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AN indication that Mesabi Range iron use companies may develop their own flotation processes for low grade iron ores is the report that Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. is adopting a variation of one of the oldest known methods at its new Michigan treatment plant. Basically, the method involves using fatty acids and fuel oil reagents. The idea was developed many years ago and should be free of patent control. With other laboratories working on the same tack, it seems to be a pretty good bet that they will come up with their own processes. Any outside process will have to offer considerable advantage or low royalty rate to get consideration. Much of the appeal of the fatty acid process is the cheapness of the reagent. One source is pulp paper liquor in semi-refined form. With stream pollution legislation acting as a strong pressure, paper companies have been seeking ways to dispose of the material. Wisconsin has even attempted to use it for road binder.

Jan 5, 1953

FOLLOWING- the major explosion disaster in the Orient No. 2 mine of the Chicago, Wilmington and Franklin Coal Co., West Frankfort, Ill., on December 21, 1951, resulting in the death of 119 miners, an investigation was made by the U. S. Bureau of Mines under the direction of J. J. Forbes, Bureau director. The subsequent report concluded that the disaster. was caused by the emergence of a-large body of explosive gas from an abandoned area and simultaneous short circuiting of the ventilating current; the gas was ignited by an electric arc from nonpermissible electrical equipment and the flame was propagated throughout a large part of the affected area by coal dust and possibly by gas from other worked-out and abandoned areas. An immediate repercussion of the disaster was the opening of hearings by the. Senate Labor and Public Welfare Subcommittee on the Neely Mine Inspection Bill (S. 1310, introduced April 11, 1951) which would give federal coal-mine inspectors power to enforce safety recommendations by ordering the withdrawal of all employees where conditions constitute an imminent danger to their safety. Two days of testimony, January 24 and 25, disclosed that coal operators were not in agreement on the bill, although John L. Lewis, speaking for the UMWA, and J. J. Forbes, for the Bureau of Mines, were advocates.

Jan 1, 1952

FRENCH steel makers are ready to support the Schuman plan. Pierre Ricard, vice-president of the French Steel Chamber syndicate, announced the industry's readiness to cooperate with the plan, which is aimed toward giving Europe an integrated steel industry. Steel men appear to have decided in favor of the plan because of its promise to unify the continent. Behind approval is the emphasis placed by French steel plant operators on continuation of the Franco Saar economic union. The French have an, abiding fear of German steel production potential. France is currently producing at an annual rate of 11 million tons, while Western Germany is producing 15.5 million tons of steel. The Saar output is placed at 3 million tons. French industrialists feel that as long as the marriage of French and Saar steel production continues, France can compete reasonably well with Germany. If Saar production should suddenly become part of the Western Germany total, it could result in an unequal competitive situation, giving Germany a production level of 18.5 million tons of steel annually, or 60 pct more than France.

Jan 1, 1952

CHARLES E. WILSON'S second quarterly report "Meeting Defense Goals" was encouraging on the outlook for the mining industry, as prolonged demand for minerals seems assured; but for the individual engineer things are not so rosy. Ten percent of the gross national product is going for defense but the gross national product has been increased by 9 pct since the national emergency was declared apparently a commendable rate of progress. The increased production does not seem to have had the stabilizing effect on prices it should and housewives have been revising domestic budgets upward on a quarterly basis. Government economists have reached the conclusion that more taxes and wage and salary freezing are necessary to counteract inflation.

Jan 8, 1951

MINNEAPOLIS-HONEYWELL Regulator Co., and Trans-Weigh Co., have come up with a conveyor belt that thinks. The belt weighs material and then figures out the tons-per-hour that it carries. And you can't fool it by adding or subtracting material along the way. It makes allowances for any additional material as well as for any loss. The belt rides along a set of rollers. The force exerted on the rollers is transferred to a gage. The weight of the belt is subtracted electrically. Final measurements are fed into an electronic recorder which indicates the flow at the moment and the total amount which has been carried by the belt.

Jan 1, 1952

A Report Of Current Activity In The Industry

Jan 5, 1951

LATEST estimates of Russian steel production for 1951 give rise to the belief that on at least one vital front, the Western bloc of nations has maintained a definite advantage. On the surface, we are outproducing the Eastern bloc by more than twice. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe estimates Russian output at 31.30 million tons, a 15 pct increase over the previous year. Production for the entire Iron Curtain is figured at 40.93 million tons. Western Europe alone produced 17 pct. more steel during the same period. The figures are misleading in one sense. We have no precise idea of how much steel is being used for arms. The Western nations are still expending much of their production for consumer goods, and you cant throw washing machines in a shooting war. It is significant to note that Russian production is well, beyond estimates made by world authorities prior to the current international situation. INTERIOR Secretary Oscar L. Chapman warns that the United States must make use of the resources of other nations or face mineral impoverishment once the time of struggle is over. He pointed out that the present struggle between two ideologies can leave the United States in such a state as to preclude anything but political' victory-with an accomp anying economic loss that will be irreparable. Chapman scored the attitude whereby conservation programs are looked upon as a luxury, pointing out that the nation faces an ever increasing need for action on that front. He also announced that the Bureau of Mines doubled its facilities for producing pure zirconium during 1950-51 at the request of the Atomic Energy Commission. Zirconium may be an important structural metal for atomic power devices. The Interior Secretary also said that the AEC has provided the Bureau with funds for the study of radioactive minerals and to help test and evaluate about 9000 ore samples believed to contain uranium.

Jan 1, 1952

A Report Of Current Activity In The Industry

Jan 4, 1951

PHILIP D. BLOCK, JR., vice president of Inland Steel Co., visualizes a fine future for the Menominee Range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He sees a future unclouded by threat from foreign ore imports or the development of low grade ore processing in Minnesota. The statement was made during the opening of Inland's new Cayia mine near Crystal Falls. Inland, according to the vice president, is planning to use an increased amount of the high phosphorous ores found on the Menominee Range. He said that other steel companies will probably do the same, because the steel industry has learned how to use ores of high phosphorous content. He said: "I do not mean to imply that we can use an unlimited amount of high phosphorous ores or that we can burden our blast, furnaces with 100 pct high phosphorous ores, but we have reached the point where we can absorb a much larger percentage of these ores without any detrimental effects. Foreign ores and lowgrade Minnesota ores cost too much to offer real competition, Block said. Transportation costs from the Menominee range to steel producing centers in Chicago and on Lake Erie are less than for any other range in this country. In the meantime, the American operators of the Bomi Hills iron ore mine in Liberia, have reportedly signed a new agreement with the Government. Several months ago, President Tubman of Liberia expressed a definite dissatisfaction with the original contract. Informants state that the agreement only needs the approval of the Export-Import Bank, which loaned Liberian Mining Co. $4 million to develop the iron ore properties. Majority stockholder of the Liberian Mining is Republic steel, with 61.57 pct of the stock. Under the new contract, the Liberian Government will start to share in the profits when the indebtedness is liquidated and the return of invested capital accomplished, or April 1, 1957, whichever is earlier. Under the old agreement the Liberian Government received a 5 cent per ton royalty and an additional sum based on the price of pig iron. The royalty rate reached more than 17 cents per ton this year. After debt liquidation the Liberian Government will receive 25 pct of net profits for the first five years; 35 pct for the next ten years; and 50 pct thereafter. Until the Government starts to share in profits it will receive a royalty of $1.50 per ton in U. S. currency, in addition to royalties provided for in the old agreement.

Jan 1, 1952

THE iron and steel industry spent $1,170,000,000 in 1952 for improvements and expansion, with an accompanying rise of 9 million net tons in capacity to 117.5 million tons of ingots and steel for castings. More than $4,600,000,000 has been invested in the seven years following World War 11. An average of $1260 has been laid out every minute during those seven years for an increase in capacity of 25.6 million tons.

Jan 3, 1953

NOTHING makes the run-of-the-hall Congressman feel quite so secure as to be on an investigating committee. It's sure fire publicity for one thing and is a convenient excuse for absence from Congressional sessions when controversial issues are being balloted. The minerals procurement program has just had a thorough investigation by Congressmen of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee who heard valuable testimony from men like John D. Morgan, director of materials procurement, DPA. He listed over 40 government agencies concerned with mineral affairs. Testimony disclosed the justification for many of the agencies but Congressmen and mine operators have been regarding the defense minerals program in the same light as did the mining student who remarked to the descriptive geometry prof "it's not the intrinsic difficulty of the problem which gives me trouble; it's the multiplicity of detail."

Jan 9, 1951

By J. G. A. Stevenson

"IntroductionDURING the past quarter of a century diamond drilling, in all its phases, has increased in Canada to a very impressive total of more than 10,000,000 feet annually. Since the art of diamond drilling became recognized, some seventy-five years ago, there has been considerable improvement in both equipment and technique. The steam-powered drill rig and the hand-set diamond bit are things of the past.The purpose of this paper is to review some drilling trends •and practices over the past few years. In the preparation of the paper, the author wishes to acknowledge kind assistance of Mr. J. D. Cumming, Dr. C. H. Hitchcock, Mr. Robert H. Quintal, and many others, including staff members of the Longyear organization.Figures provided by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics for the year 1954 show that Canadian production of metallic and non-metallic minerals and structural materials had a value of $1,454.2 million, excluding radioactive products for which figures are not available. Approximately 61 per cent of this valuation comprised production of nickel, copper, gold, coal, asbestos, zinc, lead, and iron. It is certain that diamond drilling played a major role in the discovery and development of the orebodies from which these minerals were obtained.After the surface examination of an ore deposit, diamond drilling will automatically follow, in order to determine structure, grade, and tonnage.Footage drilled by mining companies and contractors on mineral exploration and blast-hole work since 1945, as reported by the Do-minion Bureau of Statistics, is shown in Figure 1."

Jan 1, 1955

By Othmar Mueller

Building demolition techniques using blasting are different depending on the structure of the building, on surroundings, traffic, debris-transport systems, and re-usability of salvaged building materials, etc. This paper outlines some of the trends and problems in demolition blasting technique in Europe and especially in Hungary.

Jan 1, 1975

By Carlos Rebolledo, Nelson Parra

Arsenic is an unresolved problem in the mining industry considering the fact that most of the new copper deposits have high arsenic contents; stricter environmental restrictions for handling, transporting and processing complex materials are expected and stable abatement of arsenic is not extensively applied. In 2018 Chile produced 24.5% of the total copper from concentrates and in the future copper production in Chile is expected to increase, mainly associated with production of concentrates that will also contain more arsenic. China has set an import benchmark of maximum 0.5% for arsenic content in copper concentrates and this value is expected to be more restrictive in the future. On the first day of 2018 China banned the importation of scrap. Blending practice has been a business option, but it is not sustainable in the future, as “normal” copper concentrates become less and less clean. By the end of 2018, Chile formulated new regulations, increasing the capture of SO2 and arsenic to 95%. In order to comply with these regulations Chilean smelters had to make large invest large amounts of money. Disposing of arsenic as a stable residue is a pending issue. EcoMetales is a 100% subsidiary of Codelco and provides the mining industry with environmental solutions. It has a plant near Calama in Chile that treats flue dust from smelters, refinery effluents and acid solutions from acid plants. EcoMetales is fully committed to contributing to the solution to the arsenic problem. Currently we are developing four main projects: 1) Concentrates treatment. A PLCC project considering the treatment of 200 ktpy of copper concentrates with arsenic from the northern district of Codelco; 2) EPAS DET project considering the treatment of 700 m3/d of weak acid solution with arsenic from the of El Teniente devision of the Codelco acid plant; 3) Borras project, considering the recovery of valuable metals (Cu, Ag, Ge, Pb) from the flue dust leaching plant; 4) Tailings project, considering the recovery of metal values from tailings. The purpose of this work is to present the trends and treatment processes for arsenic handling in the copper mining industry with a focus on the scorodite process. INTRODUCTION Between 2000 and 2015 the global copper concentrates production has grown from approximately eleven to fifteen million metric tons per year. Chile produced 26.5% of the total copper from concentrates and in the future copper production in Chile is expected to increase, mainly as a result of the production of concentrates (Figure 1)

Jan 1, 2019

By George E. Aiken

Agglomeration developments in the iron ore industry of North America are closely related to shifting patterns in commercially acceptable ore grades and even the definition of iron ores. These relationships have occurred mainly during the last 20 years. Many of these changes are an outgrowth of events which involved the history of the Mesabi Range. Although magnetic taconites had been discovered in the Lake Superior area about 1870, they remained unvrorked in part for lack of concentration methods and a generally unfavorable economic climate. Some 20 years later the rich Mesabi hematites were found beginning the era of direct shipping ores which continued through World War II. These Lake Superior iron ores included reserves of an estimated three billion tons. Following World War II, decreasing ore grades and rising costs began to force the closing of many underground iron mines. The early 50's saw the beginning of the decline in direct shipping ores and a spurt in produc- tion of natural iron concentrates. However, the market for unprocessed concentrates began to decline in the early 60's as agglomerated products and foreign ore s began to dominate the U. S. market.

Jan 1, 1973

By George E. Aiken

Agglomeration developments in the iron ore industry of North America are closely related to shifting patterns in commercially acceptable ore grades and even the definition of iron ores. These relationships have occurred mainly during the last 20 years. Many of these changes are an outgrowth of events which involved the history of the Mesabi Range. Although magnetic taconites had been discovered in the Lake Superior area about 1870, they remained unworked in part for lack of concentration methods and a generally unfavorable economic climate. Some 20 years later the rich Mesabi hematites were found beginning the era of direct shipping ores which continued through World War II. These Lake Superior iron ores included reserves of an estimated three billion tons. Following World War II, decreasing ore grades and rising costs began to force the closing of many underground iron mines. The early 501 s saw the beginning of the decline in direct shipping ores and a spurt in production of natural iron concentrate s. However, the market for unprocessed concentrates began to decline in the early 601 s as agglomerated products and foreign ores began to dominate the U. S. market.

Jan 1, 1972

By Lyman GJ

Systems for the routine on-line determination of ash content of process streams in coal preparation plants and handling systems have been in use in Australia for over four years. More recently, monitors for on-line moisture measurement have been developed to complement the ash measurement function. The technology for these systems is reviewed briefly. The development of reliable ash and moisture monitors has made the implementation of automatic systems of coal quality control practical. The emerging philosophies of automatic control in Australian preparation plants are examined with particular emphasis on systems involving dense medium circuit regulation. Related developments in flotation control and coal sorting are noted to complete this overview.

Jan 1, 1987

By G. R. Robinson

Aggregate resources consist of sand and gravel, and crushed stone. They are large-tonnage, bulk-minable mineral commodities that are used in construction and industrial activities (Tepordei, 1999, 2001).Rates of aggregate production, use and mine permit approval in the mid-Atlantic region differ by population density. These rates are influenced by economic and human factors, such as demand, costs, land availability and community opposition. In some areas, the local availability of aggregate is limited. This is due to the lack of suitable local source materials for aggregate, the loss of potential high-quality aggregate resource production sites by preemptive land development and restrictive zoning (resource sterilization), and the difficulty of developing and permitting production sites for aggregate.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. J. Daniels

Advances in borehole geophysical research for mineral assaying and remote detection of mineralization away from the borehole are cited. Nuclear activation measurement research has provided accurate in situ assays of economic metals with neutron-gamma activation, using a high resolution intrinsic-germanium detector. Although nuclear activation analysis is the present "best hope" for obtaining in situ assays for some elements, gamma-gamma and magnetic susceptibility measurements can provide accurate assays for lead-zinc and magnetite, respectively. Borehole optical spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence are being investigated as possible in situ assaying techniques for some minerals. More laboratory and field calibration research is needed before non-linear complex resistivity (NLCR) can be routinely used as a quantitative assaying tool. Field tests have shown that variations in the local geologic environment can affect the quantitative accuracy of assay values from downhole NLCR measurements. Deeply penetrating borehole geophysical methods are increasingly being used for mineral exploration as drilling costs and exploration have increased. Borehole electrical measurements have been shown to be useful for detecting conductive ore bodies that are not intersected by a drill hole. Hole-to-surface resistivity and surface-to-hole time-domain electromagnetics are demonstrated to be particularly effective for defining mineralized zones in a massive sulfide environment. Borehole gravity meters and three-component magnetometers have been developed and should prove useful for defining geologic anomalies away from the drill hole.

Jan 1, 1987

By Jeffrey J. Daniels

Advances in borehole geophysical research for mineral assaying, and remote detection of mineralization away from the borehole. Nuclear activation measurement research has provided accurate in situ assays of economic metals with neutron-gamma activation, using a high resolution intrinsic-germanium detector. Although nuclear activation analysis is the present "best-hope" for obtaining in situ assays for some elements, gamma-gamma and magnetic susceptibility measurements can provide accurate assays for lead-zinc and magnetite, respectively. Borehole optical spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence are being investigated as possible in situ assaying techniques for some minerals. More laboratory and field calibration research is needed before nonlinear complex resistivity (NLCR) can be routinely used as a quantitative assaying tool. Field tests have shown that variations in the local geologic environment can affect the quantitative accuracy of assay values from downhole NLCR measurements. Deeply penetrating borehole geophysical methods are increasingly being used for mineral exploration as drilling costs and exploration have increased. Borehole electrical measurements have been shown to be useful for detecting conductive orebodies that are not interesected by a drillhole. Hole-to-surface resistivity, and surface-to-hole time-domain electromagnetics are demonstrated to be particularly effective for defining mineralized zones in a massive sulfide environment. Borehole gravity meters and three-component magnetometers have been developed and should prove useful for defining geologic anomalies away from the drillhole.

Jan 1, 1985