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By PERCY E. BARBOUR

SECONDARY copper1 has &come more or less of a bugbear generally. What is its influence is often the subject of heated argument. The inedapable fact usually quoted is that since in 1929 primary production of copper in the United States was 1,026,348 tons and secondary production was 626,550 tons, there- fore, 0.6 lb. of secondary is produced for every pound of primary, and "How can you get around that?" The matter seems very plain, now that I have reached my conclusions, but they are the result of much laborious study and research. I shall show that' the production of secondary copper is not 0.6 per lb. of primary, in spite of statistical appearances; that the production of secondary is a function of primary production rather than of price; that secondary production has 'only a sub-. ordinate influence on the price of copper and then only in abnormal times; that there is not an accumulating reservoir of secondary from which the country is some- time to be drowned in copper, as is believed by some, or a reservoir from which we are going to draw much needed and more or less inexhaustible stores in the future, as is believed by others; and finally, that the United States always produces more copper than it uses and exports the surplus. These are all controversial points, and for that reason and to anticipate argument I have set forth my reasoning in considerable detail.

Jan 1, 1931

By J. H. Sokolowski, R. I. MacKay

The level of Si and Cu in the 3xx series of alloys affects the volume fraction of the a-Al dendritic phase and the Al-Si eutectic phase. The volume fraction of these phases in turn affects the feeding conditions during solidification and ultimately the Area Fraction Porosity and Mean Pore Diameter measured in the as-cast structure. This work sets out to establish the relationship between the volume fraction of the a-Al dendritic phase and the Al-Si eutectic phase and the resulting porosity that forms on the Monotonic and High Cycle Fatigue properties. The alloys in question are the Al-9%Si-l %Cu and a Al-7%Si-4%Cu alloys which were cast into V8 performance engine block castings and then heat treated to achieve desired mechanical properties. The engine block castings provided the mechanical and metallographic test samples analyzed for this work.

Jan 1, 2006

By S. G. Kumar

Experimental studies on high carbon steelmaking through LD Converter - Vacuum Arc Degassing - Bottom Pouring route to produce low oxygen steels were carried out. The results indicated that it is possible to produce steel with a total oxygen content of less than 15 ppm. Thermodynamic and mass balance calculations are made on low-carbon steels that are treated by a complex deoxidation practice based on primary deoxidation of aluminum, manganese and silicon additions; followed by secondary deoxidation of vacuum degassing with simultaneous additions of aluminum. The results showed that primary deoxidation is mainly due to aluminum and the effect of carbon under reduced pressures on deoxidation of molten steel that is already killed by aluminum is negligible. The effect of process parameters on total oxygen content of steel, like carbon content, slag composition and inert gas purging, are discussed.

Jan 1, 1994

By Hongbo Zhao, Jun Wang, Wenqing Qin, Guanzhou Qiu

Jan 1, 2015

By Débora Cardoso de Oliveira Silveira, Jean-Christophe Huber, Hamzeh Hamadeh, Kateryna Pastel, Guillaume Brosse

The dynamic behavior of oxygen gas flow, determined by the lance nozzle and blow pattern, is a key factor for determining jet efficiency in BOF Steelmaking. The present work compares the performances of Laval and parabolic nozzles with the aid of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The Method of Characteristics (MOC) was applied to design a minimum length parabolic nozzle. The results show that the parabolic nozzle generates more uniform and stable jet, with 2% longer potential core and supersonic length and less shock waves. For the parabolic nozzle, the pressure nearby the nozzle wall is higher, which can protect this region from reverse flow of converter gases and offer longer life for the lance tip. Likewise, the flow rate variations would affect less this nozzle. In addition, the nozzle wear was investigated, and the parabolic nozzle has proven relatively less sensitivity to the presence of this deformity.

Oct 1, 2019

By Devin Burns, Saima Ghazal, Michael Owusu-Tweneboah, Kwame Awuah-Offei

Trust in AI systems and the nature and amount of information about the system can influence decision-making. It is, therefore, crucial to understand how AI-powered monitoring systems (e.g., gas monitoring systems) influence miners’ trust and decision-making in emergency evacuation. This work focused on measuring the differences between how participants respond to a simulated underground mine emergency evacuation situation when warnings are represented as coming from a human or AI-based monitoring system. We also manipulated the amount of information participants received about the system, yielding a 2×2 between-participants survey design. The participants received an alert message about rising gas levels in a mine and provided a response on how they would react and reported their perceived safety. We also asked questions to assess their trust in, preference for AI over human-based gas monitoring systems, and whether they are willing to delegate the duties of underground gas monitoring to AI systems. The experiment results show the amount of information had a significant influence on miners’ trust and decision-making. The safety perception of participants based on age, number of children and ethnicity was significantly different from one category to another. This work provides valuable insights as the mining industry deploys AI systems to aid mine safety.

Feb 1, 2025

By P. Somasundaran

Electrochemical properties of silicate minerals govern their behavior in processes such as flocculation and enhanced oil recovery that can occur at elevated temperatures. Knowledge of these properties as a function of temperature can be helpful in developing an under- standing of the role of these interfacial properties at non-ambient temperatures. Zeta potential of Sodium Kaolinite and quartz has been determined as a function of pH and temperature in this work. Both systems exhibited markedly different behavior at higher temperatures and also exhibited significant hysteresis. Results are examined in terms of possible dissolution of the minerals and surface reactions at different temperatures.

Jan 1, 1986

By Sydney H. Ball

A QUARTER of a century ago, a pessimistic Belgian financier in conversation with the founder of the Belgian Congo, that great ruler, Leopold II, emphasized the danger to the colony should the synthesis of rubber be discovered. The king replied, "I do not worry. The Congo has had its ivory period; it now has its rubber period. Tomorrow it will have that of its mineral wealth; eventually that of agricultural products." That "tomorrow" arrived some twenty years ago. Through her mines the Belgian Congo has survived the present depression, and her mines for the next decade will safeguard her. The Congo, in turn. is the surest foundation industrially and financially of Belgium itself. In few, if any, political units is mining as dominant as in the Belgian Congo. In 1930, 1931 and 1932 mineral products represented respectively 67.9 per cent. 70.5 per cent and 59.3 per cent, of the total exports. In 1933 for each white person in the colony, there was produced about $1,675 worth of gold, diamonds, copper, tin ore and minor mineral products and in 1930 the per capita production, notwithstanding the larger population, was almost $2,000.

Jan 1, 1934

By Michel Fillon

Hydrostatic assistance is a commonly used method to improve limited load carrying ability of tilting-pad thrust bearings during transient states of operation of the vertical shaft hydro-generators. Despite of special hydraulic equipment (as pumps, valves etc.), it also requires manufacturing of special recesses/pockets at the pad sliding surfaces, into which oil is injected under high pressure. It allows to lift the rotor before start-up of the machine and form a hydrostatic film between the pads and the collar. There is a quite wide variety of geometry of recesses (shape, depth, size) met in practical large bearing applications. The presence of a hydrostatic pocket (usually located in the sliding surface above the pivot area, where thin film, high oil pressure and temperature are observed) affects bearing performance under hydrodynamic operation. In theoretical researches, there is an almost common practice not to include hydrostatic recess in THD or TEHD analysis. This is probably due to the problems with obtaining solution for oil film geometry with pocket, with pocket depths order of magnitude larger than gap thickness. In this paper, an attempt was taken to study the effect of the lifting pocket on THD performance of a large tilting-pad thrust bearing of ltaipu power plant. Bearing performance was evaluated including recess shape for several cases of its depth. The results show, that hydrostatic recess changes calculated bearing properties quite significantly, especially in the vicinity of the pocket.

Jul 31, 2018

By G. E. Steudel

THE study of the possibility of effecting a lower cost in the manu-facture of pig iron reveals the importance of the ever present question of slag chemistry and volume. Factors that determine slag chemistry and volume are the impurities in the ore available, the ash-sulphur content of the coke, and a flux material necessary to promote removal of sulphur. Of these, the ores present by far the major source of impurities and what may prove to be the lowest practical slag volume with desired chemistry in one locality may be considered low or high in some other center of iron manufacture. The Chicago district is not only blessed with ores of high quality, but with excellent coke and flux materials as well. It is the intent of this paper to discuss slag problems at the South Works only, where burdens consist of Mesabi ores, Michigan stone, and coke ranging from 7 to 9 per cent ash and containing an average of 0.57 per cent sulphur. Early in the development of modern blast-furnace practice, the con-sideration of slags was secondary to the many adjustments of mechanical difficulties, such as furnace lines, stock distribution, stove design for obtaining higher blast temperatures, improved chemical segregation and size of raw materials. Furnace operators, after making these improve-ments, turned their attention to the study of other refinements in practice, of which slag chemistry appeared to be the most important. It is only within the last two decades that operators have become familiar with the various aspects of slag compositions. The industry, while rather slow in its recognition, is indebted to such investigators as Rankin,1 Wright,1 Feild,2 Royster,2 McCaffery,3 Kinney,4 Holbrook,5 and Joseph5, whose researches concerning the elimination of sulphur within the blast furnace and the effect of slag composition upon melting point, viscosity, and desulphurizing power have established criteria for the selection of slags of the requisite quality.

Jan 1, 1939

By R. Holmestad, M. Gazizov, S. Wenner, R. Kaibyshev, J. K. Sunde

"Mechanical properties and microstructure of an Al-4.7Cu-0.74Mg-0.51Si-0.48Mn-0.10Cr-0.09Ti-0.02Fe (wt. %) alloy subjected to various thermomechanical processing (TMP) have been investigated and compared to conventional ageing at 170°C (designated T6). Three TMP routes involving cold deformation of solution treated samples were tested. These were (i) 3%-stretching (T8-3%), (ii) equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) to true strain (e) of ~1 (T8-1) and (iii) ECAP to e~2 (T8-2), all with subsequent ageing at 170°C for 0-96 h. At peak age conditions, both yield stress, ultimate tensile strength and elongation-to-fracture decreased for the T8-3% state as compared to the T6 condition. Intermediate ECAP (T8-1 and T8-2) lead to significant increase in maximum yield stress, ultimate tensile strength and elongation-to-fracture. The changes in mechanical properties were related to microstructure evolution, encompassing changes in grain sizes, dislocation densities, precipitate morphology and phase fractions, which were characterised using transmission electron microscopy. Relations between TMP, precipitation behavior and contributions to different strengthening mechanisms are evaluated.INTRODUCTION Al-Cu-Mg-Si alloys are widely used as structural materials in aerospace industry due to their attractive combination of high specific strength, good fracture toughness and enhanced creep resistance. These properties are largely due to the formation of a large number of nano-sized metastable precipitates during artificial ageing (Polmear, 2006; Eskin, 2003; Gazizov, Dubina, Zhemchuzhnikova, & Kaibyshev, 2015). The precipitation behaviour in these alloys is complicated and depends among other things on Cu concentration and the Mg:Si ratio (Wolverton, 2001; Chakrabarti, & Laughlin, 2004). In general, the precipitation sequence has been presented in a prior study (Eskin, 2003) as follows:"

Jan 1, 2018

By D. Lui, B. G. Thomas, B. Ho

"Results from mathematical models and plant experiments are combined to quantify the effect of transverse depressions and oscillation marks on heat transfer in the continuous casting mold. A heat transfer model has been developed to calculate transient heat conduction within the solidifying steel, coupled with the steady-state heat conduction with the continuous casting mold wall. The model features a detailed treatment of the interfacial gap between the shell and mold, including mass and momentum balances on the solid and liquid powder layers. The model predicts the solidified shell thickness down the mold, temperature in the mold and shell, thickness of the resolidified and liquid powder layers, heat flux distribution down the mold, mold water temperature rise, ideal taper of the mold walls, and other related phenomena. The important effect of non-uniform distribution of superheat is incorporated using the results from previous 3-D turbulent fluid flow calculations within the liquid cavity. Results from plant experiments confirm that transverse surface depressions and oscillation marks form at the meniscus and move down the mold. Measurements of mold thermocouple temperatures and breakout shell thickness were used to calibrate the models. The results indicate that the surface depressions and oscillation marks are filled with mold flux, but still have a significant effect on decreasing heat transfer. The predicted mold temperature fluctuations are consistent with measurements. If the depressions become filled with air, their effect is greatly increased. These results should be useful in the difficult task of interpreting transient mold thermocouple signals for on-line quality monitoring.IntroductionMany different types of intermittent surface defects on steel slabs arise during initial solidification in the mold of the. continuous casting machine. These defects include deep oscillation marks, surface depressions, and cracks. They may lead to quality problems, such as slivers, in the final rolled product. In severe cases, breakouts may occur, where liquid steel bursts through a thin section of the shell and drains over the casting machine below the mold."

Jan 1, 1997

By Yang Xiao, Zhang Yimin, Bao Shenxu, Liu Chun

Stone coal is a unique vanadium-bearing resource in China. Many techniques, such as salt roasting-water leaching, blank roasting-acid leaching, direct acid leaching etc. have been developed for vanadium extraction from stone coal. The vanadium leaching rate can reach 74.9% for stone coal from Jiangxi, but only about 27% of vanadium is leached for Hubei ore by applying salt roasting-water leaching technique. This paper investigats the vanadium occurrence in stone coal by microscope observation and electron probe, and compares the minerals components of stone coal from Jiangxi and Hubei. Although most vanadium exist as an isomorphism by replacing Al(III) from dioctahedral structure in mica group minerals in stone coal from two regions, the free vanadium is remarkably abundant in Jiangxi stone coal than in Hubei stone coal, which results the fact that vandium is relatively readily extracted from former. Moreover, the content of calcite in Hubei stone coal is much higher than that in Jiangxi stone coal. Calcium can react with V2O5 to form water insoluble calcium vanadates during roasting and this may be the reasone why the water leaching rate of vanadium is low for Hubei ore. Acid leaching is more beneficial to the vanadium leaching but other extra methods, such as adding aid-leaching agent and/or increasing acid concentration is need for the ore where vanadium is embeded firmly. This study can effectively guide the selection of vanadium extraction techniques for stone coal from different regions.

Jan 1, 2014

At times the phosphate industry, in Florida, encounters phosphate rock that gives lower than expected P2O5 recovery in the rougher plant section. The drop in recovery is typically 10% and as much as 30% or more. Variations in feed quality from day to day, shift to shift and even from drag-line to drag line, represent a challenge to the beneficiation plant operators and reagents? suppliers. Therefore, this characterization study has been initiated to identify the reasons for the differences in flotation behavior of such feeds. The study involves many samples to cover such variations. The characterization work includes: ? Mineralogical and chemical analysis; ? Size, shape, surface roughness and porosity analysis; ? Surface charge and surface contamination with other phases (minerals); ? Clay content and its relationship to phosphate and silica particles. The results correlated with flotation data and adsorption density measurements clearly establish the statistically significant variability in characteristic features that influence flotation response. This article discusses results from the above listed studies. On the basis of the obtained data, recommendations of practical approaches to overcome the problem of feed variability in phosphate flotation plants are delineated.

Jan 1, 2014

By Li Yang, Andre Cezar Zingano, Alberto Fronza

"Immediate roof control is very important to the security and stability of entries in coal mining. It is also the highest cost in the coal mining operation, and roof spalling is directly responsible for coal contamination. The immediate roof in the coal mines in the State of Santa Catarina varies in lithology and in the presence of structures, such as bedding planes, vertical fractures that cut lamination, sandstone, and siltstone boulders. The presence and crossing of these structures should influence the decision of the specification of the roof support. Furthermore, the variation of rock layer and quality of the roof must be immediately followed by the variation of support specification. This work aims to study the behavior of the immediate roof under different geological and structural conditions during the excavation of entries, including the changing of the geometry of the entry as a function of time. This includes the effect of vertical fractures that cross the bedding planes of the roof and the position of those fractures on the roof. The effect of time between excavation and installing support to stabilize the roof is also examined. This study uses empirical methodologies for support design and numerical methods to study the behavior of the roof when anchored to the different scenarios proposed. The results of this work show the importance of quality characterization of the roof in terms of the type of rock and its thickness and the presence of vertical fractures that cut the bedding planes of the roof immediately.INTRODUCTION The immediate roof in a coal mine can varies in terms of typology and structural features, like bedding plane spacing and vertical joints. The roof support must be specified based on the features of the roof layer and its classification. Unal (1983) and Mark, Molinda, and Dolinar (2001) suggest that the roof support design should be based on the rock mass rating (RMR) and coal mining roof rating (CMRR), which look at rock mass classifications. These methods are based on the beam-building approach, and the bedding planes are tied together using fully grouted bolt. The bolt can be pre-tensioned or not depending the time of the curing of the resin."

Jan 1, 2017

The basic objectives of mine roadways are to provide sufficient cross sections in order to meet the needs of accommodation of equipment, transport, personnel travel and ventilation. However, many roadways become damaged to the extent of needing maintenance, generally dinting, and in some cases requiring re-ripping. The damaging of a roadway is a result of several factors including geological properties of surrounding strata, method of roadway formation, type and spacing of support and so on. Among these factors, strata conditions play an important effect on the stability of roadway. Weak rocks cause excessive roadway closures and water softens some rocks and promotes the closure problem. In this paper, a scientific discussion on the effect of water on the stability of roadways is given on the basis of results obtained by means of in-situ investigation and laboratory rock tests.

Jan 1, 1996

By Jr. Langhans, J. S. McPartland

"The presence of zinc in cyanide solutions is generally thought to not have an adverse effect on precious metal recovery or recovery rate by heap leach processing. However, analytical interferences of zinc in solution can cause problems in accurately determining and controlling cyanide concentration in the leach solution, leading to increased cyanide consumption. Analytical methods and the chemistry of cyanide in the presence of zinc are reviewed. The effects of solution pH and zinc concentration on the free cyanide determination were evaluated in detail. Use of the standard silver nitrate titration and a modified titration method for controlling cyanide concentration during heap leaching were investigated experimentally. The practical implications of cyanide heap leaching in the presence of cyanide soluble zinc minerals are discussed.IntroductionThe presence of zinc in precious metal cyanidation circuits is not uncommon. Zinc can be introduced into cyanide leach solutions through dissolution of various zinc minerals1>, or through the use of a Merrill Crowe (zinc precipitation) circuit. Zinc minerals typically occur infrequently and in low concentration in gold ores, but are more abundant in silver ores. Merrill Crowe systems are most commonly employed for recovery of precious metals from solution for relatively high silver ores. It is desirable to control the amount of dissolved zinc in a cyanidation circuit for several reasons. Excessive zinc build-up in cyanide leach solution can, under certain circumstances, inhibit precious metal dissolution and adversely affect solution recovery systems. Additionally, high zinc concentrations can lead to excessive in-process cyanide inventories and potentially, to higher cyanide consumption"

Jan 1, 1999

By Wallace Thorneycroft

FOREWORD This paper by Mr. Thorneycroft, Past President of the Institution of Mining Engineers (Great Britain), and chairman of its Subsidence Committee, is a valuable contribution to the assemblage of data on ground movement and subsidence from coal mining. It deals with the effects of advancing longwall, a method almost universal in Europe but as vet little used in the United States outside of Northern Illinois and in a few scattered places elsewhere, in thin coal beds, as in the Lexington field, Missouri, Canon City field, Colorado, and the Birmingham field, Alabama. Although by advancing- longwall, a maximum recovery of coal is obtained and it has to be employed where there are weak shale roofs, especially in deep mines, it is a more expensive method of operation unless the mining conditions are favorable, which is unusual in the United States. On the other hand, there is a growing use in this country of what is essentially retreating long wall, with an approximately straight break-line as described by Rayburn.1 With this method, in which the pillars are substantial, it was shown that the ground movement effect is practically identical with that of advancing longwall, hence the value to mining engineers of the precise data given by Mr. Thorneycroft. His study is unusual in several respects; it deals with conditions connected with ,the mining of a coal bed 20 in. thick, about 490 ft. below the surface, over a mined-out area in a 5-ft. bed about 90 ft. below, which had been mined about 12 years earlier. Both mines passed under Plean House, a building of massive cut stone construction built over a century ago, in which Mr: Thorneycroft resided throughout the under-mining period. Slight cracks opened in the walls as the longwall face approached the house in mining the upper seam, and closed after the face passed and subsidence took place. In the northwest wall, the last wall the face passed under, some stone blocks were broken, which was attributed to a strike period when the advance of face came nearly to a standstill. Other than this there was no perceptible permanent damage, as indicated by the photographs taken by the undersigned in 1923 (Figs. 1 and 2). Mr. Thorneycroft used a novel means of studying the successive positions of the corners of the building: he hung plumb bobs from the eaves and traced the paths of the respective plumb bob points on level surfaces. The angles made by the house walls with the plumb bob lines gave measures of the slope of the subsidence wave at the respective points. A slight upward wave was indicated by the surveys ahead of the subsidence, which would appear to be due to a tilting over of the massive sandstone stratum in the roof measures near the surface, the edge of the subsidence area acting as the fulcrum.

Jan 1, 1931

By D. M. Jepsen

One of the first things we tell a potential new client is that they have only one chance to make a first impression with an Aboriginal community; all future communications and engagement will be predicated on that first impression. The key components of this most critical meeting are not your power point, your maps, or your draft plan for development ? they are instead a genuine, evident and clear demonstration of a sincere desire to develop a positive relationship that is based upon respect, and consideration and understanding of local communities and their interests, needs and desires. Relationship building is the foundation of proactive and positive consultation and accommodation with Aboriginal communities and the tone is set with the first meeting. C3 has refused more clients than we have accepted due most often to the fact that relationships between the company and the Aboriginal community have already devolved into a tense and toxic scenario. Land access and tenure certainty for exploration and mine development is critical to the foundation of a healthy, sustainable and environmentally and economically sound mineral exploration and mining sector. Without certainty confidence to invest in mineral exploration will be severely eroded. We all understand that substantive investments in exploration are required to increase the possibility of discovering, defining and developing new mines. The development of positive relationships based on a shared commitment of understanding, mutual respect and trust by Aboriginal Peoples and the mineral sector can provide the required business certainty and deliver social and economic benefits for local Aboriginal communities.

Jan 1, 2012

Of all of the processes in the mining cycle, blasting has the greatest impact on the efficiency of both mining itself and the initial stages of ore processing. The cost of blasting can be readily accounted for, but the true benefits of an effective blasting operation are seldom measured or reported. This means that blasting is seldom optimised in terms of its overall economic impact on an operation. Blasting operations have evolved according to the environment provided by mine management. Most operations seek to minimise the unit cost of each component process (overburden removal, blasting, excavation and transport, crushing or grinding) without recognising the impact that blasting performance has on subsequent activities. The creation of æcost centresÆ or æmanagement unitsÆ that isolate blasting from its downstream impacts reinforce this trend. Modern blasting technology is regarded as sophisticated by virtue of the mechanical design of the drills, the chemistry of the explosives and the flexibility and reliability of modern blast initiation systems. However, blast performance is controlled by the nature of the rock mass and there is generally an inadequate appreciation of how blast designs should be tailored to suit different rock mass conditions or to meet different blasting objectives. Most operations utilise a limited suite of standard designs without routinely tailoring designs to suit the actual conditions at hand or the objectives of each blast. Mining operations would benefit from tackling the following specific challenges:What is the appropriate target performance for blasting operations to generate the maximum economic benefit for the operation as a whole? How should designs be configured to suit the changing rock mass conditions and operating constraints? What compromise (if any) should be allowed from the ideal to assist conflicting scheduling or other operational requirements? How can blast performance be measured and reported to provide appropriate guidance to future operations? These challenges can be tackled through the process of æblast engineeringÆ. This paper discusses the potential impact of blasting performance on the economics of mining operations and the author argues that very considerable benefits over and above those currently being achieved could be realised by improving the routine engineering of mine blasts. The paper then explores how the industryÆs failure to recognise the economic importance of blasting has resulted in the engineering of blasting operations receiving less management and technical support than is appropriate. Finally, a simple approach to the engineering of routine blasting operations is described as an example of how these challenges can be tackled.

Jan 1, 1999