Search Documents

By A. Jowett

An attempt is made to explain differences in the size-by-size response to flotation of some sulphide minerals. Physical factors involved in particle-bubble collision and adhesion, and also in possible subsequent disruption of aggregates, are considered especially in relation to flotation of the coarser sizes. Emphasis is on practical observations and their significance, with an essentially qualitative theoretical treatment designed to form hypotheses for further experiments. In particular, the theoretical effects of contact angle and induction time are examined. An argument is developed which suggests a rapid increase in induction time as particle size increases, except for particles small enough to be moving under laminar flow conditions. This can adequately explain poor recoveries of coarse particles in flotation without a need to assume disruption of particle-bubble aggregates in turbulent zones in a flotation cell. Flotation recovery is shown to be very sensitive to small changes in induction time. Consideration of the physics of disruption of particle-bubble aggregates leads to the conclusion that this mechanism does not adequately explain differences in flotation recovery of coarser sizes of some sulphide minerals. For example, to explain differences in recovery of coarse galena and chalcopyrite by this mechanism would necessitate accepting that conditioning with ethyl xanthate which would promote a 60º contact angle at a galena surface would promote only an 11º angle at a chalcopyrite surface. Small differences in induction time arising from differences in surface chemical characteristics of the various minerals offer a more satisfactory explanation of differences in recovery of coarser sizes.

Jan 1, 1980

By Wm. Hamilton Merritt

With the exception of the Vancouver Island coal, all the western coal-fields owe their present development to the completion, in the autumn of 1886, of the Canadian Pacific railroad. While it could not be expected that a very great deal could be accomplished in three years, enough has been done to pretty thoroughly establish the coal-bearing areas and their correspondence with those which have been developed to the south of the boundary along the lines of the transatlantic railroads in the United States. This summer I visited some of the important developments in the coal areas of Washington Territory, largely with the object of being better able to appreciate the corresponding coal-bearing areas in British Columbia to the north. In Western Canada, coal-bearing rocks have been found in three zones: 1. In the plains to the east of the Rocky Mountains and in the eastern flanking ranges, the coal occurs in the Cretaceous formation (including the Laramie). 2. In the interior plateau of British Columbia, the coal is found in the Tertiary formation. 3. On the coast of British Columbia, Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks are found carrying coal, and on the Island of Vancouver the well known Nanaimo coal has been worked for years in the first named formation. In all of these zones, the coals vary from lignites up to higher grades, the factor determining quality being the amount of pressute to which they have been subjected. The intensity of this pressure is generally shown by the disturbance which the coals exhibit, and, in many cases, is almost directly in proportion to the distance of the deposits from mountain ranges. This seems to be also the opinion expressed by Mr. Bailey Willis in connection with his Census Report on the coals of Washington. It has been elsewhere stated

Jan 1, 1890

By J. A. Herbst, G. A. Grandy, T. S. Mika, D. W. Fuerstenau, G. D. Gumtz

As a basis for interpretation of grinding behavior, the discretized batch grinding model is briefly presented and described, with solutions of the resultant equations for linear systems. Techniques for obtaining relevant experimental data are discussed for first order grinding systems, with methods for estimating other systems1 parameters from these data. Computer methods are described for conducting a sensitivity analysis which can be used to obtain an improved estimate of the system parameters. Examples of the use of the computer in conjunction with the grinding model for the simulation of batch grinding, locked-cycle grinding, and closed-circuit grinding are presented.

Jan 1, 1969

Electrical requirements in surface mining can be divided into three categories: main substation, plant power, and pit distribution. A main substation may vary from a 500-kva transformer supplying 480-v power to motor-driven pumps and conveyors, to a 50,000-kva substation serving a large beneficiation plant or a large strip mining operation. Regard- less of size, it should be designed with the realization that a failure of the main substation will totally shut down the operation. Location of a main substation usually is a compromise between expense of running the incoming high-voltage transmission lines and the voltage drop of long secondary runs. Based on a geological survey for immediate and future areas of excavation, the main substation should be located as near to the center of load as possible.

Jan 10, 1967

By Arch J. Alexander

This paper is a resume of a study undertaken by the West Virginia Department of Mines. The underlying and direct causes of accidents are determined in each occupational group. Then from this study, accident prevention courses, visual and written, are to be taken to the various working groups in the mines. THE causes of accidents in West Virginia mines follow the main pattern of coal industry accidents in the United States—falls of roof, ribs and face, 56 pct; from haulage, 25 to 30 pet; blasting, 3 pet; electrocutions, 3 pct; explosions, 2 pct; and other causes, about 10 pct. To arrive at some satisfactory conclusions regarding causes and prevention of mine accidents, the Department of Mines has made a study of all mine accidents, from 1945 to 1948, inclusive. During the last two years of this period, we did not have a major explosion, one that took the lives of as many as five men. The direct cause of these accidents is apparent in the reports but we who are making a close study into their frequency think that the virus lies much deeper, and we want to suggest an underlying cause. The rapid growth of the coal industry in West Virginia, the largest producer of bituminous coal, has resulted in a demand for manpower which probably has never been equaled in mining history. At the turn of the century, West Virginia had 24,635 men employed in and about her mines, and they produced 21,153,341 tons of coal a year. In 1948, there were 125,669 men employed, and coal production for the year was 168,589,033 tons, an average increase of 35 pct for each year since 1900. Over 100,000,000 tons of this increase were mined in the southern counties of the state. A safety analyst might read into the history of this development an underlying cause for accident occurrence. He might say that in such a vast, rapid development the available supply of trained miners became exhausted and that young, inexperienced men were employed in the mines by the thousands. Being unacquainted with the hazards of mining, it would be only natural for these young men to be injured or killed in too great a number. This assumption would not be borne out by the records. Men were not injured or killed in disproportionate numbers during their first years in a mine. The only reason we can give is that, during these years, they possessed an attribute of safety—CAUTION—to a much greater degree than in the years following. The coal companies in West Virginia that have been operating over a number of years have a nucleus of employees who have been with them ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years; many of them having gained all of their mining experience with one company. Their habits of work have been

Jan 1, 1951

By Arch J. Alexander

This paper is a resume of a study undertaken by the West Virginia Department of Mines. The underlying and direct causes of accidents are determined in each occupational group. Then from this study, accident prevention courses, visual and written, are to be taken to the various working groups in the mines. THE causes of accidents in West Virginia mines follow the main pattern of coal industry accidents in the United States—falls of roof, ribs and face, 56 pct; from haulage, 25 to 30 pet; blasting, 3 pet; electrocutions, 3 pct; explosions, 2 pct; and other causes, about 10 pct. To arrive at some satisfactory conclusions regarding causes and prevention of mine accidents, the Department of Mines has made a study of all mine accidents, from 1945 to 1948, inclusive. During the last two years of this period, we did not have a major explosion, one that took the lives of as many as five men. The direct cause of these accidents is apparent in the reports but we who are making a close study into their frequency think that the virus lies much deeper, and we want to suggest an underlying cause. The rapid growth of the coal industry in West Virginia, the largest producer of bituminous coal, has resulted in a demand for manpower which probably has never been equaled in mining history. At the turn of the century, West Virginia had 24,635 men employed in and about her mines, and they produced 21,153,341 tons of coal a year. In 1948, there were 125,669 men employed, and coal production for the year was 168,589,033 tons, an average increase of 35 pct for each year since 1900. Over 100,000,000 tons of this increase were mined in the southern counties of the state. A safety analyst might read into the history of this development an underlying cause for accident occurrence. He might say that in such a vast, rapid development the available supply of trained miners became exhausted and that young, inexperienced men were employed in the mines by the thousands. Being unacquainted with the hazards of mining, it would be only natural for these young men to be injured or killed in too great a number. This assumption would not be borne out by the records. Men were not injured or killed in disproportionate numbers during their first years in a mine. The only reason we can give is that, during these years, they possessed an attribute of safety—CAUTION—to a much greater degree than in the years following. The coal companies in West Virginia that have been operating over a number of years have a nucleus of employees who have been with them ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years; many of them having gained all of their mining experience with one company. Their habits of work have been

Jan 1, 1951

By L. J. Cabri

The calculation of metallurgical balances for precious metals is very dependent on a precise mineralogical understanding of the distribution of each element. Determination whether the precious metals occur as dilute solid solutions in major minerals is not always easy because of the relatively high levels of detection (9200-500 ppm) of the precious metals by the most common methods of in-situ analysis (e.g. electron microprobe). Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) analysis of sulfides from Izok Lake, N.W.T., Canada and from the Hilton mine, Mount Isa, Australia with a proton beam (proton microprobe) confirms solid solution of Ag in chalcopyrite from both deposits. In addition, chalcopyrite and sphalerite from Izok Lake both contain indium.

Jan 1, 1984

By Fred Bond

WHEN some materials are ground dry in a ball mill, a stage of comminution is reached at which the finely divided particles begin to adhere to the balls and to the mill lining. As grinding progresses, a coating accumulates upon the grinding media, which tends to cushion the impacts and thus retard reduction of the material, and finally becomes so thick that all grinding ceases. At this stage, the characteristic noise produced by the grinding media dur-ing normal mill operation changes to a dull, muffled sound. In most instances, the formation of the coating marks the practical limit of size reduction. Industrial requirements for fine grinding frequently meet with this obstacle, and the tendency in many com-mercial operations to grind materials to a higher degree of fineness than formerly makes the solution of this problem an im-portant one. The phenomenon is of far greater importance, therefore, than the limited amount of research and technical discussion devoted to it implies. In order to learn more about the coating of different materials when ground dry to a high degree of fineness, certain labora-tory tests were made from which it was found that different materials form coat-ings at widely different size distributions. It is probable that most materials will coat if they are ground fine enough; the exceptions have inherent lubricating qual-ities, like coal and graphite.

Jan 1, 1940

By D. D. Dunkin

SANDSTONE has been prepared for glassmaking purposes, and marketed from the White River Valley in-Arkansas at Guion, Izard County, since about 1910-soon after the completion of the White River Branch of the Missouri Pacific R. R. Co. Until 1921, operations were somewhat spasmodic and ended in many failures. In that year a plant was built by the Silica Products Co., Inc., and since that time the operation has been continuous and steady. The land is held under leases, covering about 30 sq. mi. of the best sandstone adjacent to the railroad. Most of the product is shipped to glassmakers. GEOLOGY The St. Peter sandstone is rather widely distributed in north central Arkansas and- is exposed most prominently in outcrops along the slopes of the White River Valley and its tributaries that form the division between the Boston Mountains to the south and the Salem Plateau of the Ozarks to the north. It is of Ordovician age and is generally underlain by Cotter dolomite and capped by Plattin limestone, except in the vicinity of Bellefonte and Everton. At those places, it is a massive cross-bedded, laminated, saccharoidal sandstone; underlying it is the Everton limestone and overlying it, the Joachim magnesium limestone. The sandstone at Everton contains numerous phosphatic pebbles and inclusions of sandy limestone. The irregularity of cross-section, the evidence of sorting action and the phosphatic pebbles appear to be indications of secondary deposition.

Jan 1, 1928

By Arthur E. Bousu, C. T. Eddy, L. W. Eastwood

THE recrystallization and grain-growth phenomena of cold-worked metals have considerable industrial importance because of their role in the fabrication of metals. For this reason, and because of the general academic interest in the subject, these processes have received considerable attention since the time of J. E. Stead's paper1 on The Crystalline Structure of Iron and Steel. There are considerable differences of opinion regarding the theory of recrystallization and grain growth and also differences in the observation of the modus operandi of the processes themselves. The value of many of the existing quantitative data on grain growth is decreased by the failure to distinguish between the grain sizes just after complete recrystallization and those resulting from coalescence. For this reason also, the value of the diagrams of stable grain sizes, like those produced by . Bass and Glocker2 and Czochralski3, is lessened in so far as an interpretation of the facts of recrystallization is concerned. It is hoped that the data presented in this paper will help to clarify and to simplify the facts relating to recrystallization, and at the same time will show that some of the present-day conceptions are untenable. A paper on the theory of recrystallization with additional data will be completed in the near future by the writers.

Jan 1, 1935

By M. G. Corson

Information regarding the use of ixanganese alloys has hitherto been incomplete and available only from widely scattered sources. This paper attempts a systematic description of properties and uses of alloys other than manganese bronze, manganin and duralumin, which are probably the only non-ferrous alloys associated with manganese in the minds of most metallurgists. Properties of Manganese Manganese can react either acid or basic; it is hard to obtain in the pure state; it has two different crystalline lattice structures, both of the cubic system, one stable above 850" C. and the other below 650" C., both coexisting in the intermediate range. Although the commercial product is hard and brittle, the pure metal seems to be ductile. In fact Zhemchuzhny, in Russia, was able to obtain ductile manganese and draw it to fine wires by the simple expedient of adding about 3 per cent. copper to the alumino-thermic product. Copper most probably brings the sili-cides, aluminides, nitrides and carbides present in the commercial product into a much less harmful form of distribution. One industrial use that can be foreseen for wrought manganese articles is as anodes for electrolytic processes in sulfate and nitrate solutions, particularly with high voltages. A practically insoluble skin of manganese peroxide is likely to form in such cases and an insoluble and strong anode material will be available. Manganese as a Scavengek Because of its activity manganese might become the most efficient scavenger and refiner of copper, were it not for the fact that 0.01 per cent.

By Donald H. Yardley, A. Aly Selim

Abstract-An economic simulation model was developed to predict the amount of copper recovered from copper oxide deposits, and the cost of producing it as a function of the deposit parameters. The economic simulation model includes programs for fragmentation design and cost, copper extraction, solution distribution and recovery, effluent solution cutoff grade, and financial analysis. Cost and price indices were also developed to evaluate the economic feasibility of in situ leaching operations as a function of their starting date. Application of the models to various hypothetical properties having the same area and different ore thickness shows that the effluent solution cutoff grade does not vary with the ore thickness nor with its grade. The percent of copper recovery is, however, shown to increase with the increase in the ore thickness and is independent of the ore grade. It is also shown that while the profit per unit of extracted copper increases with the increase in ore grade or ore thickness, the rate of return on total investment does not show any correlation.

Jan 1, 1978

By Teh-Yu Kao, Don J. Wood

With the increasing industrial use of the method of transporting solids by fluids through pipes, a better understanding of the basic mechanics of a solid-liquid pipe flow system is essential. In this study the phenomenon of incipient motion of solid particles resting in a sediment bed on the bottom of a pipe is investigated. Since a system would fail to operate at the designed solid-liquid flow condition if it was not capable of operating through the transient initial flow phase, information concerning the starting transient is of great interest. An objective definition of incipient particle motion, derived from energy considerations, is first proposed. Using this the critical state is defined to describe the flow condition during which a solid particle can at least temporarily escape the sediment bed and move in the liquid. Postulated also in this study is that the condition of incipient motion can be reasonably well predicted by a consideration of particle equilibrium in a direction normal to the pipe axis. The incipient condition is considered to occur at the instant the force between the bed and the particle, normal to the pipe axis, is zero. Experimental measurements of incipient conditions are obtained for water flowing through a horizontal pipe with sand sediment beds of different thickness. These are compared to predicted values with good agreement.

Jan 1, 1975

By Richard Ageton

SALT bodies in the form of rolls, horses (sometimes called horsebacks), folds, wants and pinches1 have been encountered while driving entries and mining out rooms during the development of the potash mines in New Mexico. Superficially these sporadic salt occurrences appear to be much alike, but closer examination reveals individual characteristics, and after four years of observation it seems possible to divide them into three general groups that may tentatively be called "depositional," "erosional," and "structural." The data collected are not yet sufficient to permit forecasts of their probable location, so that the annoyance of having to mine salt instead of potash could be avoided or lessened. However, the information so far available appears to throw some light on the occurrence of the sylvinite2 bed now being mined, and it is as a progress report that the writer presents the results of his observations. The mines of the United States Potash Co. and the Potash Company of America are about 20 miles northeast of Carlsbad, in Eddy County, N. M. They are on the southwestern flank of the Permian salt basin, which underlies western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, south-central Nebraska, southeastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico. The cuttings from many oil wells and the cores from the potash tests drilled in this basin indicate that this salt series approached its greatest thick-ness (about 4000 ft.) in the southeastern part of New Mexico and the adjoining portions of Texas, and that the most advanced stages of

Jan 1, 1936

By Kittitep Fuenkajorn

Ring tension tests, permeability tests, and microscopic fracture studies have been performed to investigate the damaged zone induced by drilling (diamond, percussion, and rotary) in the borehole walls. Specimens are drilled with three different hole sizes (38, 76 and 102 mm diameter) in Pomona basalt and Grande basaltic andesite. The thickness of the damaged zone ranges from 0.0 to 1.7 mm. A larger drill bit induces more wall damage than a smaller one. Different drilling techniques show different damage characteristics (intensity and distribution). Damage characteristics are governed not only by drilling parameters (bit size, weight on bit, rotational speed, diamond radius, and energy), but also by properties of the rock. The weaker rock tends to show more intense damage than does the stronger one. Cracks within grains or cleavage fractures are predominant in coarse grained rock (larger than 0.5 mm grain size) while intergranular cracks are predominant in fine grained rock (smaller than 0.01 mm grain size). The influence of the damaged zone on the permeability of the rock around the hole is investigated by permeability tests.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. W. Raymond

THE specimen of anthracite which I exhibit is from the Ortiz Mine Grant, about fifteen miles southwest of Santa Fe. The beds belong to the lignitic formation of the Galisteo, which Hayden and

Jan 1, 1874

By Thomas MacFarlane

IN smelting copper, lead, and silver ores, it is scarcely possible in every case to make analyses of the various parcels of ore, with the view of combining these and the fluxes so accurately as to yield, in the furnace, slags of exactly the most favorable composition. This is even more difficult with ores which require previous calcination, or with mattes which have been roasted in heaps. Even in cases where the greatest pains have been taken and the most elaborate calculations made beforehand, it frequently happens that variations in the working of the furnace interfere with the result so much desired. Generally, the practical metallurgist must be content with ascertaining the average composition of his ores and fluxes, making a calculation once for all as to the most advantageous mixture, and leaving slight changes in its composition to be taken care of as it is passing through the furnace. The various products then afford him the best material whereon to base his judgment as to the manner in which his smelting mixture is working. Of course the character of the slag is one of his chief guides, but it is not always possible from its outward characters alone to form a correct judgment as to its composition. Neither would it be possible or practicable to apply chemical analysis for this purpose, as it would be impossible to wait for its results while working a furnace. Abich was, I believe, the first to point out the relation existing between the composition of volcanic rocks and their densities, and to show that, the latter being ascertained, very correct conclusions

Jan 1, 1880

By R. M. Daelen

Mechanical science is severely tested by the demands of the iron manufacture for the varied apparatus needed to transport and to treat raw materials and products. Water has long been a favorite means of transmitting pressure for such purposes, because of its own incompressibility. Further advances in its use are the more to be expected, since mechanical improvements have steadily tended to overcome the difficulties formerly encountered in the employment of great hydraulic pressures. So long as the pressure is not higher than that which requires for plungers, etc., only ordinary stuffing-boxes, with hemp or other similar packing, the necessary arrangements for the production and transmission of the water-pressure without leakage are very simple. But when this limit (which is, for most purposes, 50 kilos to the square centimeter) is exceeded, new conditions of construction arise, which are met in various ways, and which justify a primary division of hydraulic presses into low-pressure and high-pressure respectively. The former are used in lifting and moving weights, and employ pressures as high (in extreme cases) as 100 kilos per square centimeter; but at this point the friction between piston and hemp-packing is so great that the use of cup-leathers is already preferable. Beyond 100 kilos it becomes a necessity. The range of practicable tight packing which follows is considerable, extending to about 1000 kilos; but "high pressure" in practice is from 100 to 600 kilos, and it is to this that the present paper applies. General Classes and Types. Hydraulic transmission at high pressure usually claims consideration in case the solid mechanism, such as levers, cams, screws, and gear-wheels, would have to be too large, would involve too much friction, or could not be suitably adapted to the speed-requirements of the working-tools. Since steam is mostly the primary carrier of

Jan 1, 1893

By G. Broughton

For the past few years a great amount of work has been done on the viscosity characteristics and gelation of clay suspensions, much of which has been reported in papers published by the Institute.7,12,18,19,24 Impor-tant reviews have been made elsewhere by Evans and Reid,10 Marshall20 and Clews, Macey and Rigby,8 the last two on the general properties of clay. It is unnecessary, therefore, to recapitulate past work beyond recalling that three explanations for the high viscosity and gelation of clay suspensions have been put forward. For lack of more exact nomencla-ture, these may be called the water hull,16 mechanical interference" and attraction-repulsion" theories. The first pictures the clay particles as surrounded by relatively rigid water envelopes, which increase effective volume; the second emphasizes the mechanical interference of platy particles or their agglomerates; while in the third the particles are assumed to be held relatively rigidly at a distance from each other determined by the balance between the attractive (van der Waal's) forces and the elec-trical repulsions of the charges. 13,14 This article presents fresh data on clay suspensions, particularly on the influence of previous flow history of the suspensions, specific contra-ions, temperature, solvation and particle size, in an attempt to contribute to the solution of the problem.

Jan 1, 1938

By E. Teghtsoonian, K. G. Davis

Cobalt crystals of commercial purity have been tested in tension. Their resolved shear stress-shear strain curves are very similar in form to those for zinc, magnesium, and cadmium. There is an initial linear region for shear strains up to around 150 pct, the ratio of work hardening slope to shear modulus at room temperature being about 2 X x This is followed by an upturn, which is, PLASTIC deformation in metal single crystals with close-packed structures has been found strongly dependent on stacking-fault energy. The high stacking-fault energy hexagonal metals magnesium, zinc, and cadmium have been quite extensively tested, but up to now no data have been available for a comparable hexagonal metal with low stacking-fau1t energy' An however, smaller in magnitude for cobalt than for the other metals. Values for the critical resolved shear stress rise from 97 kg per sq cm at room temperature to approximately 170 kg per sq cm at -196 °C. The Cottrell-Stokes ratio is not constant either for variations in the strain rate or for temperature changes, its value decreasing with strain. investigation into the plastic deformation of cobalt, which has a very low stacking-fault energy, has therefore been undertaken. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Cobalt crystals in the form of rods 0.3 cm in diam were grown in an electron-beam floating-zone refiner at a rate of zone travel of 25 cm per hr. Details of the growing procedure are given in Ref. 1. The zoned cobalt rods had the following analysis:

Jan 1, 1963