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By Jules E. Jenkins

In the past quarter century the seismograph has I played an increasingly important role in evaluating vibratory effects transmitted to adjacent communities by industrial blasting operations. In this period research has advanced through two major phases-from falling pin seismometers to three- component recording seismographs. The initial phase of this research is now regarded as the era of recording, during which the seismograph merely recorded occasional events. It has emerged from this stage into the era of control and analysis and in this later period has been recognized as a full-fledged industrial tool. Although the falling pin machines of earlier years indicated probable amplitudes of industrial blasting vibrations, they gave no reliable measure of such displacements, nor did they provide essential information concerning direction or frequency of motion.

May 1, 1956

By Arthur F. Colombo

The selective - deslime - flotation process developed by the Federal Bureau of Mines as part of its goal of maintaining an adequate supply of minerals to meet national economic and strategic needs is described. The operating parameters for the selective flocculation - cationic flotation of oxidized taconites from the western Mesabi range in Minnesota are discussed. Data from the operation of a 410 kg/hr (900 lb/hr) pilot plant employing reclaimed water are summarized for 2 types of oxidized taconites.

Jan 1, 1979

By Foster Bain

THOUGHTFUL people have raised questions as to how long nature's bank could continue to accept our drafts. These questions came to the fore so persistently, and there were so many evidences -such as the failure of natural gas in Indiana, the increasing scarcity of lumber in the Lake Superior region, the progressive sterility of Southern farm lands, the choking of the Sacramento River by tailing-point-ing to possible danger from overdraft or to misuse of resources and opportunity, that President Roosevelt called a conference which assembled at the White House on May 13, 1908, to consider these and related questions. This, the first great Conservation Congress, had a wide and beneficial influence on the thought of the world. It profoundly influenced the course of succeed-ing events and, while even yet there are sharp dis-agreements as, to the wisdom of much that has been done in the name of conservation, I believe that thoughtful men, and engineers especially, agree that the time had come when sharp attention was properly called to the waste that accompanied development of our resources. RESOURCES LARGE BUT NOT INEXHAUSTIBLE In 1908 there was a surprisingly large number of men, who should have known better, prepared to argue that our resources are "inexhaustible." No competent mining engineer, of course, believes that, as regards minerals at least. They may be, and, in most cases, fortunately are, large; as to many of them our knowledge is too general to permit measuring the reserves; but we know now, and I think the public appreciates, that there is a limit to our supply of gas, oil, coal, iron, and metals. Indeed, with the inten-sive study made necessary to meet the demands of the war, and the more careful accounting required by the newer systems of taxation, depletion has become a common word, and that mines are wasting assets has become a platitude.

Jan 8, 1922

By I. R. M. Chaston

Radial layout’s guiding principle is the grouping under one roof of the operating processes which require continuous supervision. Separate treatment sections are isolated by outside stockpiles fed with radiating conveyors. Hence the name ‘radial’ layout. Many plants are designed with ‘linear’ layout where successive operating stages are dotted like beads along a string of conveyors. [Figures 1 through 5] show the development of the radial concept in the layout of heavy-media diamond recovery plants over

Jan 1, 1979

By Ronald J. Roman, Craig Olsen

Alterations were performed on a previously developed heap leaching model representing sulfuric acid solution leaching of a malachite sandstone ore. The alterations were made in order to approach a more realistic solution to the leaching equations used in the model and to provide a means of obtaining a constant acid con- centration in the model' s simulated heap effluent solutions. This constant acid concentration is desired if the effluent solutions are to be treated in a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant. An economic study was made showing a use of the leaching model for an imaginary heap leach operation. The example illustrates a method of selecting heap leaching parameters if data are available on mining costs, dump costs, capital cost, etc. This was achieved using an incremental investment technique.

Jan 1, 1974

The old single-jack may have been portable- but it left much to be desired in drilling speed and depth of hole. Portable compressors for drilling can be snaked into tough spots. However, that calls for more men, equipment, and money, with corresponding loss of mobility. The drills listed in this notebook sheet meet three requirements: They are light. They are self-powered. And all are reported proven in practice. Undoubtedly there are other units filling the requirements that are not listed. Extreme mobility for far-flung exploration teams is always an acute need. The drills listed here help solve the problem. Canadian Longyear, for instance, reports that the Porta drill has been parachuted into wilderness spots and helicopters have lofted light core drills onto mesa tops in the Colorado Plateau uranium country.

Jul 1, 1955

By J. E. Schiller, S. E. Khalafalla

To improve technology for treating process water, US Bureau of Mines research has shown that magnesium oxide (MgO) has many advantages over lime or caustic soda for precipitating heavy metals. Sludge produced by MgO occupies only 0.2-0.3 times as much volume as the precipitate made wing a soluble base. While a settled, lime-formed precipitate is easily resuspended, the MgO-metal hydroxide sludge becomes cemented together on standing. Settling of the metal hydroxides from a dilute suspension is more complete than precipitates formed with other bases. Virtually any metal that can be precipitated by raising the pH can be treated using MgO. A three fold to fourfold stoichiometric excess of solid reagent is added. The mixture is reacted for five to 10 minutes. Polymer is added, and settling or filtration completes the process. Because of the greater cost of MgO compared with lime, large-scale practice of this technology will probably be limited to water containing 50 mg/L (3 gr per gal) or less of dissolved metals. For such dilute solutions, chemicals are not a large fraction of total treatment costs, so more desirable sludge properties might justify higher chemical expenses. While the MgO process is technically suitable for widespread application, the extent to which it is adopted will probably be determined by a trade-off between the greater cost of MgO compared with lime and the superior properties of the precipitates and their corresponding ultimate disposal costs.

Jan 1, 1985

By Byron S. Gottfried

This paper describes a comprehensive computer program, developed under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Bureau of Mines, that simulates the performance of coal preparation plants. A typical plant configuration may include several different washers, crushers, and screens as well as stream blenders and stream splitters, interconnected in whatever manner the user may specify. The program will predict the mass and energy yields of each unit and the properties of each flowstream (weight, ash, pyritic sulfur, total sulfur, and energy distributions), provided the feed properties and appropriate values for various control parameters are given. The program is used to assess washability characteristics of different coals, to determine the effectiveness of different plant operating conditions, and to compare the performance of various plant configurations. A brief description is given of the methods used to carry out the calculations for each type of unit. Results of some calculations are also presented. These results illustrate the versatility of the program for analyzing both simple and complex plant configurations. The paper concludes with a description of other accomplishments and future plans.

Jan 1, 1977

* A demonstration pipeline for transporting coal will be constructed by Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co, at the Georgetown strip-mining operation near Cadiz, Ohio, The 12-in., 17,000-ft line, special crushing and preparation equipment, and pumps especially designed for the operation will cost about $550,000. A slurry of fine coal and water will be fed into the line and moved through it under pressure. * Sulphur resources in the U.S. are being rapidly exhausted with no new major deposits being found, This common mineral may become one of the most strategic items during the next five years. Recovery of sulphur from pyrites is being considered in case of an emergency. Already the British have adopted stringent measures to conserve sulphur supplies.

Jan 3, 1951

In opening the meeting I wish to express my greatest pleasure at being able to greet this joint session of the Mining and Electrical Engineers. As engineering develops, we find that the border lines between the different branches of engineering become more and more indistinct; the several fields overlap so much that they are three or four layers deep in places. It is only an accident that we couldn't have had the Mechanical Engineers also as a formal part of this gathering, because they are quite as much interested in this subject as the Electrical or Mining Engineers. A little history may enlighten some of those who have not been close to this work. A year ago last summer, there was brought to the attention

Jan 4, 1919

By C. F. Davan, C. T. Houseman

The news pages of MINING ENGINEERING and other trade publications have for the past two years carried a great many items about new developments in phosphate and potash, reflecting the surge in world consumption of these products as fertilizer. Today the question often arises concerning how much growth can be further anticipated by the phosphate and potash industries. To answer this question, a 15-year projection of world fertilizer consumption in terms of the three basic plant food nutrients-nitrogen, phosphate and potash-has been prepared. Two of these, phosphate and potash, are basic products of the mining industry. Nitrogen, once an important product of mining, is now mainly a chemical product. Another mineral, sulfur, although not a primary nutrient, depends on the fertilizer manufacturing industry for the bulk of its market. In crop year 1962-63, there began a startling in- crease in world fertilizer consumption. In that year, consumption increased by about 10% and in the following year by 10-12%.

Jan 12, 1965

By I. Iwasaki, K. A. Smith

A chlorination process for treating metal sulfide flotation concentrates is described. The process involves low temperature chlorination combined with sulfur chloride conversion and selective oxidation to produce nonferrous metal chlorides, elemental sulfur, and ferric oxide in a three-stage fluidized bed reactor. The nonferrous metal chlorides may then be water leached, separated, purified, and electrolyzed to recover copper and nickel metals and to regenerate chlorine for recycling.

Jan 1, 1986

By K. Koneko, T. Nokoyama, S. Shibato

SEYBOLT et al.' have detected various silica films formed on a 3 pct Si-Fe alloy after heating at low oxygen potentials with the electron diffraction method, and they have made some observations on the H,0/H2 ratios required to form them. The purpose of this note is to describe the structure of the oxide film formed on either mechanically or electrolytically polished surfaces of a 3 pct Si-Fe alloy containing small amounts of manganese after heating at low oxygen potential. The samples were prepared from a Si-Fe alloy made in the laboratory using electrolytic iron, 76 pct ferrosilicon, and 76 pct ferromanganese, vacuum-in-

Jan 1, 1969

By R. A. Blake

Measurements of the quantity of xanthate abstracted from mineral surfaces and put into solution by an increase in the hydroxyl ion concentration were made. A residual xanthate concentration of 59.6 ppm was found in one case at a pH of 11.8. The abstracted xanthate is capable of acting as a collector on fresh mineral surfaces under proper conditions. It was learned that as the hydroxyl ion increased and the xanthate abstracted, the coarse particles lose their floatability first. A volume weight relationship based on percentage coverage was established and seems to offer a reasonable explanation of the cause of observed results.

Jan 1, 1973

By J. M. Kane

IN all probability the mining and metallurgical industry as a whole can demonstrate a larger economic return from installation of dust-control equipment than any other major industrial group. This fact has partially accounted for the marked increase of dust-control installations made during the past decade. While the primary objectives for installation of dust-collecting systems are improved working and operating conditions for men and equipment, the fact that an economic return can be anticipated on salvageable materials is an added advantage which shows in partial or complete equipment write-off. The conditions apply to most phases of the mining, milling, and smelting industry, both non-metallic and metallic.

Jan 1, 1953

By H. M. Varner

Under sponsorship of the US Bureau of Mines and the Department of Energy, a new type of rotary rock drill was developed by The Bendix Corp. Originally developed for the production of holes for the installation of longer than seam height roof bolts, the flexible drill is a useful tool for many drilling applications. It allows hands-off or remote production of holes for increased drilling speed and greater operator safety in any strata suitable for rotary drilling. This paper discusses various applications and experience for the flexible drill system in coal, metal/nonmetal mining, and for civil engineering uses. Manual, remote control, and automatic roof bolter modules are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. D. Forrester, Erich Sarapuu, T. C. Cheasley

RANKING high in the nation's wealth of natural resources, readily available liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons are nevertheless falling steadily in supply, while industrial requirements for hydro- carbon compounds are greater today than during the peak period of World War II. Theoretically, several processes will increase the future supply of liquid and gaseous fuels, but the practical application of these methods depends on two controlling factors: 1-that enough carbon- bearing material be available to warrant industrial exploitation, and 2-that the given process be physically, chemically, and economically applicable. With regard to the first factor, the Western Hemisphere is fortunately well supplied, see Table I.

Jan 9, 1954

At its meeting on February 21, 1933, the Board of Directors the following resolution defining and expressing the policy of the Institute with respect to official participation or action in controversial matters: WHEREAS, the Board of Directors at its last meting passed the following resolution: "The Board of Directors, having been appealed to by several Local Sections for advice concerning the attitude and policy of the Institute relating to the endorsement of candidates for public office, the following statement of policy is formulated:

Jan 1, 1942

At its meeting on February 21, 1933, the Board of Directors the following resolution defining and expressing the policy of the Institute with respect to official participation or action in controversial matters: WHEREAS, the Board of Directors at its last meting passed the following resolution: "The Board of Directors, having been appealed to by several Local Sections for advice concerning the attitude and policy of the Institute relating to the endorsement of candidates for public office, the following statement of policy is formulated:

Jan 1, 1939

At its meeting on February 21, 1933, the Board of Directors the following resolution defining and expressing the policy of the Institute with respect to official participation or action in controversial matters: WHEREAS, the Board of Directors at its last meting passed the following resolution: "The Board of Directors, having been appealed to by several Local Sections for advice concerning the attitude and policy of the Institute relating to the endorsement of candidates for public office, the following statement of policy is formulated:

Jan 1, 1936