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By K. D. Hester, A. C. Anderson

The Elliot Lake uranium deposits are contained in a pebble conglomerate which is similar throughout the basin. This paper compares the solid-liquid separation circuits of two nominal 3000 T/d acid leach uranium concentrates treating Elliot Lake ore. One concentrator employed rotary vacuum drum filtration for solids removal and washing, the .other used counter current decantation in torque arm thickeners. Capital and operating costs, operation and maintenance, and metallurgical performance of the two solution recovery methods are compared and contrasted. A recent development, removal of the sand fraction ahead of C.C.D. and separate sand washing in hydraulic cyclones, is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1973

IT is necessary that all men who wish to bring things to a certain end should think of the agents needed to attain this. Now whichever one of the above processes you wish to use you must consider the nature of the material and see whether it is disposed to render what you wish to extract. Then you must see whether you have the other agents sufficiently powerful and proportioned to attain this result, for if the things were not in harmony your work would be vain and very laborious. Therefore, if you should wish to make waters or oils by way of distilla-

Jan 1, 1942

By Glenn B. Southward

The V system of mining used at the Norton mine of West Virginia Coal & Coke Co. was designed as a modified long wall with face conveyors, for use under roof conditions that would not permit regular long-wall methods. This mine is in the Lower Kittanning seam, which averages about 6 ft. in height. There is from 20 to 30 ft. of slate and shale immediately over the coal and above this is a bed of sandstone 40 ft. or more thick; the total cover will vary from 50 to 250 ft. In the room-and-pillar workings, the top in the rooms and headings is generally good but it is

Jan 1, 1924

By Robert S. Dalzell, Ernest A. Curth

Following the introduction of shields to the U.S. longwall mining scene and the steady increase in the number of shield faces during recent years, the occurrence of longwall -ground-control -associated accidents has shown a welcome downward trend. But even though the accident experience is favorable, problems exist. New mining systems, however efficient, have run afoul of roof control. Shield faces have suffered extended stoppages because of roof cavities. Therefore, the Bureau of Mines has reviewed foreign remedial techniques to evaluate their potential for domestic application. Such technology includes cribbing, strain absorbent modules (SAM'S), inflatables, wire meshing, chemical rock stabilization, synthetic foams, and monolithic fills.

Jan 1, 1984

By A. Blake Caldwell

Northwest frontier is here defined as Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and northern British Columbia. The mineral potential of this area is great and will unfold in the decade ahead but now the largest single producer is the Pine Point lead-zinc mine in the NWT about 1200 km north of Edmonton, Alta., close to the south shore of Great Slave Lake. The mill, initially designed for 4540 mtpd, was expanded to 7250 mtpd in 1969. This operation is described in detail in Mining and Concentrating of Lead and Zinc, Vol.1, Chapt. 17, SME/AIME in the article by W. H. R. Gibney.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. B. Gillson, Henry Fay

For several years past, investigations on the chemistry of tellurium have been carried on in the laboratory of this institution. The methods of preparation of pure telluriumf and the estimation of tellurium‡ have been studied, and an attempt to determine the atomic weight of tellurium is now in progress. All these problems had been investigated, however, along purely theoretical lines; and it was thought desirable to study the more practical application of the metal, which can now be had in considerable quantities as a waste product in the refining of copper-ores. In its physical and chemical properties tellurium is very similar to antimony, and it was thought

Jan 1, 1902

By C. H. Johnson

THE year 1952 has seen the continuance of the trend pointed out by Tell Ertl in this magazine a year ago, toward mechanization in metal and mineral mines. Outstanding progress has been made in the adoption of rock bolting in situations where, a short time ago it would have seemed inapplicable. New devices, better equipment, and improved practices are in part responsible for shifting fashions in mine development, stoping methods, and transportation systems. Only new mines, of course, can take the advantage of the new ideas that are being tested and demonstrated throughout the industry, but the old mines often show a surprising adaptability

Jan 2, 1953

OUR 78th Annual Meeting was, technically and attendance-wise, one of the greatest to date. No one who came to New York's Hotel Statler had time to hear all 266 papers, or to attend all 70 sessions and 27 committee meetings, or to shake the hands of the more than 3000 engineers, educators, students and executives who attended-but no one was lost in the crowd. For crowds always dwindle down to groups of two and three and four, and those are the little sessions which make our meetings well worth attending. Herewith four pages of photographic highlights and sidelights on the February gathering.

Jan 3, 1950

E. T. Turkdogan (British Iron & Steel Research Assoc., London, England)—I would like to suggest a different method for the treatment of the authors' data on the Si-0 equilibrium in liquid iron. Because the activity coefficient of silicon dissolved in iron is influenced by the concentration of silicon as well as that of oxygen, the equilibrium constant K2 of reaction 2 becomes a function of metal composition, and, as shown in Fig. 1, a plot of log KP1 at 1600°C against the weight percent of silicon gives a smooth curve. A similar curve is obtained when log Kzl is plotted against the oxygen content of iron. Before

Jan 1, 1955

By C. L. Pillar

TWO shafts have been completed since the spring of 1948 when underground development started, and three are now under construction. The new program provides two main ore shafts, Nos. 3A and 3B, spaced 195 ft apart and located on the south- western end of the orebody. It is planned that eventually 35,000 tons of copper ore per day will be hoisted by these identical four-compartment shafts. The third shaft of this new group is 600 ft from the present No. 1 shaft and will provide caged sup- plies for the underground mining operations. This No. 4 shaft has the largest cross-section of any shaft in Arizona.

Jan 7, 1954

By Thomas F. Donnelly

The Province of San Cristobal is situated on the south side of the island of Santo Domingo about 25 miles west of Santo Domingo city, the capital of the republic. The copper mineraliza,tion is found about 8 miles north of the town of San Cristobal,. in the section known as Bucaro Hill; in San Francisco Hill; on the Nigua River; and on the Jaina River. The district is reached by automobile from Santo Domingo city over an excellent road for 25 miles to San Cristobal, and then, by horseback 6 or 8 miles up the Nigua River to what is locally known as "Camp

Jan 1, 1916

By P. W. Neurath

IN recent years the domain theory of ferromag-netism has been put on a sound experimental and theoretical basis. But its application to one of the most widely used high quality magnetic materials, the cold-rolled grain-oriented 3 pct Si-Fe used in transformer cores, has been rather difficult because of the complexity of the domain structure of the poly crystalline sheet material. This paper presents some experimental data for this material, showing the relation between plastic and elastic stresses, 60-cycle watt losses, and the domain structure as observed visually. Only a very tentative qualitative explanation of the effects will be attempted. Some initial results were reported earlier.'

Jan 1, 1957

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

Examination in the Wet Way Examination by Means of the Blowpipe 479. The complete investigation of the chemical composition of a .mineral includes, first, the identification of the elements present by qualitative analysis, and, second, the determination of the relative amounts of each by quantitative analysis, from which last the formula can be calculated. Both processes carried out in full call for the equipment of a chemical laboratory. An approximate qualitative analysis, however, can, in many cases, be made quickly and simply with .few conveniences. The methods employed involve either (a) the use of acids or other reagents " in the wet way," or (b) the use

Jan 1, 1922

By L. A. Wright, H. L. McKinley

PINE Creek mine of Union Carbide Nuclear Co. is some 23 miles northwest of Bishop, Calif., in the Sierra Nevada Mts. Office and mill are 7800 ft above sea level, the 1500 level portal is at 9300 ft, the A level portal at 10,800 ft, and the 3050 portal at 11,500 ft. Original claims were located in 1916, and the mine worked intermittently until 1936, when it was purchased by Union Carbide Corp. Since then the property has been operated continuously, except for two brief periods when operations were suspended because of manpower shortages. Mine production through 1956 amounted to 2,792,425 dry tons of ore.

Jan 10, 1957

By Edmund M. Warner

Any city dweller who has walked alone along a remote mine passageway has to be impressed by the eerie silence-the total absence of noise except for one's own breathing and scuffing of boots on the bottom. An underground mine can have tremendous contrasts, from complete silence to the ear piercing clatter of percussion drills working in the mine roof. Noise in underground mining machines is both useful and detrimental. Without characteristic noises that are recognizable to miners, operators would have a more difficult job operating their machines. Noise serves as a warning of approaching machinery, and changes in noise give indication that breakdowns may occur.

Jan 1, 1979

By J. Gross

G. H. Clevenger, Chairman of the Milling Methods Committee of the Institute, made the following introductory remarks: "Several years ago, a number of us felt that the time was ripe for a fundamental investigation of crushing and grinding. At the outset, it appeared that the first thing we needed was a yardstick whereby grinding efficiency could be measured. "The U. S. Bureau of Mines has been most generous in cooperating with the Milling Methods Committee in getting this work well under way. John Gross, who served the committee for a year as secretary, was placed in charge of the investigation and has been ably assisted by S. R. Zimmerley. "Messrs. Gross and Zimmerley will now present the Progress Report covering their work to date." PROGRESS REPORT J. Gross, Salt Lake City, Utah. -This has not been a simple problem, and when I tell you that we can give you a verbal report of what we have done during three years in five or ten minutes you will realize that we have necessarily done a great deal of work that does not appear in the final results. We have been in a virtually new field. Therefore, we have had to feel our way at each step so as to be fairly sure we were correct. The first thing that was realized in this problem was that unless we had some method of measuring what happened when we crushed an ore, we might as well quit and not go further. We realized that if we tried to measure the results of crushing or grinding by the ordinary sizing test we would not get anywhere. We could sieve down to say 200 mesh fairly accurately; we could even go one sieve size further with a little less accuracy, and then we were absolutely lost, unless we went into microscopic measurement. Even this latter method would not have been satisfactory. The question was: what were we going to measure? If we were going to measure size, we might measure one particular dimension of a particle and be off 200 per cent. or more. If we tried to measure surface, we would have something tangible; the surface of a particle, no matter how irregular, is something definite, far more definite than any linear dimension would be. Moreover, if we could measure surface, we would immediately have a method of checking the Rittinger law as to whether it was or was not correct. So the first thing that we sought was a method whereby we could measure surface on crushed particles or, we will say, on particles; it would not make any difference whether crushed or not. It then became a question of what kind of particles we were going to use in obtaining a method for surface measurement. We realized that it would be rather a com-

Jan 1, 1928

REORGANIZING AMERICAN ENGINEERS There are in America approximately 500 engineers' organizations of various kinds, and yet it is estimated in many communities that 30 to 50. per cent. of the resident engineers are not members of any society of engineers. There is no enumeration of the engineers of the country, but estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000, the latter number probably including assistants, such as instrumentmen, draftsmen and inspectors, together with professional engineers. These local, state, regional and national organizations are for the most part independent and have no means for cooperation. Steps toward the improvement of these conditions are being taken in a number of localities and have already been taken in others. Many engineers are giving the matter serious attention. American Society of Civil-Engineers took an important action at the June meeting of its Board of Direction, by, authorizing the creation of a Committee on Development of Am. Soc. C. E. This action is now well known to all representatives on Engineering Council. Other Founder Societies axe reported to be considering similar action. Engineering Foundation, at its meeting on Sept. 12, adopted the following resolutions: Survey of Engineering Organizations BE IT RESOLVED: that the Engineering. Foundation is prepared, the four Founder Societies concurring, to devote its strength and its' income, so far as this may he required, to a study of existing engineering organizations, and from information thus developed to formulate a series of constructive recommendations which may he serviceable in guiding the further development of local and national engineering organizations in their relations to the profession of engineering, to the public and to each other, to the end that a foundation may he laid upon which to establish a broadly planned procedure, which, while recognizing and preserving all that has already been accomplished, shall increase the power of American engineers in upbuilding their profession and in the service they render to society; and RESOLVED: that in accepting the responsibility for such an undertaking, it will be the purpose of the Engineering Foundation to organize the proposed research along the broadest possible lines, to call to its aid highly qualified experts, and to avail itself of the help of agencies which may be willing to cooperate; and RESOLVED: that in proposing this research the Engineering Foundation has no desire or purpose to intrude upon the domain of individual organizations; that it does not propose to control the action of any individual or organization; nor to ask the acceptance of its conclusions; but that its purpose shall he to develop a possible procedure, or a series of such procedures, of such evident, merit that they will appeal to those who are likely to be most interested; it will do this in the belief that in so far as its work may justify the confidence of engineers and of engineering organizations, it will bear its own fruitage.

Jan 11, 1918

By Walter S. Weeks

IN this paper the effect of natural ventilation pressures is considered a part of the mine resistance and it is shown that their effect on the mine resistance is not the same as the total natural ventilation pressure of the shafts if the mine has several levels. It is shown that increasing the fan pressure causes the division of the air to approach the condition that would obtain if there were no natural ventilation pressure present. It is shown that if an appreciable difference in pressure is maintained between the beginning and end of a group of splits, the value of the integrated effect of the natural ventilation pressures on the individual splits does not change substantially with moderate changes of this pressure. A method is outlined for determining the resistance factor of the mine and the value of the effect of natural ventilation with the fan operating; also a method for determining this factor when circulation is caused by natural ventilation alone. NATURAL VENTILATION PRESSURE Natural ventilation pressure (N.V.P.) is caused by the difference in weight of the air in two similar columns between two horizontal planes, and the difference in weight is caused principally by the difference in temperature of the two columns. The fan pressure causes some variation in density, but, since it is usually small and affects both columns, its effect is relatively unimportant. It has been suggested that "N.V.P." be called "stack effect"; but, since the term N.V.P. was used in a previous Institute paper,' applied in exactly the same manner, the term will be used. FRICTIONAL RESISTANCE The frictional resistance to flow in a mine without natural ventilation may be expressed as RQ2 where R is a constant for a given air density and Q is the rate of flow. This frictional resistance plus the effect of velocity changes will be called the F pressure (F.P.) and a curve of F.P. against Q, the F characteristic of the mine. If a pressure is applied to a mine by a fan, the air flow so adjusts itself that the drop in pressure through any path from entrance to exit of mine, due to frictional resistances and velocity changes, is the same as that in any other path. The mine resistance varies as the square of the quantity. The air distribution without N.V.P. will be called "normal." NATURAL VENTILATION PRESENT When N.V.P. is irregularly distributed in a mine, it is more convenient in analysis to consider the N.V.P. as a part of the duct resistance. If it is so considered the resistance no longer varies as the square of the quantity, and if N.V.P. exists between levels the distribution of the air is no longer normal. The total N.V.P. of the mine is the pressure caused by the full length of the shafts. If a mine has several levels, N.V.P. exists

Jan 1, 1944

By G. S. Jenkins

The statistics set forth by Professor Mitchell in a proceding paper very carefully brought out the points that indicate that a marked amount of consideration must be given to" the haulage problem to adapt it to local conditions as encountered. Professor Mitchell's paper showed a spread of from 10 tons per man to 50 tons per man on the production crews, which spread can be recognized as entirely too large when one considers that the product is being sold at a price within very close limits. While a portion of this spread may be explained by different methods in cost accounting as to what employees are applicable to the production crew, it cannot all be blamed on an accounting method. A good portion must be explained by the improper application of equipment to the needs incurred by the local conditions. It is in an endeavor to go into this phase that this paper is given. It will be necessary to qualify the points covered in order to keep the subject from becoming too wide in scope. Along this line, conditions will be only those involved in bituminous coal mine practices and only the haulage of coal that is loaded with mobile loading machines in seams 4 ft thick and better. Haulage Methods Employed The Consolidated Coal Co. (Illinois) has been operating on a modernized basis for about 20 yr. By modernized we mean the loading of coal with mobile loading equipment. In review of haulage methods, it must be remembered that the main line electric haulage locomotive has been in service for some 40 or jo years. To augment this main line haulage, the mule did a quite satisfactory job during hand-loading days, but was later replaced by the gathering locomotive, either battery or cable-reel operated. This type of haulage was the method in common use at the time the mechanical loading of coal became of major importance and the success or failure of loading machine installations may be largely accredited to haulage facilities in the early days; that is, in the period around 1930. The Consolidated Coal Co. had its struggle with this problem beginning in about 1927 or 1928. We were somewhat fortunate in that we were already using gathering locomotives powered by storage batteries at the time we introduced mechanical loading. This meant that we did not have to spend as much time training motormen and trip riders as many mines did that utilized only mules for their secondary haulage. This was all advantage, and our efforts could be focused on ways and means of providing adequate car service to the loading machine. Like most operations, we endeavored to gear the car service to the capacity of the machine, with a large crew endeavoring to load the maximum tonnage that the machine would handle. Toward that end our first move was to install switches

Jan 1, 1949

The production of bituminous coal in Pennsylvania started a few years after that in Virginia. For forty-five years all the production came from the Pittsburgh bed, and since that time its total output in value has exceeded that of any other single mineral deposit in the world. It has been impossible to separate the outputs of the four counties producing it at that time, as none of it came from Greene County until many years later, and the figures in the first column of Table 49 represent all the coal coming from Allegheny, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland Counties. The years prior to 1790 are grouped on account of space limitations, they were made in the same manner as the later ones. All outputs have been rounded into hundreds, or thousands of tons because their accuracy does not warrant further subdivision. All figures are net tons, and all represent production and not shipments; this distinction in the early days when transportation facilities were scarce meant a great deal. In the period 1820-1835, more coal was used in salt-making in western Pennsylvania than for any other single purpose, but not a ton of such coal was handled by any transport agency. Later the iron industry used large quantities of local coal without shipment, and other instances can be cited. Prior to 1832, the only means of shipment of coal, excepting by wagons, was by the rivers, and this tonnage was larger than is generally believed. In Table 23, all of the available data about production from the Pittsburgh bed have been shown. After 1844 the river shipments above Pittsburgh are accurately reported by the Monongahela Navigation Company, but its figures do not include tonnage loaded on the river below Dam No. 1, nor that brought down Saw Mill Run. Prior to 1844 no tonnage records were kept although the amount moved was considerable. The information about local production, not shipped, whether used domestically or for manufacturing is necessarily incomplete. Column 7, shipments by railroad, river and canal, includes the figures in column 4, and until at least 1857 are quite evidently too low. The figures in column 9 are largely estimates based on the data shown and prior to 1870, and perhaps later, are much more likely to be lower, rather than higher, than the actual ones. This table was prepared over a period of years, and as additional data were found the revisions necessary were almost always upward. Clearfield County was the next producer in the state, shipments-in small amounts going down the Susquehanna River; some were made later via the West Branch Canal. Railroad facilities became available in 1862, and the growth in production increased rapidly and steadily. All available data and the estimated totals are in Table 24. Butler County began mining a few years after Clearfield, the early output

Jan 1, 1942