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By Hung-Kei H. Lam

Rubidium and cesium were discovered by Bunsen and Kirchhoff about 100 years ago. These two elements are by no means as abundant as sodium or potassium. Their occurrence in minerals is widespread, but usually as minor constituents. There is no known specific ore containing rubidium, but rubidium is found replacing the. other alkali metals in .some minerals.. Perhaps the highest concentration of rubidium found in one mineral is in lepidolite, KLi(OH,F)2A12Si3010, which contains from 0 to 3.5%*Rb20. 0n the average, lepidolite contains about 0.5% Rb20. Other sources of rubidium are carnallite, KMgCl3?6H20; pollucite, H20.2Cs20.2AI203.9SiO2; rhodizite, R20.2A1203-3B203; biotite, H2K(Mg,Fe)3A1(Si04)3; sea water, rivers, marine and fresh water organisms, soils, and plants. Cesium, even though it is the least abundant. of the stable alkalies, has a specific ore. Pollucites a hydrous cesium aluminum silicate, may con¬tain as high as 42.5% Cs20, although again, the average Cs20 content is about 25% among the handful of known deposits. Other cesium-containing minerals are lepidolite and carnallite. Rubidium and cesium are very much like potassium in chemical properties, consequently, they are hard to separate. Because of the difficulty in obtaining pure cesium and rubidium compounds coupled with the scarcity-of supply, prices were high and the two elements enjoyed little industrial use. Just before the Second World War, the world. supply of rubidium and cesium, from Germany, was a matter of tens of kilograms per year and prices were about

Jan 1, 1959

By Michael S. Wieland, Thomas C. Ruhe

Delay blasting in underground coal results in shock waves traveling through the coal that can damage delay charges remaining in the blast pattern. Undetonated explosives which are dynamically desensitized or react sympathetically from shock wave impact ruin blast results. Such malfunctions, sometimes manifest as misfires, more frequently are covert weak detonations, and result in poor coal breakage and fumes with above normal toxicity. To reduce these mining hazards and resolve charge performance problems, the Bureau of Mines has developed and tested forty prototype rugged explosives in the laboratory. Rugged explosives work properly under difficult circumstances because they not only retain their shock initiation sensitivity but also are resistant to shock damage. This research investigation resulted in one candidate emulsion explosive, formulation #37, which passed all the permissibility tests required by MSHA approval regulations. However, approval was not granted because it reached shelf-life (would not shoot properly) seven months into testing. For research purposes, the remaining tests were conducted with a second batch of formulation #37. This paper discusses the prototype rugged explosive composition and permissibility test results. Where possible, for reference purposes, comparisons are made to a commercial product that has been approved. Further research work is required to overcome the noted deficiency of short shelf-life.

Jan 1, 1992

By Paul Queneau

FEW of us who waded ashore on the Norman beaches realized the importance of coal to a successful invasion. General Eisenhower and his staff had been aware of the essential need for coal and an able Solid Fuels Section had been set up under the direction of Colonel Robert P. Koenig, of Indiana. This organization met the requirements of the invading armies on their march to the Rhine. East of the Siegfried Line enemy territory, the Army Engineers were called upon for assistance. When the Engineers were advised that, in addition to their normal duties, they were to occupy and place in operation the coal mines in the Twelfth Army group area, plans were drawn up overnight and action was initiated immediately. The Sixth Engineer Special Brigade, a versatile outfit which made a notable record D-Day on Omaha Beach, was selected to handle the operation. Within 48 hours of the new assignment an advance command post was set up cm the west bank of the Rhine at Homberg, just below German-held Duisburg. The 368th Engineer General Service Regiment was assigned to the Brigade, and the British 44th Pioneer Group, including specialist personnel, was also attached. This large British unit was added because most of the mines would shortly come within the British zone of

Jan 1, 1946

Jan 1, 1903

Jan 1, 1879

Jan 1, 1899

The following rules, upon approval by the Board of Directors, shall serve as guides in the practical applications of the Bylaws for the operation of the Institute and have the full power and effect of Bylaws, however, these rules may be changed, modified, re¬pealed or amended when deemed necessary by the Board of Directors Any change or alteration of these Rules shall be published in the Journals of the Institute within three months after such alteration is adopted ARTICLE I-ORGANIZATIONS OF THE INSTITUTE Section 1-Societies Rule 1-Governing Body Each Society shall form its own governing body composed of an Executive Committee, or similarly designated executive body, duly elected officers, and a Nominating Committee for the nomination of Institute officers as provided by the Bylaws of AIME and of each Society approved by the Board In all correspondence and printed matter the Society Boards of Directors shall be specifically identified For ex¬ample, the Mining Board of Directors or the Board of Directors of the Society of Mining Engineers Using simply the "Board of Directors" could cause confusion

Jan 1, 1960

ARTICLE I: NAME AND OBJECTS Section 1: This Division shall be known as the Iron and Steel Division of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. Section 2: The objects shall be to furnish a medium of cooperation between those interested in the metal-lurgy and industry of iron and steel manufacture and use; to represent the A. I. M. E. in so far as ferrous metallurgy is concerned, within the rights given by A. I. M. E. By-law XVII, Section 3, and not incon-sistent with the Constitution and By-Laws of the A. I. M. E.; to hold meetings for social intercourse and the discussion of ferrous metallurgy; to stimulate the writing, presentation and discussion of papers of high quality on ferrous metallurgy; to reject or accept such apers for publication and distribution by-the A. I. M. E. within the limits of the funds available for such purpose. ARTICLE II: MEMBERS Section 1: Any Member, Associate, or Junior Asso-ciate of the A. I. M. E. in good standing may become a Member, Associate or Junior Associate of this Divi-sion upon registering in writing a desire so to do. Section 2: But no one who has been continuously indebted to the. A. I. M. E. or to this Division for more than three months shall be entitled to vote or to receive publications to which, as a member of the Division, he would be entitled.

Jan 7, 1928

Rum Jungle -deep in the unlovely Australian bush - is the scene of one of the world's most promising uranium finds.

Jan 5, 1953

By John R. Twining, Michael D. Lawton, Ross A. Jeffree

The Finniss River system in tropical northern Australia has received 'acid-drainage' contaminants from the Rum Jungle uranium/copper mine site over the past 4 decades. Following mine-site remediation that began in 1981-82 the annual contaminant loads of sulfate, Cu, Zn and Mn have declined by factors of 3, 7, 5 and 4, respectively over 1990-93, compared to the 1969-74 pre-remediation loads. Comparison of the frequency distributions of contaminant water concentrations over these pre- and post-remedial periods have shown varying degrees of reduction in the highest levels following mine-site remediation, that are consistent with reductions in their annual-cycle loads. Among the three selected major metal contaminants the reductions in maximum water concentrations are most pronounced for Cu. The demonstrated reductions in the highest water concentrations of all four contaminants are also associated with previously reported ecological improvement in the Finniss River system, compared to the benchmark of environmental detriment established in 1973fl4, prior to the beginning of remediation at the mine site.

Jan 1, 2000

By T. Braun

A greenfield open pit gold mine in Latin America suspended operations less than three years into an eight-year mine plan after a waste rock dump and heap leach facility sustained substantial damage from a deep-seated landslide. No injuries to employees were recorded because of the slow-moving failure. Due to early detection by the operations team, the owner had sufficient notice of the potential failure and successfully rinsed the heap leach facility prior to the failure event. Engineers estimated approximately 35 million cubic meters of mass movement below the waste rock and heap leach facilities. The original eight-year mine plan produced approximately 60,000 ounces of gold per year. After the failure, the owner terminated gold production, re-configured the mine site to a safe, standby condition and launched a detailed investigation into the root-cause of the failure. Approximately two years after the shutdown, legal interests filed a statement of claim and named three engineering design firms and individuals involved in the project. Several years of litigation, including discovery and deposition proceedings, followed as the legal process considered evidence spanning a 20-year timeline. Changes in project ownership and consulting firms during the development and operations phase complicated the process. In 2017, the plaintiff and last defendant settled. The author was involved as the corporate representative for one of the engineering design firms.

Mar 2, 2022

By Belisario Pérez

Con el objetivo de lograr cero accidentes en las empresas minero-metalúrgicas de la división minera Breca, se fortaleció la gestión de incidentes mediante la incorporación de los eventos de alto potencial (EAP). En el periodo del 2012-2018, en gran medida gracias a la gestión de los EAP, se logró una reducción del 91% del índice de frecuencia de accidentes incapacitantes y del 100% en el número de accidentes fatales. El presente trabajo detalla dicho modelo de gestión, que puede servir para mejorar el desempeño de seguridad de otras empresas minero-metalúrgicas en el país, contribuir a la reducción de accidentes en el sector y lograr así el objetivo de cero accidentes.

Sep 20, 2019

By Tristan Worsey, John Rathbun, Andres Malone

A run of mine, low grade gold heap leaching operation is currently looking to increase ounce recovery by decreasing run of mine fragmentation size. Current blasting practices have resulted in an average fragmentation size of 80% passing 7.05 inches (179 mm). It is estimated that a decrease of 2 inches (51 mm) in the 80% passing fragmentation size has the potential to yield up to a 2.5% increase in the overall life of mine recovery within this ore body. This potential recovery increase could lead to an increase in recoverable ounces which, in turn, would lead to a better profit margin. As this particular deposit is composed of predominantly low grade heap leach the capital investment in a crushing facility was cost prohibitive, it was therefore decided to look into the current blasting practices as a means to improve fragmentation.

Jan 1, 2015

By Howard Eavenson

THE eleven mines of the United States Coal and Coke Co. in the Pocahontas coal field are situated in McDowell County, W. Va., which is a mountainous region. The valleys rarely exceed 200 ft. (60 m.) is width, the hill sides slope from 25° to 33°, and the tops, from 600, to 900 ft. above the valleys, carry practically no level land. At least 80 per cent. of the area is covered with timber. All the workings are drift mines; and while the average grades of the seams worked are ample for drainage, local dips and swamps necessitate, the use of a large number of local pumps or of numerous drainage ditches to keep the mine free from water during heavy rains. The water handled in any mine is not great, compared with the coal output, and usually causes little trouble except during extremely wet periods. In hew workings, the water encountered, except in rare cases, is trifling; it is only after rib drawing has started and the surface has been broken that water troubles begin. The strata overlying the coal are sandstone, shales, and slates; as the soil is thin and sandy, it does not tend to puddle and stop the cracks, which remain open for a long time. As mining progresses and the robbed area increases, the broken area becomes larger, increasing the openings into the mined territory. The cover over the robbed portions of the mines varies from 30 to 750 ft. (9 to 228 m.). When the ground is saturated, considerable water finds its way into the mines the day after a heavy rainfall and for three or four days it tends to fill the low places, wash the tracks, etc. and. unless from three to four times as many pumps are installed as are normally needed, considerable', output is lost. In most cases the water will .flow from the mines, so the obvious solution is to provide drainage .ditches of ample size to carry the maximum flow expected, so that the inflow will have no opportunity to flood the working places.

Jan 1, 1921

By William D. Hissem

While much technology has been developed and brought to bear in the area of blasting applications, the foundation work required for success in the muck pile begins with the drilling program.

Jan 1, 1997

By V. Prodanovic, M. Militzer

Production of advanced linepipe steels with strength levels of 685MPa (100ksi) and higher requires excellent control of runout table cooling to produce the desired final fine-grained microstructures, which may include acicular ferrite. Cooling is exerted on the runout table by applying water jets onto the hot surface of the strip and heat is removed from the steel by forced convective boiling. The associated boiling mechanisms are complex and include film, transition and nucleate boiling. A pilot-scale runout table test rig has been built to systematically study boiling heat transfer from a moving steel plate by employing industrial scale headers. Experiments were conducted using test plates moving at speeds between 0.3 m/s and 1.4 m/s. The plates were cooled down from 850°C to temperatures below saturation by a single water jet supplied through an industrial size circular nozzle. Based on these experiments heat fluxes were determined and further used to develop improved runout table cooling models.

Jan 1, 2005

By T. Urbancic, Eric von Lunen, G. Viegas, A. Baig

"The characterization of the failure process of induced fractures by hydraulic stimulation is fundamental to understanding the generation and evolution of the discrete fracture network within the reservoir. A more detailed analysis of the fracture mechanism can be a powerful tool for identifying fluid flow paths and proppant placement within the reservoir. For example, during the rupture process the energy release is partitioned into different physical processes for which the relative ratio is changed by the presence of fluids or rotations in the local stress field with relation to the frictional resistance in the fracture plane. Fractures occurring in the same host rock under the same stress conditions are expected to rupture similarly, independent of their size (self-similarity). Changes in the scaling relationships of fractures are indicative of a change in the failure process, host rock or in-situ stress. Correlation of failure process data with reservoir rock properties and the in-situ stress field will help identify regions within the reservoir with characteristic types of failures. Further correlation with hydrocarbon production data can be used to develop efficient treatment plans and production diagnostic tools.In this study we investigate the failure process of ~27,000 microseismic (M < -1) fractures induced during a hydraulic fracturing shale completion program in NE British Columbia, Canada by estimating static and dynamic source parameters, such as dynamic and static stress drop, radiated energy, seismic efficiency, moment tensor, fracture plane orientation, slip direction and rupture velocity. On average, the microseismic events have low radiated energy, low dynamic stress and low seismic efficiency, consistent with the obtained slow rupture velocities. Events fail in overshoot mode (slip weakening failure model), with fluids lubricating faults and decreasing friction resistance. Events occurring in deeper formations tend to have faster rupture velocities and are more efficient in radiating energy. Variations in rupture velocity tend to correlate with variation in depth, fault azimuth and elapsed time, reflecting a dominance of the local stress field over other factors.Further identification of spatial and temporal distribution of families of events with similar characteristic rupture behaviors, based on either rock formation, depth, source type, fracture plane orientation, stress drop, pad or proppant stage, may be used as a proxy for specific fracture network development and hydrocarbon production. This information may be used to determine reservoir properties, constrain reservoir geo-mechanical models with measured physical parameters, classify dynamic rupture processes for fracture models and improve fracture treatment designs. These will be the focus of future studies."

Jan 1, 2015

By A. A. Sizikov, V. A. Sizikova

Key parameters to consider for any producer: bring down production cost and lead time; Lean production as a tool to achieve maximum efficiency; How to implement lean principles: discontinuous vs. continuous production (aluminum industry); About RUSAL: global top-three aluminum producer; Lean tools at use at RUSAL&apos;s production facilities; Pull system, Standardization of work, Just in time, Continuous improvement, Customer-Supplier relations, etc.

Jan 1, 2006

By John V. Beall

Beall: Mr. Bennett, you have had a very successful -and a very colorful-career in mining. Would you tell us about your first job in the mining industry? Bennett: I was a mine surveyor on the Mesabi and Marquette ranges, working both open pit and underground. I worked two years for the Meriden Engineering Co., formerly the Meriden Iron Co., which was founded in 1904 to operate mines and to act as a lessors&apos; agent for inspection. At the time I was there, Meriden was operating one open pit and one underground mine, and acting as agent or inspector for some lessors, the owners of the fee interest.

Jan 1, 1968