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By E. F. Klein, R. L. Eacret

Introduction In contrast to the general type of crushing mechanism in which the crushing surfaces alternately approach and withdraw from each other, described earlier in this section, and continuous-pressure break¬ers such as rolls and roller mills that will be described in a later chapter, impact crushers load by striking pieces of rock while in free fall and hurling them at high speed against stationary surfaces. Because the impact crusher depends for its effectiveness upon high velocity, wear is greater than in the slower-moving jaw and cone¬type wear parts, and for this reason its use is strictly limited to rela¬tively soft, friable, and sticky rocks that are characteristic of many nonmetallic mineral deposits. A few of these are phosphates, lime¬stone, barite, clay, asbestos rock, and coal. However, several examples of their use on soft lead-zinc and precious metal ores have been known. Although the use of impact crushers is expanding today into the range of ores containing as much as 15-18% silica, Taggart16 set the practical limit at 5%, and in the 1940s and 1950s several installa¬tions in the US and western Europe exceeded the limits of economical maintenance and were quickly superseded by the slower-moving, con¬ventional crushers. A rock that tends to be plastic or bouncy in a jaw or gyratory crusher when the force is applied slowly to reach ultimate strength, may become brittle with rapid loading and thus increase the effective¬ness of the applied forces. For this reason it is to be expected that as the quality of hammers, grates, plates, and cages improves with advances in steel technology, the use of high-speed crushers of this kind will increase. Terminology Modern usage differentiates between the impactor and the hammer mill, the former relying primarily on the impact of hammers (fixed or free-swinging) and secondarily upon pieces striking one another or steel surfaces; the hammer mill relies on both the centrifugal impact force of free-swinging hammers and the attrition and shear action between these hammers and well-placed grates suspended at the bot¬tom just below the hammer circle. The hammer mill, because of its grate discharge, restricts discharge of oversize rock to the grate open¬ing, while at the same time providing a trap for removal of tramp iron or other uncrushables. The impactor discharges free, so generally works with a screen to control product sizes. The question of terminology, impactor vs, hammer mill, creates difficulties because the similarities appear to outweigh the differences by far; if one were to list the similarities in order of importance and then the differences, he would be forced to conclude that they would best be dealt with as a single kind of crusher. Taggart16 gave it four names and added "as it is variously known," but it must be remembered that in 1945 the machine was nearly exclusively of the flailing-hammer type, while today the fixed-hammer rotor is also com¬mon. In this chapter the terms impactor and hammer mill will be used where they seem to apply. It is perhaps unfortunate that this terminology is being confused with rock breaking at the mine, usually with hand-held tools, e.g., the article "High-Energy Impact Rockbreaking" by Grantmyre and Hawkes, CIM Bulletin, August 1975. General Description Impact breakers, impact crushers, and hammer mills accomplish material breaking and reduction primarily through impact action of the material with fixed or free-swinging hammers revolving about a central rotor. The material to be crushed enters through an opening at the top or top side known as the "feed opening" or "hopper opening" and falls into the path of rotation (hammer circle) of the hammers. Initial breakage is accomplished in midair by collision of the dropping feed material with high-speed hammers. The second stage of breakage occurs when the pieces hit plates or breaker bars which line the crusher boxlike frame. Hammer mills rely further on a shearing and attrition action between free-swinging hammers and grid bars or grates at the crusher bottom which restrict discharge of oversize material until it is broken sufficiently to pass through the grid opening. The term hammer is used in reference to the piece which strikes the material, whether it is fixed on the rotor or free-swinging. It

Jan 1, 1985

By B. Petkof

Olivine has been an accepted industrial mineral for the last 50 years. Its initial acceptance was based on the recognition of its refractory properties by European research workers in the middle to late 1920's. Initial U.S. olivine production began in the early 1930's in North Carolina and continues there today. Olivine also is produced in the State of Washington and in other countries.

Jan 1, 1982

In this paper, a number of novel hypotheses that provide a fresh perspective on the characterization of strata movements associated with longwall mining are developed by analyzing subsidence measurements with an influence- function-based computer program. With this influence-function technique, easily obtained surface displacements can be used to determine some of the complicated, expensive, and difficult to measure movements of the immediate roof strata in a longwall panel. The primary hypothesis developed by this analysis proposes the existence of an area of partial roof caving near the edge of a panel called the "edge effect." A second hypothesis, interrelated with the first, promotes the importance of the effect of gate-entry closure on the observed strata movements. Both the primary edge effect hypothesis and the secondary hypothesis concerning gate-entry closure are justified and quantified in an extensive analysis of surface subsidence that uses supporting information from related theories, design criteria and insitu measurements. Next, the edge effect and the gate closure hypotheses are extended further and used to provide an explanation of the complex subsidence interaction of adjacent longwall panels in what is termed a "redisturbed" effect. Finally, in the conclusions of this paper, the importance of accurately understanding these longwall strata movements for proper subsidence prediction or gate design is stressed.

Jan 1, 1986

By Kirk L. Prather

Why discuss techniques of accident prod lot on? Would it not be more useful to discuss means to reduce accidents? This discussion will answer these questions by suggesting ways in which effective accident prediction techniques improve the ability to foresee and prevent accidents. Accident Prediction Process The secret to accident prediction is to utilize the tendency for history to repeat itself. The same circumstances and the same human behavior that produced accidents in the past tend to produce accidents in the present and the future. The ability to predict accident occurence in the future by projecting from the past is a statistical process. In a bookmaker's jargon this means "playing the odds" or "the percentages". A horse or a sports team may be beaten on any given day, but by skillfully assessing the factors of past performance and assigning odds, many clever bettors make money in the long run.

Jan 1, 1973

By Richard L. Gordon, William A. Vogely

ENERGY POI.ICY-PRINCIPLES AND THEIR PRACTICE Persistently, at least since the end of World War 11, governments have intervened broadly, deeply, and incoherently in major energy markets. If we take a broad definition of energy that encompasses gas distribution and electric power, we can observe regulations of even older vintage. This trend, of course, is not unique to energy. Expansion of government controls has occurred in many areas. The relevant basic question about energy regulation, therefore, is not why is energy special, but whether any general principles exist to explain the wisdom of existing regulations. This review takes place at a time, the middle 1980s, in which a massive onslaught is being undertaken against government regulation. However, the present chapter is influenced primarily by my observations of the failures of energy regulations and not by any inspiration from those ideologically opposed to government intervention. Several subquestions arise in policy appraisal. A primary need is to establish clear objectives and determine the consistency between these goals and the policies imposed. Thus, the first step is to set objectives. The next is to outline ways to attain these goals. However, it should be recognized that many apparently distinct options are economically equivalent. When the goal is to charge producers or consumers for something, it is possible to attain the same result through either government ownership or taxing private transactions. The tax can raise the price to the level the government would have charged if it were the owner. Creation of a Department of Energy is not necessarily any different from having separate energy agencies well coordinated by some small supervisory body. Thus, a distinction should be made between substance and form in policymaking. The critical substance concerns such matters as whether the government imposes financial penalties, incentives, or rules to attain a goal. Then, there can be many equivalent ways to implement the basic policy form. The second prior illustration suggests that one favorite question is how to attain proper integration of policy. At various times, voices on either (or even both) sides of the Atlantic have called for a coordinated energy policy. The U.S. Paley Commission made this a primary goal for future policy. The western European governments that were the founding members of the Coal and Steel, Economic, and Atomic Energy Communities spent much time in the middle fifties and much of the sixties trying futilely to agree on an energy policy. (See Gordon, 1970 for an annotated review). The energy price rises of the 1970s rekindled United States interest in coordination. However, astute observers of the problem such as O. C. Herfindahl of the United States and Maurice Allais (1 962) in France warned the discussions confused form with substance. The crucial issues were what were the goals and what were the best types of policies to attain such goals. Policy suffered, not from poor organization, but from discord about the goals and how to attain them. All this suggests that we need principles to guide policy appraisal. The branch of economic theory known as welfare economics concentrates on providing guidance about the problems of policymaking. The theory examines both what

Jan 1, 1985

By Pierre Filiatreault, Brian Straight, Stephanie Thibeault, Devin Castendyk, Londie Cameron

"Working on or near water at active, closed or abandoned mine sites is inherently dangerous. Between 1996 and 1999, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported 17 fatalities involving drowning at U.S. metal, non metal and coal mines (MSHA, 2000). Openpit mines which fill with water following mine closure, called pit lakes, present numerous risks to environmental monitoring teams including: a) drowning, b) hypothermia, c) falls to the ground from the top of high walls, d) collapse of unstable access roads, e) rock falls and avalanches from pit walls, f) avalanchegenerated tsunamis traveling across the lake surface and g) rapid degassing events.Some pit lakes are simply not safely or easily accessible for ongoing monitoring. However, the routine collection of water samples from the entire water column on a regular basis is needed to monitor the evolution of water quality over time, verify the accuracy of numerical predictions and, ultimately, manage lake water chemistry and ecological risks. For pit lakes with surface water discharge, regular monitoring is used to appropriately design and adjust water treatment plants in order to produce acceptable site discharge water quality.As a product of these risks and the need for water samples, mining companies spend considerable expense on pit lake safety as part of monitoring programs. This includes training personnel for on water duties and hazards, purchasing or hiring specialized equipment and personnel (such as boats, boat operators, personal floatation devices and cold-water clothing called mustang suits), stabilizing pit walls and maintaining safe access roads to the lake surface and employing spotters who can directly communicate with emergency medical services to watch sampling activities because cell phones and radio signals can be blocked by pit walls. Some sites utilize redundancy to prepare for unexpected incidents and accidents. For example, one Canadian mining company requires two boats on the water during pit lake sampling events, with a third boat on the shoreline, gassed and ready to go. In addition, water samplers are required to hold Marine Emergency Duties training to ensure the entire boat crew is sufficient and competent for the safe operation of the vessel in the event of an accident."

Jan 7, 2017

By A. J. Kroha, N. Wesis

Most copper mines produce both ore and low-grade "leach" rock or acid waters that contain recoverable copper. The sulfide ores pre¬dominate, and a portion that is too low grade for milling to produce concentrates for smelting, but has to be mined and trucked away anyhow, may be leached successfully with acid in dumps. Most of this leach material consists of sulfides and silicates or carbonates, and if the gangue is such that it consumes a high quantity of acid, this factor may rule out a leach operation. There are also valuable deposits that contain mostly acid-soluble copper, or occasional sulfide ores from which a sulfide concentrate can be roasted and acid-leached to produce a copper-bearing solution. Finally, there are milling ores in which the lesser part of the copper is acid-soluble and can be precipitated with iron or synthetic inorganic precipitants that produce metallic copper or copper sulfides that will float with the sulfides. Ordinarily, ores that contain copper associated with the sulfur ion, such as in the minerals chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite (and others), are milled to produce a 25-30% Cu concentrate for smelting, while a lesser amount of acid-soluble copper may be converted from solution to cement copper on iron scrap. A fast-growing percentage of such copper, however, is removed from solution with exchange resins or organic compounds in organic carriers such as kerosene (solvent extraction), then eluted with strong acid and subjected to electrolytic precipitation either in marketable form or as anodes that can be refined further. From the point of view of conventional copper smelting, copper flotation concentrates and cement copper are of chief interest in this chapter. Table I is a condensed open schedule for concentrates that generally run between 25 and 35% copper, and much less frequently as low as 12-15% or as high as 65-75% copper, the former being due to intimate relationship with pyrite (like the former United Verde Extension), and the latter representing such ores as the Bolivian Coro¬coro ore in which the copper is in the form of chalcocite in sandstone. These extremes are no longer common. When they occur, a special purchase schedule has to be negotiated. Included in Table 1, copper precipitates (cement copper) generally run from 70-85%a copper, and the same basic purchase schedule is used as with flotation concentrates. Sulfide Flotation Concentrates The sulfide copper concentrate produced in the mill as a flotation froth, with water then added for transportation of the heavy mineral particles from the flotation cells to thickeners, may run 60-80% water by weight, and the removal of water down to 25-50% by weight by means of thickeners, followed by further dewatering by continuous vacuum filters to 7-18% moisture by weight (depending on size of solids by screen analysis and also by content of clay) is a critical operation. Mill operators would like to produce a filter cake with 7-9% moisture content, but even with the help of steam on the filter this desirable condition is seldom realized when the concentrate is as fine as 80% -325 mesh. More commonly, the final concentrate is reground in pro- to produce best copper recovery and grade of concentrate (or molybdenite separation). In those cases, increasingly frequent, the filter product may not be a cake at all, but a mud that is hard to handle-even requiring a thermal dryer. Greater difficulty of form¬ing a manageable cake often comes from the copper-molybdenum separation by flotation, because the alkaline sulfides and hydrosulfides, or cyanide, or other similar reagents used for the separation, may leave the now relatively molybdenite-free copper concentrate even more difficult to filter. Handling a wet filter cake is difficult enough when its destination is only a short distance away-a matter of yards rather than miles. In those cases the filter cake may be thermally dried near the point of production, using rotary or multiple hearth, or fluidized-bed dryers. Alternatively, the concentrate may be pumped or carried in slurry form to the smelter and filtered there, or it may be spray-dried and compacted. For transportation to a smelter just a few miles to a few thousand miles away by ship or railroad other factors may be important, such as: in shipping by sea, avoidance of spontaneous combustion; in shipping by rail, losses by leakage if too wet or by wind and sun if too dry. It is the responsibility of the millman-usually the mill superinten¬dent-to make sure that his concentrates are in satisfactory condition when they leave the mill so that they meet these requirements: 1) They must have been accurately sampled and dry-weighed, the latter meaning that a moisture determination and gross weight must have been taken. 2) They must be dried sufficiently when necessary to prepare them for safe transportation. 3) They must arrive at the smelter with reasonable likelihood that they can be check-weighed and sampled fairly and equitably,

Jan 1, 1985

By R. J. Sweigard

Three case studies were undertaken to investigate the role of land use potential evaluation in reclamation planning and to determine the impact of regional differences on the evaluation process. The three surface mines studied were representative of operations in the Appalachian, Interior, and Northern Great Plains provinces. The scope of the investigations included a survey of regional characteristics, a detailed investigation of the mining operations and site conditions, and an assessment of local land use planning activities in the area of the mine. Special attention was given to key factors that presently determine the use of reclaimed land. Also, for each case study, the postmining land use potential was evaluated using site planning principles. Specifically, the environmental, economic, and social impacts of several potential postmining land use plans were considered.

Jan 1, 1983

By I. S. Parrish

Locating and defining an ore body with minerals or metals that can be recovered at a profit is the objective of minerals exploration. Direct exploration involves examining and sampling rocks either in outcrop, underground exposure, drill core, or cuttings. Indirect exploration infers the measurement of some physical, chemical, or biological factor that reflects the possible presence of the metal or mineral of interest, or a structure that may act to collect, concentrate, or otherwise favor the presence of the desired commodity. Included here are all forms of geophysical, geochemical, or geotech-nical prospecting. In recent years, indirect exploration has given rise to an impressive number of specialists and a variety of techniques. Less impressive is the success rate or productivity of the modern explorationist. Exploration Productivity Losing Ground Judging from the low number of mine openings or mine discoveries in recent years, the exploration industry is not as productive as it once was. Many will take umbrage at this judgment, but a review of the literature will support this statement. In Canada, from 1951 through 1960, there was an average of 5.6 discoveries a year. From 1961 through 1976 there were only four a year. This nearly 30% reduction occurred despite a massive increase in exploration funding. From 1950 to 1955, the Canadian mining industry spent $5 million (1975 dollars) for each minable deposit found. During the period 1970 to 1975, the cost was $25 million for each one found. The industry was spending five times as much and finding 30% less than a generation earlier. This is not indicative of a productive endeavor. The loss in productivity is even more apparent to explorationists who wander the western US, and are awed by the thoroughness and discovery rate of those early prospectors who explored from 1850-1920. The "old-timers" missed very little. They used pans and crude chemical tests in place of plasma or X-ray fluorescent assay techniques. But, they found ore bodies that led to mines. Today, the best prospecting areas are pockmarked by the hand dug pits, trenches, and shafts left by our predecessors. The success or productivity of the old-timers may be attributed to any or all of several factors. Granted, they were looking at virgin ground and at deposits that in many places were exposed. The factor most critical is, however, that they employed direct exploration methods. They walked over areas of interest, traversed swamps and mountains, and followed "colors" in stream gravels to their source. They also chipped rocks, dug pits, trenched along structures, and followed the "leads." Many of today's explorationists, on the other hand, adopt a more sophisticated approach. A geologic model is conjured up so the exploration team "knows" models, but the model should be applied at a later stage in the exploration effort. J. D. Ridge has written an excellent article on the role and timing of models. Geologists should collect and assemble data, facts, and observations and fit these into a model and not conceive a model and seek data to prove their vision. Further, many exploration managers are adept and talented at devising exploration programs. They can program and use modern exploration techniques and tools. They can apply these and their modeling capacity to assemble a glittering array of targets. It would appear that in all too many instances, creating targets has been equated with and is considered being productive. As noted, finding ore bodies is being productive in exploration. Creating targets may or may not lead to ore bodies. As an end result, locating targets is not productive exploration. How then does one foster productivity in exploration? Some suggestions are to increase the use of direct methods, follow the methods and philosophies of old-timers, look at more rocks, do more field work, use foot traverses, and do more drilling. It may be argued that this is what the old-timers have done and we would then be hoping to find

Jan 11, 1983

By P. T. Kane, O&apos

Capital and energy are the dominant cost factors in nickel production from laterites. Since the 1973 energy crisis, pyrometallurgical developments have been oriented towards lower cost sources of energy and higher grade ores and hydrometallurgy towards higher recoveries and greater flexibility in types of ores treated. Energy recuperation offers some potential, but at a price. 'The lower energy acid leaching process is indicated to have the greatest potential, particularly with its inherently high cobalt recovery.

Jan 1, 1979

By Henry J. Schwellenbach

The New York Trap Rock Corporation has four plants located along the Hudson River, all within 70 miles of New York City. The company produces crushed stone for use as construction aggregate, with a total annual production amounting to 6 million tons. The crushed stone is moved to markets in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Long island areas by water transportation. There are daily deliveries of approximately 35 scowloads to the market area. Its customers are contractors with ready-mixed concrete and asphalt plants located on the water, where the aggregate is unloaded for its ultimate use. For a number of years capital equipment was replaced only when the current operating machinery was no longer serviceable, or when' a need was apparent for a different type of equipment. There was no particular regard for efficiency or for operating and maintenance costs. Such lack of system often resulted in the emergency purchase of equipment which was later found to be unsuitable for the job. A few years ago it became apparent that a systematic procedure was necessary. After evaluation of several systems, an individualized plan was evolved from the basic pattern developed by the Machinery and Allied Products Institute. The system adopted by New York Trap Rock has proved wholly satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1959

By H. Lawson

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued Program Information Bulletin P09-03in April of 2008, providing formal guidance on using programs that model the redistribution of stress during underground mining of coal. A key part of this guidance is visual observation and mapping of ground conditions. If a correlation between ground conditions and model output can be established, the model is considered to be verified, and can be used to guide mine design in similar ground. A simple scale is recommended for ranking observed roof, rib, and floor conditions. This paper discusses optimization and implementation of a ground condition rating scheme in the gateroads of a deep underground longwall coal mine. Roughly 80% of each gateroad length deteriorated in a fairly uniform manner. However, this manner varied between gateroads, as did pillar size. The implementation of a ground condition mapping program, similar to that recommended in PIB 09-03, was successful in characterizing the ground response to mining in gateroads of a longwall coal mine.

Jan 1, 2012

By J. L. Roll

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) and the regulations promulgated for that "Act" have resulted in changes to surface mining operations in order to comply with the stringent federally enforced reclamation requirements for prime farmland. In many instances the operator has modified surface mining operations to meet the prime farmland requirements through changes to mining equipment operation, addition of new equipment targeted for reclamation or the use of totally different mining techniques. The major challenge to mine operators has been how to use existing mining equipment to meet the requirements of the "Act." Freeman United Coal Mining Company opened the first new large surface coal mine in Illinois following passage of the "Act." The Industry Mine, located near Macomb, Illinois started mining operations during March of 1982 and was required therefore, to meet all of the requirements of the "Act" including prime farmland restoration. At the Industry Mine a shovel and a cross-pit bucket wheel excavator (wheel) are used for overburden removal and the wheel is addition- ally utilized to assist in reclamation operations. The wheel mines the subsoil thereby elliminating scraper placement of that subsoil and the attendant compaction problems with scraper placed subsoil. The wheel is used to convey topsoil stock- piles from the highwall to the mined overburden in order to lessen scraper traffic and possible compaction on the graded overburden during top- soil removal and replacement. Close control of the operation of the wheel yields more uniform wheel spoil ridges which then require less grading prior to topsoil replacement.

Jan 1, 1986

By Y. Topkaya, R. E. Johnson, B. R. Palmer, Jia-Jun Ke, Da-Ping Kang

The kinetics of the leaching of antimony oxide ore (Sb2O4) in aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions has been investigated. This dissolution reaction is a heterogeneous solid-liquid reaction. It has been found that the leaching temperature and the concentration of hydrochloric acid turn out to be the significant influencing factors on the leaching rate. The apparent activation energy for the leaching reaction was determined to be 63.5 W/mol within the experimental temperature region of 50O to 90O C. The experimental results indicate that the leaching process is controlled by the rate of the chemical reaction.

Jan 1, 1993

By M. J. Raffaldi, K. W. Harris, K. A. Perry

"Highwall miners have been widely used to extract additional coal reserves from existing surface operations, particularly on contour operations in the Appalachian coalfields. Using a continuous miner cutting head, coal may be extracted from significant depths (such as 150 m), leaving behind an array of web and barrier pillars with the purpose of maintaining highwall stability. This method inherently involves elevated risks to both equipment and personnel due to proximity to and increased exposure time near highwalls. As a result, modern operations should actively design web and barrier pillars to maximize extraction while providing adequate stability. The ARMPS-HWM software, an empirical-based program created for the design of web and barrier pillars at highwall mining operations, is one such approach. The calculated stability factor is compared with empirically established guidelines produced from examining case histories.The ARMPS-HWM program is a handy tool for initial design, but understanding the site’s structurally significant geologic features and geomechanical behavior is important and may potentially increase extraction. We created a two-dimensional numerical model using FLAC3D and calibrated it to ensure pillar strength, closely following the Mark- Bieniawski formula for a typical range of pillar geometries and overburden properties. The development of pillar stresses along a highwall panel was then numerically investigated as mining progressed, and the stress distribution between barrier pillars was found to be asymmetric, which can result in an over-design of the closeout web pillars if tributary area loading is assumed. Finally, the importance of adequate barrier pillar stability is highlighted."

Jan 1, 2014

By E. M. Haynsworth

The disposal of phosphatic clays has presented a problem to the phosphate industry since the mining of phosphate rock first began. As the flotation process was introduced in the late 1920's, the problem of clay disposal was increased significantly since clay is present in proportionally greater quantities in reserves yielding flotation concentrates. Because of their physical character and the tremendous surface area per unit volume, these clays have the characteristic of retaining large volumes of water as they are slurried during processing. The phosphatic clays with which we are dealing consist primarily of apatite, wavellite and montmorillonite. In the beneficiation process, we remove the -150 mesh material as waste. However, the particles are essentially smaller than -325 mesh, and more than 70% are smaller than three microns. The disposal of clay and the recovery of a portion of the water require settling areas with a capacity ranging up to 2 cubic feet for each cubic foot of phosphate matrix mined. According to a recent study by the Bureau of Mines, the average cost for disposal of these wastes is 24.5 cents per ton of, product (U. S. Bureau of Mines Circular 8404). This is a major cost of phosphate rock production.

Jan 1, 1970

By Prof. Dr. T. R. Boulos

The Egyptian marine phosphorite of Sebaiya West, the Nile Valley, consisting of both non-oxidized hard siliceous and oxidized leached friable ore types, is subjected to a roughing-cleaning silica flotation circuit for production of wet-process phosphoric acid concentrate. Operating at its maximum capacity of 268 t/hr, the following were the main problems encountered during the early stages of running the plant: 1. The tremendous amount of slimes generated by scrubbing the crushed ore causing turbidity in the plant thickener after a short time of operation, regardless of the added flocculant. 2. Rod mill choking leading to inefficient performance of all other equipment and poor flotation results. 3. The drastic increase in imported oleic acid price. Pulp density and slurry flowrate measurements at different points of the plant as well as ore microscopy, size distribution analysis, chemical analysis and x-ray diffraction analysis of representative ore samples coupled with Work Index measurements of feed samples showed that the wide variation in the ore's hardness was responsible for such problems. Application of the locally produced non-edible rice bran oil as a substitute to imported oleic acid in flotation resulted in total saving of U.S.$2 million in 1990. The total unsaturated fatty acid content of the oil is high, ranging from 75.2 to 81.5 mole % of which the C18-unsaturated fatty acid content ranges from 72 to 79 mole %.

Jan 1, 1993

By Suzanne Smith, Frank C. Fantauzzo

Introduction America's workforce is the heart of the nation's economy. The health of its members is a matter of national priority. Statistics show that the most common cause of job difficulties is excess use of alcohol or other drugs. Up to 75% of these troubled employees can be returned to productive careers at little expense and with great benefit to their industries. Of the 1.5 million private corporations in the US, only about 500 have alcohol treatment programs. Even fewer have drug abuse programs. It is time that the myths and prejudices surrounding alcohol and drug abuse are dispelled and help is offered. Corporations and labor unions are now finding that programs to treat these diseases benefit both the employees and the industry. The employee derives health and job security. The company sees increased productivity and decreased costs in sick pay and absenteeism. Unfortunately, three-fourths of the nation's 90.5 million workers are employed in establishments of fewer than 500 employees. In these settings, it is unlikely that either management or the unions will take the initiative in developing programs. Alcohol alone affects the health and productivity of nearly 8% of any workforce. This translates to more than 5 million employees in small business. These workers present an opportunity and a challenge. Alcohol abuse costs the nation nearly $116 billion annually. Seventy billion dollars is attributed to lost production. Medical expenditures related to alcohol are estimated to be nearly $13 billion. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates the cost of substance abuse to industry to be in excess of $4 billion a year. In addition to its economic impact, substance abuse has serious personal and social consequences. The mining industry experiences the same exposure as other industries to alcohol, drug abuse, and other employee problems. However, the existence of these problems poses special hazards because of the unique conditions found in mining. Mining has many safety and health hazards. Employees must have full control of their faculties and give full attention to the tasks at hand. Designing employee assistance programs An Employee Assistance Program is a cost-effective, confidential, early intervention system. It is designed to help employees

Jan 11, 1987

By K. Kavouridis

Coal is broadly recognized as sure, competitive, diversified, not vulnerable and predictable in price energy resource. In power generation coal is playing a dominant role in the EU-27 with 25% of installed capacity and almost one third of the power generation. The role played by the domestic resources and especially by coal are increasingly becoming the focus of the EU energy strategy. There is a strong pressure for the decarbonization of the energy mix. The Emission Trading system (ETs) can have an impact on the shift to lower carbon-intensity fuels. The impact of ETs on coal can be important, because it is very short sighted and only defines the period up to 2008-2012. The ETs CO2 regime must ensure that investment in coal-fired plants in the long term are supported. EU Research Institutes and Coal Industry identified an important CO2 reduction potential by improving the efficiency of the conversion of solid fuels into electricity. Highly efficient clean coal technologies can contribute to reasonable costs and challenge the issue of climate change. It must be pointed out that the EU Energy policy should now concentrate on the necessity to effectively support demonstration projects and to create the legal framework for the integrated approach of efficiency enhancement and CCS. It is not a right approach to implement CCS before the technology is demonstrated and before it is clear that it will be commercially viable.

Jan 1, 2007

By M. Ghiani, R. Peretti, A. Zucca

The paper deals with the experimental application of a pilot flotation column to baryte and fluorspar ores. The column has been installed in parallel with the cleaning stages of two different industrial flotation plants where the above ores are processed using conventional cells with mechanical impellers. The effect of several parameters, including froth height, wash water additions, pulp feedrate and air supply rate, has been investigated. It has been shown that by finely tuning the above parameters good flotation performances can be achieved. The experimental results demonstrate the greater versatility of the column flotation and its superior separation efficiency, especially for the fine particle size fractions, over conventional cells.

Jan 1, 1995