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By John Crawford

MUCH has been written of late regarding the flotation of coal as a means of reclaiming the valuable portion of the fines encountered in nearly all methods of coal preparation. Whether the process be wet or dry, whether the dust be sent through the entire process or removed prior to the cleaning by some such method as screening or aspiration, one of the final products consists of a considerable proportion of -48-mesh material. The percentage of this -48-mesh material depends upon the mining method, transportation, storage, and method of preparation. The ton-nage of this dust material ranges from 1 to 10 per cent of the total output of the cleaning plants. Four methods of disposal are available for this coal: 1. Disposal with the refuse from the plant. 2. Addition, after being reclaimed from the wash water, or dust collectors, without cleaning to the larger sizes. 3. Separate disposal as a pulverized fuel. 4. Cleaning so that addition to the larger sizes benefits the product as a whole. It is also true that flotation in one form or another is the only known way to effectively clean this material. While some processes do a reason-able cleaning job down to and including +100 mesh, by far the greater-majority stop at or short of the +48-mesh size.

Jan 1, 1935

By John Gill

THE purpose of this paper is to invite attention away from the obvious, direct monetary costs of oil-field overdevelopment (as dis-tinguished from "social costs") to a consideration of the role played by the exercise of freedom to create even allegedly excessive1 plant facilities in contributing to the maintenance of equilibrium in the whole economy and in promoting material progress. The obvious and most commonly discussed effect of overdevelop-ment of oil fields is illustrated by the allegation that already the excessive development of the East Texas field has cost upward of $162,000,000;2 in other words, the drilling of 12,500 wells more than the number esti-mated as the requirement for economical recovery of the reserve has unnecessarily raised the total cost of development that amount. Many other illustrations of so-called excessive development of oil pools could be presented. Some of them, like Cushing, Powell and Long Beach, might be drawn from the era antedating widespread discussion in the trade of such matters as optimum well spacing, reservoir energy, the conservation rate of depletion of reserves, etc. Numerous other cases can be found in the records of the current era, which began with the introduction of rationalized restriction of production. Besides East Texas, there may be mentioned Oklahoma City, Centralia and, more recently, the town-lot development of Bloomingdale, Michigan.

Jan 1, 1939

Diffusion in Solid Metals. BY ROBERT F MEHL (Institute of Metals Division Lecture Tech Pub 726 in Metals Tech, Aug , also Trans, vol 122 22,500 words ) Diffusion in solid metals constitutes one of the important fundamental phenomena in metallurgical behavior Apart from its obvious importance in processes such as chromizing, carburizing, nitriding and calorizing, it plays an important part in the processes of homogenization, age-hardening, and transformations in steel, its scientific importance is no less great Diffusion may occur within a grain, along a grain boundary, or upon a surface, though the exact and even the relative values of these separate processes are known for only a very few cases The requirement of solid solution formation presents the possibility of identifying solid solution phases by a study of diffusion layers Some distortion accompanies diffusion, leading to little¬ understood grain-size changes Distortion assists diffusion though usually it dis¬appears before diffusion has become extensive In a binary system the rate of diffusion is the more rapid in the lower melting metal Many of the published data are too qualitative to permit sound scientific conclusions Age-hardening data may be treated as diffusion data and rates of reaction in steel could profitably be studied from this point of view Studies on diffusion are of great importance to the develop-

Jan 1, 1937

By R. F. Sheldon

Largest uranium deposit in the Northwest is Dawn Mining Co.'s Midnite mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The orebodies lie along the contact of granite and metamorphosed sedimentary rock and are controlled by faults and shear zones near the granite contact. In the oxidized zone the deposits consist mainly of the secondary uranium mineral meta-autunite; sooty uraninite and primary uranium minerals are known to occur at greater depths. Elevations in the mine area range from 2500 to 3500 ft. The rolling hills and low, rounded mountains are covered with grass and evergreen trees. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT Original showings were discovered with a geiger counter in the spring of 1954 by prospectors Jim and John LeBret. High radioactivity in several schist outcrops was found due to scaly coatings of a greenish-yellow, fluorescent mineral, later identified as meta-autunite. Prior to this time autunite was not known to occur in the state of Washington, and no significant uranium deposits had been found in the Pacific Northwest. Outcrops in the area were few, and most of the ground was mantled with 2 to 10 ft of overburden, but three other radioactive zones were discovered by prospecting the ridge southward along the strike of the schist near its contact with granite for three quarters of a mile. Midnite Mines Inc. was formed

Jan 1, 1960

By M. J. Duggin

Evidence is produced below to show that the carbide "Mn,C," reported by Kw,and ersson' is really a mixture of two carbides. One is an Fe-Mn carbide which is probably isomorphous with hexagonal Mn15C4, reported by Bouchand and Pruchart.' The othev is a tetragonul Fe-Mn carbide with cell dzmensions close to those reported previously by the author3 for an Fe0.1Mno. carbide. IN a recent investigation several Fe-Mn carbide specimens, each weighing about 5 g, were prepared in a manner previously reported.3 Debye-Scherrer X-ray photographs were taken of at least two samples from different parts of each specimen using a 114.6-mm-diam camera. The exposure time was 2 hr using filtered chromium radiation, a tube voltage of 35 kv and a tube current of 10 ma. In the case of one specimen, which contained nominal weight percentages of iron, manganese, and carbon of 9.40, 84. 6,, and 6.0, respectively, duplicate chemical analyses indicated f1.2 and 5.5 wt pct C to be present in the two samples taken of the specimen: no graphitic carbon was detected. One powder-diffraction pattern of this specimen indicated the presence of the tetragons: carbide reported earlier,3 (a = 6.772A, c = 9.427A), plus cementite (O), plus an unknown structure. The second powder-

Jan 1, 1970

By C. W. Mallett

The distribution and properties of interseam and overburden rocks in coal mines is largely controlled by conditions at the time of their original deposition. Within the developed areas of the Bowen Basin, depositional environments range from fluvial through upper and lower detaic, to marginal marine and intertidal facies. Each environment has a characteristic association of lithologies with specific range of properties, and each lithology has a characteristic geometry. Fragmentation problems are associated with ancient sand channel systems, where the difficulties encountered depend on the dimension and shape of channels, their continuity, orientation to mining face and associated sediment bodies formed as levees or interdistributary muds. Stability problems in spoil, pit floor and highwalls are usually associated with mudstones which contain swelling clays derived from the original Permian volcanic source. This clay problem is aggravated by deep Tertiary weathering. Case studies are presented of detailed analyses and prediction of geomechanical properties on a mine site scale. These are used in investigating or forecasting fragmentation and stability hazards. The studies incorporate detailed field mapping, bore log data and computer data processing. They allow the development of detailed depositional models for specific interseam intervals within mines. As areas of depositional environment are identified they allow the construction of maps of similar mining conditions and the determination of the most suitable mining techniques.

Jan 1, 1983

By Frederick T. Fischer

The New Jersey Zinc Company began a program of exploration in Middle Tennessee in 1964. The target horizon of the exploration project has been the Knox Dolomite which is a low-yield aquifer over nearly the entire Central Basin of Tennessee (1). With the exception of a few hundred acres in the Wells Creek and Flynn Creek disturbances (astroblemes?), the Knox Dolomite in Middle Tennessee is known only in subsurface. In January of 1969, New Jersey Zinc announced the discovery of a major zinc deposit near Elmwood, southeast of Carthage. This is on the northeastern flank of the Nashville Dome where the nearly flat-lying beds have an average eastward slope of about 50 feet per mile. The anticipated development of a mining situation has emphasized the significance of hydrologic relationships in the region as a whole and especially in the Elmwood area. These relationships affect several areas of concern which ma be generally grouped into two broad classes; i. e. , (1) Problems of a Public Nature - involving the prevention of the contamination of potable aquifers, the prevention of the contamination of surface waters, the prevention of the capture of presently utilized water, etc.; and (2) Problems of Mining Economics - involving pumping capacity and costs, the possible need for equipment of special composition, underground environmental conditions, etc. Exploration drilling in Middle Tennessee has contributed additional information about the Knox aquifer and

Jan 1, 1970

By J. P. Norris, W. T. Pettijohn

The Mufulira Copper Mine, Ltd., is in Northern Rhodesia, ten miles from the Belgian Congo border, and is one of the group of four operating mines comprising the Northern Rhodesian Copperbelt. The ore deposits at Mufulira are on the limb of a large syncline striking NW.-SE. and dipping NE. at about 45 deg towards the Congo border. The host rocks are well-consolidated, highly-silicified, felspathic quarzites of the lower part of the pre-Cambrian Séries des Mines of the Katanga. The ore rocks are underlain, unconformably, by the older "Muva Series," in this case hard, green, metamorphosed quarzites. There are three superimposed orebodies, the first, or upper, orebody averaging 40-ft true thickness with a strike length of about 5000 ft, the second, or middle, orebody of about 50-ft true thickness with a strike length of about 6000 ft, and the third or lower orebody of around 60-ft true thickness with a strike length of 8000 ft. The orebodies are separated by varying widths of waste, or very low-grade ore, from a few feet up to 50 ft. The middle and lower orebodies are so close together for a strike length of 3000 ft that they are mined as one orebody. In all, the mineralized zone is about 200 ft in true thickness.

Jan 6, 1950

By J. D. Corbett

Mining geophysics in 1967 continued to expand with greater application in the exploration and development of mineral deposits. Moreover, geophysical activity increased without the particular emphasis of a Pine Point or Timmins discovery to spur interest. This trend is expected to continue through 1968 as geophysics more and more becomes an integral part of a mineral exploration program. This past year saw the "little black box" of the old-fashioned "doodlebugger" pushed further into the background, replaced by increasingly sensitive equipment of sophisticated design. The trend also is away from the one man geophysical operation wherein the same individual is responsible for the development, design and operation of the field gear, the planning and execution of a survey and analyzing and interpreting the data. In today's technology a staff of specialists, electronics engineers, mathematicians, physicists-to name but a few- are required to back up the exploration geophysicist in the development of new methods and techniques, in the reduction of the voluminous amount of field data and in the interpretation of the anomalies which can be enhanced by various high-speed computer techniques. Obviously a full back-up staff of these varied abilities is impractical to most exploration companies. However, the equivalent function is provided to the lone staff geophysicist by the many competent geophysical contractors and individual consultants.

Jan 2, 1968

By F. C. Schrader, Alfred H. Brooks

Last fall (1899) we had the good fortune to be able to spend a few weeks in the new placer gold-mining region of Alaska, which is known as the Nome region. Cape Nome, after which the region has been named, and which forms the southeastern corner of the Nome Mining District, is an unimportant promontory on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula (see map, Fig. 1). The name Seward has recently been given to the great peninsula which forms the northwestern extremity of Alaska. To the north of it is the Arctic ocean, to the south Bering sea, while its wesbernmost extremity, Cape Prince of Wales, is separated from the Asiatic coast by the Bering straits. The coast line of the peninsula is of a cuspate character, consisting of a succession of sandy, crescent-shaped beaches and rocky headlands. The interior has been but little explored; but we know that it is comparatively rugged, the higher mountain peaks rising probably from 4000 to 5000 feet in elevation. The mountains have an easterly and westerly trend, and the water-shed between the two oceans probably nearly bisects the peninsula. At Golofnin bay, the southeastern part of the Seward peninsula, some spruce is found, but to the west the region is entirely timberless, except for a sparse growth of stunted

Jan 1, 1901

By D. A. Vaughan

COMPOUNDS in the U-N system have received little attention since the work of Rundle, Baen-ziger, Wilson, and McDonald in 1948.' They described the three nitrides UN2, U2,N2, and UN as the only phases in this system. The region between UN and U,N, was reported to consist of the two phases while the region between U,N, and UN, is a homogeneous solid solution in which the U,N3, structure transforms with increasing nitrogen content into the UN, structure. This report presents the results of an X-ray diffraction study of the phases present in the region of the diffusion gradient on uranium reacted with nitrogen at several temperatures between 500" and 915°C. Several samples of uranium used in U-N gas-metal reactions by Mallett and Gerds were available for X-ray diffraction study of phase composition through the diffusion gradient. X-ray diffraction data were obtained using filtered iron radiation at intervals through the diffusion layer of the several samples on filings or turnings at approximately 0.001 in. increments down to the base metal. Representative X-ray diffraction patterns from various layers through the case on uranium after nitriding at 850°C are shown in Fig. 1. These data show that three different phases are present in the

Jan 1, 1957

By L. W. Kempf

THE thermal conductivity of aluminum alloys is of considerable indus-trial importance. This is particularly true in such applications as inter-nal-combustion engines where one of the principal reasons for the use of these alloys is their relatively higher thermal conductivity. In spite of this, relatively few data are available on this property of aluminum alloys. The reason is quite apparent to anyone concerned with the experimental determination of coefficients of thermal conductivity. This determina-tion, in theory so simple, is extraordinarily difficult if any high degree of precision is desired. Fortunately, some knowledge of the relationship between thermal and electrical conductivity has permitted the use of the latter physical property in deducing the relative approximate-values of the thermal conductivities of metals. This fundamental relationship, first enunciated by Wiedemann and Franz1 as applying to metallic elements and later shown by Lorenz to be applicable to alloys within a single metallic system, has been of service in the industrial application of metals. The electrical conductivity of metals is easily determined with a high degree of precision. It is, therefore, quite desirable that the relationship between electrical and thermal characteristics be determined with the greatest possible precision. This paper presents data on the electrical and thermal conductivities of a number of aluminum alloys of industrial importance.

Jan 1, 1937

By P. H. Royster

On the Continent, ferromanganese has been produced in the blast furnace almost continuously since 1876, but little definite information concerning the practice is to be found in technical literature, and almost nothing in the way of a theory of the manganese furnace. In this country, prior to 1904, but one company had attempted its production in a serious way, and none of the operating data or other information from this company has been, or is, available to the public..In the last 5 years, as a result of the restriction of imports, a number of furnaces have been blown in on this alloy, with the result that in 1918 as many as 18 furnaces were in blast. The majority of the men in charge of these furnaces had had little previous experience in such operations; so the Bureau of Mines, in the summer of 1918, undertook the collection of data from ferromanganese furnaces. Operating data were collected by the Bureau from eleven ferromangahese furnaces, which will be referred to throughout this paper as furnaces A, B, C, F, G, I, J, K, L, M, and P; the dimensions of seven of the furnaces are given in Table 1. The companies from whom this information was obtained, and to whom should go the credit for whatever value this information may possess, are the Bethlehem Steel CO.,

Jan 1, 1920

By Jack Parker

The White Pine mine site lies five miles south of Lake Superior in Ontonagon County, Mich. Copper sulfide, mixed with some native copper, is mined by a room-and-pillar system from gently dipping Upper Kewee-nawan sediments. Depth of mining now varies from 700 to 1800 ft and the ore body continues to a depth of at least 3400 ft. An area roughly 21/2 miles square has already been mined. Mining height has varied from 61/2 to 22 ft. A rock mechanics program was set up in late 1963 to promote safety and mining efficiency. This note reports some of the findings. Rock Strength Compressive strength of small, dry specimens of sandstones, siltstones, and shales from the ore zone varies from 20,000 to 30,000 psi. This is intermediate between the softer coal mine sediments and the meta-morphic and igneous rocks of hard rock mines. Annual Cycle of Rock Failure Since 1963, every roof and pillar failure involving more than a few tons of rock has been examined and documented. Some 1500 stations have been installed for measuring convergence, -c1/1000 in., with Invar extensometers. At first it was thought that there was some kind of a cycle of roof failures; perhaps annual, perhaps even elated to the moon or to earth tides, but records (see

Jan 1, 1971

BEFORE me is a colored mining-claim map of the productive portion of the Robinson Mining district-sometimes called the Ruth-Kimberly area-that lies a few miles west of Ely, Nevada. It covers an area of 20 sq mi and at the end of 1954 had produced just under 2,000,000 tons of copper and about 2,000,000 oz of gold as a by-product. The three principal colors on the map and the meaning of each are: Red -Property of the Nevada Mines Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation, formerly known as the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. Yellow -Property of the Consolidated Coppermines Corporation. Green --Consolidated Coppermines property under lease to Nevada Mines. The striking feature of the map is the crazy-quilt intermingling of the colors and the tendency of property lines to intersect ore bodies. For example, the westerly one-fourth of Nevada Mines' Copper Flat pit, source of most of the ore,up to date, is in Coppermines property. Nearly half of Nevada Mines' Veteran pit is on leased claims; and Nevada's new Deep Ruth shaft is on a right of way on ground originally owned by Coppermines. On the other hand, the original Ruth underground mine and the new Kimbley pit are on Nevada Mines property; and the Morris and Brooks opencut mines, the most important of Cop-

Jan 1, 1957

By Michel Daghert, Michel David

In the exploitation of large porphyry type deposits where a cut-off has to be applied and where "internal waste" exists, planning people ask the geologist for the estimated grade of small blocks. Comparison with actual production figures and blast hole assays shows that any kind of weighted average of neighboring DDH (diamond drill hole) samples provides an excessingly smooth picture of reality, resulting most of the time in overevaluation of tons of ore. Solutions based on examination of Past production data exist14 but it would be necessary to have a solution which can be applied before production starts as the preceeding problem also results in an overestimation of the total reserves, often by as much as 20%, thus changing the mine life accordingly and destroying any "optimum planning" which could have been done. The proposed alternative is to forecast the grade distribution of small blocks in a larger block, sufficiently well documented. Several Possible ways to estimate these distributions are reviewed and emphasis is placed on recently developed methods (source G. Matheron) where the coefficients of the orthogonal polynomial series expansion of the distribution of any size of block are directly estimated by kriging. The efficiency of the technique is tested on a level of the Cyprus Pima open pit where the predicted recovery is compared to actual production figures.

Jan 1, 1980

By David Scott

WHEN mining operations were first instituted in the mines of the Miami Copper Co., at Miami, Ariz., the relatively hard character of the ground in the western section of the property made it seem advisable to use a wide shrinkage stope and pillar system. The system as finally evolved was applied to the mining of 2,300,000 tons of ore by the use of stopes and pillars each 50 ft. in width. Development, mining and extraction of this reserve has been continuously in progress since 1910, and the final stages of extraction are now reached. A complete survey of all phases of this system can therefore be made. Modification in working methods was obviously necessary, and the system to be described is believed to be typical of the best features. DEVELOPMENT The preliminary work had three main objectives: The opening of a haulage level, the construction of a drawing-off level, and the driving of sublevels for use in stoping. In addition to these, some extra sublevel drifting was necessary to determine exactly the boundaries of the orebody, the general outline having been determined by churn drilling. This development was based on the requirements of stopes 50 ft. wide, with pillars 50 ft. wide between each stope. The length of these units varied from 200 to 500 ft.

Jan 6, 1916

By Arthur Phillips

DURING the past few years considerable interest has been shown in the study of fiber, and its effect, in wrought metals. Fiber has recently been defined as a "condition of parallelism of important lines or details in the structure. "1 Briefly stated, two distinct types of fiber are commonly encountered. One results from the alignment in the direction of working of constituents, more or less segregated, such as slag, oxides, carbides and dendritic formations. The second, and least understood, type is produced by working the metal below the recrystallization temperature in such a way as to develop a parallelism of the grains. This condition is readily recognized by the pronounced elongation of the grains in the direction of working. Under certain deformational treatments the grain fragments produced by cold working tend to orient in certain definite directions with respect to the axis of extension. Furthermore, even in metals that have been annealed after cold working preferred orientations may be present. It is perhaps logical to assume that such marked parallelism of structural elements would be manifested by directional properties in the metal. As a matter of fact, tests on many kinds of materials have shown differences in varying degrees. In recognition of this condition, propel design, for many purposes, places the fiber axis in such a way as to present the direction of maximum strength to the greatest applied stress.

Jan 1, 1931

By D. Walton, W. C. Winegard, W. A. Tiller, J. W. Rutter

It is shown that the cellular substructure observed in binary alloy crystals grown from a melt of known concentration can be eliminated by the proper choice of growth conditions. For a given solute concentration, there exists a critical ratio of temperature gradient G in the melt to the rate of solidification R of the crystal, i.e., of G/R, which must be exceeded before the cellular structure can be eliminated. A secondary substructure is observed which is related to the cellular substructure. IN crystals grown from the melt, a prismatic substructure has been observed by Buerger,1 Pond and Kessler,2 and Rutter and Chalmers." This structure is columnar in the direction of growth and appears as a network of hexagonal cells in the plane of the solid-liquid interface. Rutter and Chalmers3 have shown that this substructure occurs as a result of the presence of a layer of high impurity concentration in the melt adjacent to the solid-liquid interface. The formation of the substructure is accompanied by a redistribution of this impurity in the neighborhood of the interface. The structure can be controlled by proper adjustment of the variables in the solidification process such as a rate of solidification and the temperature gradient in the liquid. The redistribution of solute during the solidification of metal crystals has been treated theoretically

Jan 1, 1956

By Thomas P. Meloy, Duane T. Eppler

The science of particle shape analysis has expanded rapidly in the decade since precise numerical-statistical techniques were developed for use in characterizing the shape of closed forms. Use of Fourier descriptors permits shape to be quantified to whatever degree of precision is required. With this technique, particles and particle systems can be compared either on the basis of shape characteristics displayed by individual particles, or on the basis of aggregate shape characteristics representative of large samples of particles. Shape characterization work completed to date has shown that the physical characteristics of particle systems (porosity, permeability, strength, mechanical stability, chemical reactivity, and flow characteristics (viscosity)) are related directly to particle shape. Furthermore, it has been shown that particle shape is a function of chemical composition, process of formation, and post-formational history of the particle. In this light, particle shape analysis has potential applicability to a host of engineering and industrial problems encountered in processing particulate material. It can be used to optimize the efficiency of separation processes and particle feed systems, to trace particle pathways through processing systems, and to monitor the operation of specific processes, the wear of critical machine parts, and the quality of end products in processing systems. In this paper we discuss these specific applications of shape characterization to particle processing.

Jan 1, 1980