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By L. S. Harris

The application of briquetting in various chemical, mineral, mining and metallurgical processes has been rapidly increasing in the past two decades. This is, in part, due to the development of new, more economical and higher performance briquetting equipment. Some of these developments, which have reduced the operating and maintenance costs,, include anti-friction bearings, hydraulically applied pressure enclosed and sealed gearing and bearings, tapered predensification feed screws, water cooling and materials of construction capable of operating at temperatures up to 18000F, and control systems capable of maintaining optimum briquette quality control. The briquets can be formed into almost any desired size and shape, To date, with present rotary briquetting presses in the 25 to 500 ton force range, briquets from 1/4" to 6" length are presently being used, some of which are illustrated in Figure No. 1. In force fed rotary briquet machines, these shapes are produced by feeding the material in between a pair of counter rotating rolls, as illustrated in Figure No. 2. The rolls have forming dies indented into their circumferential surface, as illustrated in Figure No. 3.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. W. Wotring

Mr. Chairman, Officers, Members and Guests of the AIME, I want to express my appreciation for the privilege of being on your program at this meeting. Coal mining, in recent years, has become much more competitive than it formerly was. To stay in business, it has been necessary for coal mines to mechanize. This, in itself, has not been enough for after one has mechanized his mine, he must keep replacing the equipment with the latest type and model machines. We, at Olga, have been doing this very thing for the past several years. Olga No. 2 Mine is located at Caretta, West Virginia, in McDovell County, about twelve miles south of Welch, It is a shaft mine, operating in the No. 4 Pocahontas seam. The thickness in the area, we are presently mining, varies from five to six feet. In some areas the immediate roof is slate, ranging in thickness from a few inches to four and five feet; in other places, the sandstone lies on top of the coal, This sandstone is about twenty-five feet thick.

Jan 1, 1961

By Steve Kral

For a state whose roots are in mining, most Colorado residents probably do not realize that the industry still contributes heavily to the state’s economy. In 2005, the industry contributed, directly and indirectly, about $8 billion to the state’s economy, according to the Colorado Mining Association (CMA). It employed nearly 10,000 people at mines and support businesses. And the mining industry in Colorado is one of the highest paying occupations in the state, averaging about $80,000 a year in wages and benefits. The state’s coal mining industry produced nearly 36 Mt (40 million st) of coal in 2005, valued at $800 million, the CMA said. That was seventh in the nation. And Colorado’s only major gold mine produced 10.2 t (329,000 oz) last year, valued at $124 million. That was third in the nation. And Phelps Dodge’s Henderson Mine produced about 12.7 kt (28 million lbs) of molybdenum, valued at $350 million. Colorado is the largest molybdenum producing state in the nation.

Jan 1, 2006

By T. O. Price

In 1969 Holosonics designed and developed a portable system for conducting acoustical surveys in metal mines, with lead-silver veins as the principal targets. Recently this system has been proven useful in describing rock structures for advance geologic information in civil engineering application and underground construction applications. This paper discusses a case history of acoustical surveying from a series of pilot drill holes in an advancing tunnel. In acoustical surveying a pulsed acoustic signal is used to generate reflected signals from the rock formation. Arrival time, amplitude and phase of the returned signals can be determined. These data became the basis for a signal correlation program designed to relate the signals to their respected pseudo-planar reflecting interfaces. An application of acoustical surveying has recently been conducted in a portion of the excavation for the Washington Metro Area Transit Subway. The data results and conclusions of the program are discussed in the paper. Acoustical surveying was successful in predicting the occurrence of major jointing and foliation plane shearing ahead of the tunnel advancement.

Jan 1, 1974

By C. Menidiatis

The first cement plant of TITAN Cement Co was founded in Elefsis in 1902. It was the first cement industrial facility to operate in the Balkans and in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Currently have four cement plants in Greece producing 5.4 million tons per annum, and 25 ready-mixed concrete sites producing 1.4 million m3 annually. It has a total of 20 quarries, 14 of which are producing materials used in the making of cement while the remaining six produce aggregates used in the production of ready-mixed concrete. All plants in Greece are accredited for ISO 14001. The restoration of quarries began in 1976 at the company?s limestone quarry of the Patras plant, and was soon extended to all quarries. At that time, a department responsible for all environmental issues was established. To date, over 700.000 shrubs and trees have been planted and maintained at quarries, plants and ready-mixed concrete facilities, while over 100,000 trees have been donated to municipalities, communities, customers and to the Greek state.

Jan 1, 2002

By Brad C. Lewis

The coal mining industry has experienced a general trend toward longwall operations. An increasing percentage of underground coal is being mined by longwalls. And productivity in longwalls is likewise increasing. Operators of longwalls, however, have not yet reached a state of mining euphoria. Competitiveness within the industry and from alternate fuel sources is forcing continued pursuit of higher productivities and lower costs. [Figures 1, 2 and 3] present trends in the industry. Longwall mines, as defined here, are those reportedly having longwall installations in each of the respective years. Production from both the continuous miner and longwall units is included in the longwall mines. Nonlongwall mines are all other underground mines. Productivity calculations are based on total employee-hours associated with the operation. Annual percent increases in productivity appear to have peaked in the 1985-1987 time frame. This was due, in part, to implementation of technological advancements and improvements in management-labor relations. The results shown in [Fig. 3] aroused the author's curiosity. The first question was "Have technological advancements to increase productivity peaked?" It does not appear so.

Jan 1, 1990

By Lane White

Loading shovels are at the heart of most surface mine production. As truck sizes have increased, shovel manufacturers have matched them with larger shovels (see table, page 343). Further increases in shovel size may be in order if trucks in the 270-t (300-st) range find acceptance at the largest surface mines. However, larger shovels are not currently the primary focus of shovel design engineers. Competition and user pressure are combining to keep their work directed toward improved shovel productivity and efficiency. Computer design technology and advanced electronics play an increasingly prominent role in this work. "Improved diagnostic capability, system monitoring, vibration analysis and above all increased user friendliness in machine control systems are being pursued by most manufacturers working in our industry today," observes Stuart R. Cotterill, director of marketing for Harnischfeger Corp. The use of computer-aided design (CAD) systems in shovel design has been in place for many years. However, recent advances in computer capability and improved software programs and graphics are making computers even more useful.

Jan 1, 1995

Geopolymerization is a process by which Al-Si minerals undergo dissolution and polymerization in an alkaline solution to form a monolithic material with a high mechanical strength (Davidovits, 1991; 1994). In this study, Na-feldspar (albite) and K-feldspar (microcline) have been selected to investigate their abilities to undergo geopolymerization. The interaction between alkali metals present in the alkali-feldspars and alkali metal cations contained in alkaline solution during geopolymerization has also been studied. It has been found that both albite and microcline can be applied in geopolymerization to produce geopolymers with a high compressive strength. Although the dissolution of M-feldspar (where M = Na and/or K) in concentrated MOH solution is inhibited when the alkali metal cations of the alkaline solution differ from the alkali metals structured in M-feldspar, the resulting geopolymers are found to demonstrate a higher compressive strength. Moreover, a proper molar ratio of Si/Al in the geopolymeric gel phase and a higher average hardness of the undissolved particles remaining in the geopolymers are found to greatly increase the ultimate compressive strength of the geopolymers.

Jan 1, 2002

By C. S. Thompson, P. A. Ciullo

Pyrophyllite is a naturally occurring hydrous aluminum silicate with the molecular formula SiO,,AI,,(OH), or, as more commonly expressed, the oxide formula A120,~4Si02~H20. Pyrophyllite is rarely found in deposits as the pure mineral and is often intimately associated with quartz, sericite, kaolinite, and diaspore. These associated minerals, to a large degree, help determine the most appropriate commercial application for a given pyrophyllite ore. Structural similarities plus the generally soft platy nature of pyrophyllite has in the past caused it to be included with talc in applications and production data. The Minerals Yearbook, published annually by the US Bureau of Mines (USBM), still reports on talc and pyrophyllite together, although admitting that they do not share the same uses. Pyrophyllite has also at times been considered a clay mineral because of its structure and chemistry. The refractory properties of pyrophyllite have been known for nearly 200 years, but it has only been in the past 60 to 70 years that a variety of applications have been developed to exploit the unique characteristics of this mineral. Worldwide, pyrophyllite is a component of refractories, whiteware, foundry mold dressings, pesticides, paint, plastics, rubber, cement, fiberglass, and soap. Historical Overview The most salient refractory features of pyrophyllite are its low coefficient of thermal expansion, high thermal conductivity, low moisture expansion, and good resistance to corrosion by molten metals and basic slags. One of the first recorded uses of this mineral was as firebrick in Japan in the early 1800s. This followed its discovery in 1797 on Mount Omotoyama at the site of the present Mitsuishi mine. In addition to firebrick, sawn blocks of ore were used for carvings and in the manufacture of slate pencils and signature seals. The Mitsuishi mine is still one of Japan's largest. By the mid-1800s, refractories were being made in Japan from roseki (a pyrophyllite-bearing ore) for the construction of metal melting furnaces. The mineral did not get its name until 1829 when R. Herman, testing a sample of supposed talc from the gold-quartz veins at the Berezovo deposit in the Urals, showed that it was actually an aluminum silicate and designated it pyrophyllite. This name was derived from the Greek pur for fue and phullon for leaf, in allusion to the effect of heat in causing separation of the laminae in foliated varieties (Mellor, 1927). The exact date of the discovery of pyrophyllite in the United States is uncertain, but it is believed that the talc and soapstone deposits noted in an 1827 report on the geology of the slate belt of North Carolina were actually pyrophyllite occurrences (Olmstead, 1827). Pyrophyllite was first used in North Carolina on a local basis in the early 1800s. Blocks were sawn and cut for use as stove linings, mantels, chimneys, fireplaces, and gravestones. This was the material of choice because it did not shrink when heated, but cut easily and hardened as it weathered. Pyrophyllite crayons were sold commercially by local gold miners for steel marking and as tailor's chalk from about 1800 until 1922. It was during this period that pyrophyllite was discovered near the town of Hemp (later renamed Robbins), NC. The large quantity of scrap resulting from the sawing of crayons at this deposit prompted the construction in 1921 of a grinding plant. The ore scrap was ground to fine granules and sold to asphalt producers to prevent shingles from sticking together. By the mid-1930s, milled pyrophyllite from North Carolina was also being successfully utilized by the ceramics industry in whiteware for its low cost and ability to shorten firing time. Also during the 1930s, pyrophyllite was first used in kilncar furniture in the United States. Canada was another early entrant in the pyrophyllite business. Mining at the Foxtrap deposit on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland began in 1904, with ore shipped to the United States. Production from this deposit was mostly sporadic in the ensuing years until 1956 when mining began for shipment and captive use in US tile manufacture. This production has remained continuous and still essentially captive to the present. The Foxtrap deposit is currently the sole commercial source of pyrophyllite in Canada.

Jan 1, 1994

By V. Srivastava, T. Ghosh

"Modeling and Simulation of SAG Mill has been widely used in design and optimization of mill performance in terms of its power draw, processing capacity and product size distribution. However, these models are solved under steady approximation and do not provide any information on mill charge distribution in real time. This paper attempts to characterize mill contents by solving Whiten’s first order contents based model in Matlab/Simulink environment. The parameters in the model such as breakage rate (S), discharge rate (D) and appearance function (A) were estimated utilizing process and design data collected from a gold mine operating in Alaska coupled with nonlinear parameter estimation scheme. This model is then utilized to predict dynamic response of other key operational variables such as mill power, bearing pressure, charge level and product size distribution. The transient response of mill behavior with respect to changes in feed size distribution, tonnage and mill feed water is also presented. This dynamic simulation approach can be used for practicing different control strategy and training purposes. The observed response of mentioned variables was validated utilizing dynamic response data from the plant to encompass operational characteristics of SAG Mill behavior. Keywords: SAG Mill, Dynamic Modeling, Simulation, Nonlinear Parameter Estimation. INTRODUCTION Grinding in mineral industry is one the most important steps in the process of size reduction and plays a crucial role in determining the overall economics of the milling plant. Much of the efforts focused on improving the process efficiency using modeling and simulation have been practiced by researcher and engineers. However, up till now these models were simulated under steady state approximation because of their complex nature and difficulty in programming them in a dynamic framework. Steady state simulations have been successfully utilized in circuit designing, capacity planning and pre-flowsheet optimization. The maturity in steady state models is because of its applicability and regular use in steady state simulation packages such as JKSimMet, Limn, ModSim, etc. With the advent of equipment such as SAG and AG mill has been a recent shift in the simulating these models using dynamic approach. Because of the economic benefits of these devices and ability to act both as a primary grinding device and as secondary or tertiary crushing device they have gained a large popularity and are now universal to any milling plant. However, these device poses a real challenge to engineers and researchers in terms of operation and control. The major reason attributed to problems faced is because the ore constitutes the major portion of the charge in these devices when compared to ball and rod mill. This rock charge is subjected to disturbance such as changes in feed size distribution and ore hardness which results in unstable operation and frequent mill stoppages. One way to prevent this is to measure and control these external variables, however, lack of available instrumentation and unavailability of sensors to measure these variables has foiled the understanding of complete process occurring inside the mill thereby, inhibiting development of proper control system."

Jan 1, 2017

By E. D. Attanasi, M. W. Bultman

Most statistical measures of mineral exploration continued downward in 1986. Prospects in 1987, however, appear to have brightened for exploration as the overall economic health of the mineral industry improved. The Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) survey of US and Canadian firms documents the marked decline in US mineral exploration since the early 1980's. From 1981 through 1986, the total exploration expenditure by US firms declined by more than 73% (Fig. 1). Exploration expenditures by US firms declined by 66%%. US based professional exploration staffs were slashed by 70% (Fig. 2). Also, many firms have written off some reserves because of weak markets or have not delineated new reserves to replace production. The Canadian government reported that between 1981 and 1986 Canadian molybdenum re¬serves had declined by 30%, lead and zinc reserves by 20%, and nickel and copper reserves by 15%. The SEG survey also shows the immediate impact of the decline in the dollar on US exploration expenditures abroad. Between 1981 and 1986 the share of the exploration dollar spent by US firms outside of the country declined by nearly one-half and exploration acreage abroad declined by 69%. The downward trend of the last six years may finally be near the end as a leaner and more efficient minerals industry starts to gear up for a period of increased activity. An industry survey reported to Mine Development Bimonthly (Metals Economics Group) indicates that mining firms were expected to increase exploration expenditures in 1987 by at least 10% above 1986 levels. Worldwide expenditures for 1987 by companies covered by the report were expected to top $800 million. It is the first time since 1984 that an increase in exploration expenditures was expected. Also, the US Bureau of Land Management reported a 30% increase in new mining claims for fiscal year 1987 over fiscal year 1986. The bulk of the increase in claims was in states having intense gold exploration, particularly Washington and Oregon. Much of the optimism is undoubtedly due to the increases in metal prices that occurred in 1987. Some of these increases include gold, average price up about 20%; copper, average price up 24%; aluminum, average price up 26%; and nickel, average spot price up 20%. The SEG survey shows precious and base metals accounting for 89% of the exploration expenditures in the US in 1986, up 52% from 1981. The US Bureau of Mines estimates that 80% of US exploration activity in 1986 was directed entirely at gold (1986 Minerals Yearbook). Worldwide exploration plans indicate the continued dominance of gold exploration. New programs were announced for Ghana, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Major new exploration programs were also launched for lead-zinc sulfides in Morocco, platinum and palladium in northwest Brazil, rare earth minerals in Greenland, diamonds in Indonesia, and heavy minerals off-shore Australia. Significant gold discoveries were made at Angels Camp in Oregon; South Africa, near Potchestroom; India, in the Chitradgra district; Northern Ireland near Mt. Speerin; Chile, San Cris-

Jan 5, 1988

By Peter Zhang, Daniel Su, Bo Hyun Kim

Shale gas wells drilled in longwall chain pillars are influenced by longwall mining. Longwall mining on each side of the chain pillars can create overburden movements and induce deformations in gas well casings. If the deformations result in a casing breach, intrusive shale gas could leak into the longwall mine with serious safety consequences. This study concerns five shale gas wells in the chain pillars between two adjacent longwall panels in the Pittsburgh coal seam under a cover depth of 670 ft and a mining height of 7 ft. The gas wells were constructed with typical casing design, but a casing cementing alternative with uncemented production casings was practiced. Four production casings were uncemented, and one production casing was unintentionally cemented with good quality cement to a 535-ft depth and low-quality cement stringers from a 444- to 535-ft depth. The longwall faces passed by the shale gas wells as each adjacent longwall panel retreated. Production casings were surveyed by a multi-finger caliper after each panel was mined. No deformation was detected in the four uncemented production casings, but small deformations were detected in the partially cemented production casing. The maximum measured deformation in the cemented production casing was 0.05 in. after first panel mining and 0.06 in. after second panel mining. The casing deformations were also predicted by the FLAC3D model set up on site-specific overburden geology. The predicted deformations were in good agreement with the measurements in terms of deformation locations and magnitudes. All five shale gas wells resumed normal production after being temporarily plugged during the period of mine-by. This study provides a successful demonstration of the effectiveness of a casing cementing alternative for decoupling production and intermediate casing, and thus minimizing the influence of longwall mining in the shale gas wells drilled through longwall chain pillars.

Jul 1, 2023

By Larry D. Patts

Section 317(e) of the Federal Coal Mine Health & Safety Act of 1969 directed the Secretary of the Interior to prepare standards under which all working places in a mine shall be illuminated by permissible' lighting while persons are working in such places. Section 317(e) further provides that such Working places shall be illuminated within 18 months after such standards are promulgated. In accordance with this section of the Act, there was published in the Federal Register for December 31,1970 a notice of proposed ru1emaking which prescribed the illumination to be provided in the working p1 aces of underground coal mines. In 1ight of written comments, suggestions, and objections to this proposed ru1emaking, the proposed standards were with-drawn and reproposed in the Federal Register for Wednesday, October 27, 1971. In light of further comments, suggestions, and objections, a public hearing was held on April 4, 1974 and standards were again reproposed and published in the Federal Register for April 1, 1976. Promulgation of the final lighting standards took place on October 1, 1976 which means that the underground coal mining industry must comply with face illumination requirements by April 1, 1978. As mentioned previously, the first proposed ru1emaking for illumination of underground coal mines was published in the Federal Register on October 27, 1971. In early 1972, Consolidation Coal Company (Consol) and the United States Bureau of Mines agreed to a cooperative study of underground face illumination; Conso1 felt that expertise in this field would become increasingly important. Conso1's initial efforts in illumination were aimed at investigati.ng practical lighting systems for underground face equipment. We were concerned with installing unobtrusive lights which provided sufficient face illumination for safety, but at the same time were readily maintainable, electrically reliable, and physically sheltered from damage.

Jan 1, 1977

By Alphonse C. Van Besien

It is doubtful if anyone knows precisely how many U.S. coal miners have been killed by roof falls. In 1931, 51 miners were killed by falls or rock in every 10-day period (Paul, 1). Roley (2) indicated that from 1882 to 1945, over 3,700 men were killed by roof falls in Illinois alone. During this 63-year period, roof falls accounted for 47.6 percent of the coal mine accident fatalities. Similarly, Price and Nolting (3) reported that during the 10-year period beginning in 1937, roof falls claimed over 50 percent of the lives lost in West Virginia coal mines. Over 150 miners died under fallen rock in West Virginia alone, in each of those years. Certainly, the statistics have improved over the years. The Theodore Barry Report of 1971 (4) indicated that during, the previous 4 years, fewer than 100 miners per year lost their lives to roof falls--in the entire United States. The improvement is less remarkable when it is realized that the accident rate has declined only as the number of miners employed underground has declined. The TRW Report (4) pointed out that although the number of fatalities in underground coal mining (from all causes) had been cut in half from 1956 to 1965, the fatality rate per thousand miners had remained virtually constant. The decreased accident rate was due not to a reduction in hazards but to a reduction in work force. Roof falls still claim approximately 50 percent of the lives lost in underground coal mines. Considering the increased underground production of coal which must result from our energy crisis, the environmentalists' pressure against strip mining, and our inevitably diminishing supply of strippable coal, it is apparent that some means must be found to reduce the number of lives claimed by coal mine roof falls.

Jan 1, 1973

By Richard C. Neavel

Among the many compositional parameters used to judge the quality of a steam coal is the fouling factor of Attig and Duzy1 [% base in ash % acid in ash X % Na20] in ash. The higher the fouling factor, the more likely the heat transfer surfaces of the boiler will acquire a deleterious deposit of sintered ash. While examining the elemental composition of ash from various size and gravity fractions of coals from Illinois, we noticed that variations in the fouling factor were attributable mostly to variations in the sodium content. Further, sodium content was essentially the same in all sink-float fractions from a given coal. In other words, sodium was related neither to the ash nor to the organic material. We therefore concluded that the sodium was most likely in the pore water, which was approximately a constant proportion of all fractions. This led to the supposition that the sodium might be removable through water extraction. This supposition tended to confirm the observations of Daybell,2 Daybell and Gillham,3 and Gluskoter and Ruch4 that much of the sodium in coals existed as water soluble sodium ions. In passing, it should be noted that most sodium in Western U.S. coals (i.e., Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana) is not water soluble, but rather is fairly strongly held in association with the organic material (ion-exchanged).5 Because data reported in the literature were not very conclusive about the typical proportions of sodium that might be removed by water extraction, and because there were few data indicating extraction rates, and finally, because our calculations showed a favorable economic incentive to lower sodium contents, we initiated an experimental program to investigate water extraction of sodium from Illinois coals.

Jan 1, 1976

By P. Conrad, S. Rosenthal

"Engineers remain in demand. Job opportunities in the United States still exceed the number of students graduating from college with degrees in Mining Engineering. Although enrollment is up for freshman studying Mining Engineering, many of those students will either change majors or not complete their degree, maintaining that deficit of available Mining Engineers. What can be done to ensure that enough Mining Engineers will graduate to fill the needs of the mining industry over the next ten to 20 years? The authors believe that this need can be met by recruiting students to Mining Engineering programs who are genuinely interested in working in the mining industry. With this in mind, Montana Tech conducted its first Mining Engineering camp in July 2014 to get junior and senior high school students interested in careers in the mining industry by showing them that Mining Engineering is both an exciting and rewarding career. This paper discusses What a Blast! The 2014 Montana Tech Mining Camp. INTRODUCTION The concept of summer camps for high school students is not new. For example, Missouri University of Science and Technology has offered their “Explosives Camp” for several years. A large percentage of attendees to these camps discover or confirm an interest in Mining Engineering and enroll in the school’s program. The Dean of the Montana Tech School of Mines and Engineering challenged department heads to develop and offer summer camps for prospective high school students to get a taste of engineering with the goal being to improve recruitment for each discipline. Mining Engineering embarked on the concept of a summer camp in 2013 with a concept to provide a week’s experience in Mining Engineering during the summer of 2014. What it takes to progress from concept to reality, with some of the learnings to be shared, follows."

Jan 1, 2015

By L. E. Beverage

In 2006, the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (?2006 MINER Act?), Pub. L. No. 109-236, 120 Stat. 493 (2006) was enacted in a bi-partisan move to strengthen the 1977 Mine Safety and Health Act. This action followed several underground coal mining accidents at the Sago and Aracoma Mines in West Virginia and the Darby Mine in Kentucky. The focus of that legislation was, in part, to force technological development and implementation. It involved the recomposition and training of rescue teams. Requirements for sealing worked out areas of mines were changed when MSHA invoked its Emergency Temporary Standard (?ETS?) authority for the first time in many years. Increased penalty amounts were established for certain types of violations for all types of mining, and minimums were set for unwarrantable failure violations issued under Section 104 (d)(1) and (d)(2); 30 U.S.C. Section 814 (d)(1),(2). The entire 30 C.F.R. Part 100 penalty criteria was revamped in a rulemaking, effective in April 2007. The visions were ambitious and noteworthy and those in industry and government have spent the last four years working through the aftermath of intended and unintended consequences of these changes. The penalty structure arrived at in 2007 has proven unwieldy and has contributed to the increase in contested caseload now before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. In essence, litigation under the Mine Act ground to a virtual halt when the number of cases increased but the budget for Administrative Law Judges, who hear the cases, and the Solicitor?s office who represents MSHA, was not increased. Addressing the backlog effectively was one of the major challenges when Joe Main was confirmed as Assistant Secretary in early 2010.

Jan 1, 2011

By V. F. Hollister

Copper and gold were discovered in the Copper Canyon area of the Battle Mountain district of Lander County, Nevada, in August of 1866. By 1876 a gravity plant was con¬centrating oxidized Copper Canyon copper-gold ores. The history of mining in the district to 1967 has been summarized by John E. Frost (in press) as a case history of the discovery of the Battle Mountain porphyry copper deposits. His summary is not repeated here; rather, the present case history covers exploration since 1967, primarily for gold ores. Subsequent to the construction by Duval of facilities to mine the porphyry copper deposits in 1967, Duval established a geologic staff at the mine to continue district exploration. The staff was guided by David W. Blake, who acted as chief geologist for Duval's exploration in this part of Nevada. Blake's activities led to the publication of numerous technical articles, including his contribution to the US Geological Survey Professional Paper 798-B. A part of that volume is attached as a reprint (pages 23 through 66) as an explanation of the geological setting of mineralization in the district. The work by Blake and his staff recognized metal zonation in the skarn environment at Copper Canyon, and their studies were incorporated in the development of the Tomboy-Minnie gold deposits that are peripheral to the porphyry. Exploration continued beyond the immediate vicinity of the porphyry and the Fortitude ore zones were discovered. These skarn deposits are described in the attached article by Wotruba, Benson, and Schmidt, published in the July 1986, MINING ENGINEERING. The continued exploration successes at Battle Mountain reflect on the well organized and effective exploration team developed at the mine. The team has provided successive discoveries in a district known mostly for ore bodies that are exhausted in a few years' time.

Jan 1, 1990

By Gordon C. ‘Bud’ Presley

The pumice and pumicite review arrived too late for the June issue. Estimated domestic production of pumice and pumicite in 1992 was up compared with 1991, according to US Bureau of Mines statistics. The Bureau estimate of domestic production of 400 kt (440,000 st) for 1991 turned out to be 401 kt (442,000 st) of actual production, the lowest since 1989. In 1992, the estimated the value of pumice and pumicite sold or used in the United States was $11.6 million, up only $200,000 from the 1991 value. There was an increase in the mine, or mill, average price from the five-year low of $11.44/t ($10.37/st) in 1986 to $26.42/t ($23.96/st) in 1992. Estimated tonnage produced in 1992 was 439 kt (484,000 st). Apparent domestic consumption was 642 kt (707,000 st), up 135 kt (149,000 st) from 1991. Imports for consumption were estimated to be 215 kt (237,000 st) last year. Domestic production supplied 68% of the demand in 1992, with net imports supplying the remaining 32%. This compares with domestic production sup¬plying 53% and net imports supplying 47% of the apparent consumption in 1988. Exports were about 900 t/a (1000 stpy) for the period 1984 to 1988. In 1989, exports rose sevenfold to 7 kt (7700 st) and to 20 kt (22,000 st) in 1990. The Bureau of Mines reported that the amount of pumice and pumicite exported in 1992 was 12 kt (13,200 st). It is assumed that these exports were from the Pacific Coast because imports, mainly from Greece, continued to be a market factor on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast States in the United States.

Jan 1, 1993

By William A. Dupree, Mark J. Schultz, William J. Francart

Maintaining intake escapeways clear of contaminants from mine fires has been an issue for many years. Removing fire sources from these entries reduces the risk of contamination greatly. In recent years, concerns have been raised related to contamination of the intake escapeways by leakage when fires occur in adjacent airways. This paper discusses measured leakage rates for multiple stoppings at various pressure drops across stopping lines in a number of actual coal mines. Also addressed are methods for reducing the contamination risks for the intake escapeways, considering the ventilation system employed. The Effects of Air Leakage The effects of air leakage through ventilation controls has been well documented. While normal leakage is expected through stoppings, overcasts and other structures, abnormally high leakage results in an inefficient ventilation system and can increase operational costs for a mine. In addition, excessive leakage results in less control over mine ventilation airsplits. This may compromise the isolation of mine escapeways, and allow adjacent entries to be rapidly contaminated by products of combustion in the event of a mine fire. A study was conducted at ten mines in which air pressure and quantity measurements were taken near the active sections. The method used to construct the ventilation controls to separate airways was also noted. Stopping Construction Table 1 shows the type of stopping construction commonly used in the 10 mines included in this study. Main entry stoppings were normally built with mortared joints (wet stacked) with sealant applied to the high pressure side of the stopping. In most cases the entire face of the stoppings were sealed. In one case only the joints between blocks were sealed but the perimeters were sealed in all cases. Some mines also sealed the low pressure side of the stopping. Solid blocks were normally used for main entry construction and hollow blocks were sometimes used for longwall panel development. [ ]

Jan 1, 1993