titanium, lead and zinc. These metals can be provided by the future progress in technology which enables the use of lower grade deposits. The third one represents the metals whose occurrence is geologically limited, and, thus, subject to the political factors. Niobium and tantalium are the example. In this article, I discuss these minerals in detail to give an outline of the factors which brought their concentration, distribution and availability. SELECTED MINERAL CONCENTRATIONS Iron Major iron ore deposits are the features of the relics of ancient continental crusts. They are found in all the continents where the Precambrian rocks expose. They do not occur in the oldest rocks (3,000my old) nor in the youngest ones (600my old). They are sedimentary rocks, normally, exhibiting alternations of bands of iron oxides (magnetite and hematite) or iron silicates (especially greenalite), and bands of silica, variously described as jasper, quartzite and chert. The best known banded iron ore deposits exist in the Lake Superior region of the North America, and their distribution extends at intervals to Labrador of Canada. Other examples occur in the U.S.S.R. Brazil, Venezela, India, the mainland China, and southern and western Africa (Liberia and Guines) (Table 1). Recently large deposits have been discovered in the Hammersley region of the western Australia, and northern and central region of Brazil. These ore deposits were originally formed in shallow seas where simple but abundant life existed. After the deposition, enrichment processes , related to tropical weathering, have brought about wholesale removal of silica to produce the deposits of best quality. Ores with 50-60% iron represent the best products in the Precambrian fields. Since local reserves of this high grade ores approach to exhaustion, benefication processes have been used effectively to upgrade much leaner ores (for example, taconite with 20-25% iron in Minesota, U.S.A.). There are two other types of iron deposits. Ironstone, a sedimentary rock containing goethite, chamosite and siderite, first appeared in early Paleozoic times in the stratigraphic record, and reached its Zenith in the Jurassic. Similar bedded iron deposits are found in the belt from the Cleveland Hills to Oxford in England, and in the "minette" oolitic ores of Alsace-Lorraine in Luxenburg and France. The iron content of these ironstones seldom exceed 30%, but they usually contain calcite and are self-fluxing. They also have phosphorous as undesirable impurity. Because of the grade and impurities, they require more fuel than the Precambrian ores. The third type of iron ore is associated with igneous activity and consists of magnetite and some hematite, and apatite. This deposit is believed to be a product of magmatic differenciation. It occurs in Kiruna of Arctic Sweden. The iron ore, therefore, present no global shortage problem. They extend to considerable depths. Their concentration is largest among the metals. If low grades were treated, the resource can be stepped up much substantially. Manganese Manganese is a ferro--alloy metal, thus, essential to the manufacture of sound steel. Manganese comes from manganese oxide and silicate ores. Many minerals contain manganese, but only a few oxides, silicates, and, in some places, carbonates (rhodecrosite) are mined as ore. Types of manganese deposits are bedded, massive,

Jan 1, 1982

By C. A. Stetefeldt

Jan 1, 1892