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ABIDE from the John Fritz Medal, in which the Institute participates through its representation on the John Fritz Medal Board, the Institute itself has three major awards to make annually and one special prize for excellence in technical papers, as follows. The Robert W. Hunt Medal and Prize, The J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award, the James Douglas Medal, and The Lewisohn Platinum Prize to senior members. ROBERT W. HUNT MEDAL AND PRIZE The partners of Robert W. Hunt established a fund which was presented to the Institute at a fitting' ceremony on May 27, 1920, to establish an annual medal and a sum of money to be awarded under the following rules ? 1 The award shall consist of two prizes, first of a gold medal, second of a sum of money, a certificate to accompany each prize. The money prize shall not be awarded to a member over 40 years of age, but under unusual circumstances, both prizes may be allotted to one person provided that he is not over 40 years of age In general it will be understood that the Committee shall award the money prize to the younger men, rather than the medal. 2 The awards shall be made not oftener than once a year to that person or persons contributing to the Institute the best original paper or papers on iron and steel The scope of the term "iron and steel" shall be determined by the sub-committee considering the awards In general, papers dealing with the practical side of the subject have preference over those dealing with the theoretical side in recognition of the fact that Captain Hunt's main contributions to the industry have been in the improvement of production and quality of material

Jan 1, 1923

By Charles Larkey

NUMEROUS papers have been published on the use of graphic methods to determine the best curve to be used in estimating the production decline of oil wells but, as far as the writer has been able to ascertain, nothing has been published dealing directly with the subject as to how curves may be worked out mathematically, which will conform most closely to the production data under consideration in any given instance; hence the writer has endeavored to show by means of a few concrete examples just how such appli-cation can be made. Among valuation engineers, two types of curves are in current use for the representation of the decline in production of oil wells. One may be represented by the equation, y = krx, sometimes known as a percentage curve, for the reason that the production for any period is multiplied by a constant rate or percentage to obtain the production for the succeeding period. This curve appears as a straight line on semi-logarithmic cross-section paper. The other curve may be represented by the equation, y = kxn, and is shown as a straight line on logarithmic cross-section paper. In each of these equations, y represents the number of barrels produced over a given period of time, and x the successive periods of time. The other letters are constants to be determined for each well or group of wells considered in arriving at the most probable curve to represent the rate of production for a given property; from which the underground reserves may be estimated by extrapolation, or the extending of the curve beyond the last known period of production to show the most probable production values for the future.

Jan 7, 1923

By Ashbel Welch

Gentlemen of the American Institude of Mining Engineers.—As you well know an application is about to be made to Congress, by the American Society of Civil Engineers, for the appointment of a cornmission composed of persons skilled in the production and use of iron, steel, and other structural materials, whose duty it shall be to test the strength, elasticity, and other quatities of such materials ; not simply the substances used as such, but the members of large structures composed of such materials, of the forms and sizes in which they are actually used. As I understand, the papers that will be read here to- night will have for their object to show the necessity for such tests, and therefore the necessity for the commission asked for. As the representative of the Society of Civil Engineers, I have to thank you, gentlemen of the Mining Engineers, for the great zeal with which yon have taken up this subject, and seconded the efforts of the Civil Engineers; or, perhaps I ought rather to say, initiated the efforts to get a suitable commission appointed to obtain most vitally important information which it is admitted on all hands we do not now posses. In drawing up the memorial to Congress, in connection with some of the ablest and best informed of our Society, and in all the discossions on the subject, I have been struck with the emphasis with which the confession is made, that so little is known of the strength of the larger-sized members constantly used in building structures of the magnitude which the present requirements of the country now demand. I presume the remarks made to-night will bring this out very prominently. This is no disgrace, for with the means here-

Jan 1, 1882

By Dale S. Preece

INTRODUCTION In 1975 Congress passed the Energy Conservation Act to establish a U. S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) with a capacity of 750 million barrels of crude oil. The most economic storage medium was determined to be salt caverns leached in salt domes in Louisiana and Texas. Salt caverns existed at several sites when the reserve was created. These were obtained by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and used to initiate SPR oil storage. In order to meet the storage capacity approved by Congress, new caverns also had to be leached. To support the resulting design effort, finite element computer programs have been used to determine the creep closure and structural stability of salt caverns Using site specific material properties including creep models, elastic moduli and fracture data, the finite element analyses have replaced earlier empirical approaches to cavern design. This report presents results of such finite element analyses to determine the best cavern roof shape and the minimum pillar to diameter ratio, P/D. These numerical predictions indicate that the current cavern design is safe. FINITE ELEMENT AND MATERIAL MODELING The finite element program used in this study has existed for approximately four years. Its theoritical basis (Key, et al, 1980) and application are well documented It was originally developed to predict the creep around mined openings In bedded rock salt for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) The program was tested by modeling the creep of salt around a drift and by comparing the results with the predictions of eight other structural computer codes (Morgan, et al, 1981) Since then the program has had continual use for calculations to support the WIPP (Miller, et al, 1982) For about two years the

Jan 1, 1984

George W. Maynard, New York, N. Y.:—It is well known that there are many magnetite-mines of which the ore is too low-grade for direct use in the blast-furnace. For carrying out the sintering process, the preliminary step, in the case of magnetites, is the separation of the ore from the gangue by magnetic concentration. The resulting fine-grain product is very objectionable in the blast-furnace, and when used must be a very small percentage of the charge. The sintering process has saved the situation by furnishing a product which is absolutely ideal on account of its cellular structure. (In reply to questions by W. J. Tudor, and Joseph W. Richards, the following additional information was given by Dr. Maynard.) The percentage of iron in the product is determined entirely by the degree of concentration of the raw material and is practically not increased by the sintering operation. The magnetic concentrates at Port Henry and at the Benson and one or two other mines contain from 65 to 67 per cent. of metallic iron. The cost of sintering is from 39 to 41 cents per ton of product, including superintendence, depreciation, and repairs. The itemized figures are about as follows : Mixing (including labor), 24; power, 9; ignition, 5; repairs, 3; total, 41 cents. Prof. J. W. Richards, South Bethlehem, Pa.:—From a metallurgical standpoint I question the accuracy of the statement on p. 374: " C.—An increased reducibility of the iron so treated. (This has been conservatively estimated as 5 per cent. better than the best available ore.)" It seems to me that when a material is' sintered in this way, the constituents present, as lime, silica, and alumina, have a chance to form a compound with the iron oxide; that such a compound, if formed before the material goes into the blast-

Jan 1, 1913

Cobriza can only be described as the Machu Picchu of the mining business. This relatively new mine of the Cerro de Pasco Corp. in Peru, subsidiary of The Cerro Corp., was put on stream in December 1967. The best way to get there is to go in the company's HelioCourier with pilot Paco Perez. The plane is mostly engine and the pilot is without nerves. The trip starts at an elevation of 12,000 ft at La Oroya and ends at the Cobriza air strip near the top of the Continental Divide at 14,200 ft. Perez says this is the highest air strip in the world. The flight is made at an altibude below many of the peaks and it is easy to pick out the Inca Trail which follows the ridge line of the top of the Andes. Inca ruins are also visible from the aircraft. The drainage pattern, with a surprising number of lakes and rivers, can be seen and so, too, can a great deal of structural geology and numerous agricultural settlements dotting the altiplano. Cobriza is in the monta[n]a on the east side of the Andes, which is characterized by tropical climate and vegetation, an abrupt change from the frosty mountain atmosphere. The mountainsides are precipitous and the bottoms of the steep valleys are channels for roaring rivers. Such is the setting of Cobriza, above the swift cataracts of the Mantaro, benched out precariously at about 8700 ft elevation. The mountains rise in majestic splendor and the sun comes up late and sets at 3: 30 on winter afternoons. One of the lowest of the Cerro de Pasco camps, it is the most remote.

Jan 11, 1969

My predecessor in the office of President of the Institute started a custom of visiting the various local sections, thus obtaining their points . of view and their ideas as to how the Institute can best serve the interests of its members. Exceedingly valuable- exchange of ideas was thus brought about. I am following this custom as far as the limited amount of free time at my disposal will allow me, and I trust that my successor in office will appreciate the benefit to be derived from following the custom thus initiated and will continue the swing around the circle of the local sections. The activities of the Institute are increased by the prestige gained from large numbers and I trust that every member of this local section will consider himself a member of the committee on increase of membership and will see if he is not able during the coming year to gain at least one new member for the Institute. This is a perfectly possible proposition for, although the membership of the Institute is at present approximately seven thousand, I feel sure there are at least seven thousand more men in the United States who are interested in mining, metallurgy or geology from the metal-mining point of view who would make admirable members or associate members of the Institute. The first consideration of the Institute as a body, and of each member as an individual, is to win the war and defeat the Huns. In order to accomplish this, the Institute, as a body, has cooperated with the other national engineering societies and the great bureaus of the Department of the Interior, the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines in forming committees to study and advise the Government on pressing problems of vital importance.

Jan 5, 1918

By Dennis C. Drehmel

Because of their relatively low cost, carbonate rocks are desirable in abatement of air pollution by acid gases. Although many processes and types of equipment have been proposed to control or prevent the emission of acid gases, this paper considers only three: dry-limestone injection, wet-limestone scrubbing, and chemically active fluid beds. For the dry-limestone-injection process, surface area-especially from pores in the 0. 2- to 0.3-micron range-is one of the important parameters which will discriminate between less and more reactive carbonate rocks. Marls, chalks, oolitic calcites, and other fine- grained limestones show larger-than-average surface areas and better- than-average removal efficiencies. Inert chemical impurities such as silica detract from reactivity. A dolomite is not necessarily less re- active than a calcite. For the wet-limestone-scrubbing process, dissolution rate of the carbonate rock controls the differences in stone reactivity. In this process the dolomites are less reactive than the calcites. In addition, more than 90 percent of the dolomitic impurity in Fredonia white lime- stone is inert during limestone scrubbing. Dissolution rate is also a function of particle size for large-grained carbonate rocks. Fine grinding of such rocks will increase the dissolution rate to that of a fine-grained rock. Hence the requirement of high dissolution rates may be met by some grinding of fine-grained material (e. g., marl, chalk, or other limestone) or by fine grinding of coarser grained material. For chemically active fluid beds, chalks have the best capacity to absorb both SO2 and H2S. However, most chalks are probably unsuitable for fluid beds because of high attrition rates. Because dolomites are generally more reactive than calcites with both SO2 and H2S, a dolomite would be the feed material of choice for a chemically active fluid bed.

Jan 1, 1974

By Piyush Rai

Proper use of fi ring pattern vis-à-vis the blast requirements can provide optimal blast performance in terms of fragmentation. Further to this, each fi ring pattern has its own characteristic, for instance, although V-type and diagonal fi ring pattern provide same Se/Be ratio, the V-type fi ring pattern increases the opportunity for in-fl ight collision amongst broken rock fragments during their movement. Similarly straight V-type and skewed V type fi ring patterns (V1,V2 etc.) have their own characteristic strengths and weaknesses. In this light the present paper highlights the application of three different types of fi ring pattern on two different type of sandstone overburden benches of a large coalmine in India. The study reveals that Firing pattern infl uences the effective spacing to burden ratio at the time of detonation. By changing the fi ring pattern, effective burden (Be) changes and the ratio of effective spacing (Se) to effective burden (Be) during the fi ring is also subject to change in comparison to drilled spacing to burden ratio (S/B) Hence, the Se/Be ratio vis-à-vis fi ring pattern must be used to design the blast rounds. The results have been derived on the digital image analysis based fragment size characterization, excavator performance and evaluation of powder factor values on blasted muck piles. Skewed V- type fi ring yielded the best results in comparison to straight v-type and normally practiced diagonal fi ring pattern on the moderately strong sandstone benches, whereas, the existing diagonal fi ring pattern appears to be satisfactory on weak (weathered and gritty) sandstone benches. The presence of geological anomalies has also been investigated.

Jan 1, 2008

C. W. GOODALE, Butte, Mont. (member of the committee)- (communication to the Secretary*).-In the discussion of papers presented at the New York meeting of the Institute in February, 1915, and at the Arizona meeting of September, 1916, I referred to the activities of the Bureau of Safety of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., and I am now submitting a few thoughts by members of the staff of that Bureau. TORGUS H. OAAS, Safety Engineer, Butte, Mont.-The report of the Committee on Safety and Sanitation has described different organizations and methods of promoting safety work. The effectiveness of these methods would aid the beginner in his campaign for safety in choosing the kind of organization and methods best adapted for his field. This can he obtained only by a discussion by those who have long promoted this kind of work, and have met with successful results. As the field is new, the different organizations promoting safety work have not established a common basis of rating for their fatal, serious and slight accidents, so that it is now difficult to get a comparative basis from which to judge the merits of the different systems. C. W. GOODALE.-The U. S. Bureau of Mines adopted, at the beginning, as a basis for its yearly summaries, the number of accidents. per 1,000 men employed, and it is now (quoting from its report for 1915, Technical Paper 168) making the following "classification of injuries:" "Many of the States now have. compensation laws, and in order to conform with their classifications, the bureau's classification of serious and slight injuries for 1915 is on a 14-day (2-week) basis instead of 20 days, as in previous years. The new classification of injuries includes three types, as follows: 1. Fatal 2. Serious (time lost, more than 14 days) (a) Permanent disability Total Partial

Jan 6, 1917

By Claus G. Goetzel

PRESSING of powdered metal parts is best done in the direction of the shortest extension of the piece, to avoid too great a loss of pressing force through internal [ ] friction. As long as curved surfaces, recesses, or offsets occur only parallel to this shortest axis of pressure, no special difficulties arise: the cross sections, perpendicular to the pressure, do not vary, nor does the shape of the parts change during compression except for a gradually reduced thickness (Fig. IA). The problem becomes more difficult, however, when the curved surfaces or recesses are perpendicular to the shortest axis of the part (Fig. IB). Two processes for molding uniformly dense parts with complicated shapes from powdered metals are described in detail in this paper. Both can be employed successfully by those trained in the art. The first refers to curved parts; the second is especially adapted to parts having one or more recesses or steps. Both methods, as set forth here, are applied under the condition that presents the more difficult problem. For clarity, before description of the two practical methods, the variable factors in molding powdered metal parts will be reviewed, then an idealized procedure will be considered briefly. VARIABLE FACTORS IN MOLDING POWDERED METAL PARTS Compression Ratio Compression ratio is defined as the proportion of the final relative density of the compact to the apparent density of the powder. For iron powder of an apparent density of 3.0, for example, a compression ratio of 2 1/2 : I would be required to produce a compressed compact of 7.5 density; whereas for another iron powder having an apparent density of only I.5, a compression ratio of 5:I would be required to produce the same density. The lower the powder's apparent density, the greater must be the compression ratio for pressing compacts of high density.

Jan 1, 1945

By Sadan Kelebek, Gerhard W. Heinrich, Peter F. Wells, Peter J. Whittaker

"Based on plant mineralogical data & circuit modelling, a pilot plant campaign was conducted at Strathcona Mill to identify options for improving the performance and operating flexibility of the copper-nickel separation circuits. Emphasis was given to options for combined treatment of the two feed streams (primary nickel ore rougher concentrate and copper ore circuit concentrate) to obtain more flexibility in the use of existing column flotation capacities. The pilot test results demonstrated that circuits which incorporated preconcentration prior to column flotation gave the best metallurgical results. Maximum column carrying rates were also related to the preconcentration. Predictions that increased circulating loads from the column scavengers would improve copper-nickel separation performance were confirmed.IntroductionThe copper-nickel separation circuits at Falconbridge's Strathcona Mill produce a high grade (>30% Cu) copper concentrate most of which is treated at the Falconbridge Kidd Creek smelter near Timmins. The remaining nickel concentrate which still contains approximately 20% of the feed copper is combined with other lower grade nickel/copper concentrates and shipped to the Falconbridge nickel smelter. The separation is required because of the limited capacity for copper processing in and downstream from the nickel smelter. Since no nickel is recovered at present in the Kidd smelter, the challenge is to minimize the nickel content of the copper concentrate.At present there are two independent separation circuits treating the rougher concentrates from the copper and nickel circuits as shown in Figure I. The minerals treated are mainly chalcopyrite and pentlandite but there is up to 25% of the copper present as cubanite in the copper ore. The circuits were kept separate because the flotation rates and froth characteristics were very different, probably because of the presence of cubanite and the large difference in the concentrate grades feeding the circuits."

Jan 1, 1995

Solar Salt, Lunar Ambitions I Bauerti The title of this paper is `Solar Salt, Lunar Ambitions'. It is largely the result of a lack of imagination and a tight deadline. I was seeking a catchy title to convey the image of being 'here' and wanting to get `there', with `there' being a long way away and our being held 'here' by powerful gravitational forces. I tried `Solar Salt, Lunar Landings', but that implied we had already reached `there' when, on reflection, we had not. A colleague suggested 'Solar Salt, Luna Park' which is a fun park in Sydney and, I must admit, there was appeal in the image of having embarked on a wild roller coaster ride with stomach-wrenching twists and turns and the only reward being a pair of sweaty palms, and a feeling of nausea. That's sometimes how it feels when you launch into change. In the end I settled for the more sedate `Lunar Ambitions'. It contained that suggestion of hope and continual striving which are central to the idea of best practice. I will discuss our experiences in this area shortly, but I would firstly like to provide some background to our business. The salt industry is steeped in history and tradition. As one learned commentator observed, common salt is 'a substance seemingly too ordinary to think about, yet it is the oldest of man's raw materials and the basis of some of his newest inventions' (Multhauf, 1978). From ancient times, salt was recognised as a key necessity of life and it has played a role in the rise and fall of governments throughout history. The Romans recognised its importance when they gave their soldiers money regularly to purchase salt, hence our modern word 'salary'. Today, while culinary use remains important, the main consumer of salt is the chemical industry (Figure 1).

Jan 1, 1995

By Claus G. Goetzel

Pressing of powdered metal parts is best done in the direction of the shortest extension of the piece, to avoid too great a loss of pressing force through internal iriction. As long as curved surfaces, re-cessej, or offsets occur only parallel to this shortest axis of pressure, no special difficulties arise: the cross sections, perpendicular to the pressure, do not vary, nor does the shape of the parts change during compression except for a gradually reduced thickness (Fig. IA). The problem becomes more dificult, however, when the curved surfaces or recesses are perpendicular to the shortest axis of the part (Fig. IB) Two processes for molding uniformly dense parts with complicated shapes from powdered metals are described in detail in this paper. Both can be employed successfully by those trained in the art. The first refers to curved parts; the second is especially adapted to parts having one or more recesses or steps. Both methods, as set forth here, are applied under the condition that presents the more difficult problem. For clarity, before description of the two practical methods, the variable factors in molding powdered metal parts will be reviewed, then an idealized procedure will be considered briefly. Variable Factors in Molding Powdered Metal Parts Compression Ratio Compression ratio is defined as the proportion of the final relative density of the compact to the apparent density of the powder. For iron powder of an apparent density of 3.0, for example, a compression ratio of 2 1/2:1 would be required to produce a compressed compact of 7.5 density; whereas for another iron powder having an apparent density of only 1.5, a compression ratio of 5:1 would be required to produce the same density. The lower the powder's apparent density, the greater must be the compression ratio for pressing compacts of high density.

Jan 1, 1946

By Claus G. Goetzel

Pressing of powdered metal parts is best done in the direction of the shortest extension of the piece, to avoid too great a loss of pressing force through internal iriction. As long as curved surfaces, re-cessej, or offsets occur only parallel to this shortest axis of pressure, no special difficulties arise: the cross sections, perpendicular to the pressure, do not vary, nor does the shape of the parts change during compression except for a gradually reduced thickness (Fig. IA). The problem becomes more dificult, however, when the curved surfaces or recesses are perpendicular to the shortest axis of the part (Fig. IB) Two processes for molding uniformly dense parts with complicated shapes from powdered metals are described in detail in this paper. Both can be employed successfully by those trained in the art. The first refers to curved parts; the second is especially adapted to parts having one or more recesses or steps. Both methods, as set forth here, are applied under the condition that presents the more difficult problem. For clarity, before description of the two practical methods, the variable factors in molding powdered metal parts will be reviewed, then an idealized procedure will be considered briefly. Variable Factors in Molding Powdered Metal Parts Compression Ratio Compression ratio is defined as the proportion of the final relative density of the compact to the apparent density of the powder. For iron powder of an apparent density of 3.0, for example, a compression ratio of 2 1/2:1 would be required to produce a compressed compact of 7.5 density; whereas for another iron powder having an apparent density of only 1.5, a compression ratio of 5:1 would be required to produce the same density. The lower the powder's apparent density, the greater must be the compression ratio for pressing compacts of high density.

Jan 1, 1946

Gentlemen of the American Institute of Mining Engineers.—As you well know an application is about to be made to Congress, by the American Society of Civil Engineers, for the appointment of a cornmission composed of persons skilled in the production and use of iron, steel, and other structural materials, whose duty it shall be to test the strength, elasticity, and other quatities of such materials ; not simply the substances used as such, but the members of large structures composed of such materials, of the forms and sizes in which they are actually used. As I understand, the papers that will be read here to-night will have for their object to show the necessity for such tests, and therefore the necessity for the commission asked for. As the representative of the Society of Civil Engineers, I have to thank you, gentlemen of the Mining Engineers, for the great zeal with which yon have taken up this subject, and seconded the efforts of the Civil Engineers; or, perhaps I ought rather to say, initiated the efforts to get a suitable commission appointed to obtain most vitally important information which it is admitted on all hands we do not now possess. In drawing up the memorial to Congress, in connection with some of the ablest and best informed of our Society, and in all the discossions on the subject, I have been struck with the emphasis with which the confession is made, that so little is known of the strength of the larger-sized members constantly used in building structures of the magnitude which the present requirements of the country now demand. I presume the remarks made to-night will bring this out very prominently. This is no disgrace, for with the means here-

Jan 1, 1882

By R. G. Bowman

DISCUSSIONS of processes for the manufacture of white lead generally open with the statement that white lead is the oldest chemical pigment known to man. This fact is of more than historical interest; in the light of the present extensive use of white lead, ii indicates that the .compound possesses characteristics that make it unique among white pigments, and superior to all ;in its particular field. A greater variety of processes have been proposed for manufacturing white lead than for any other one chemical compound. Only a few of these processes have come into commercial use, however, and a large part of the present production here and abroad is made by the process used in ancient times. The outstanding disadvantages of the old process are that it is slow and laborious, affords no control of the product, and yields at best an impure material lacking in uniformity. Improved processes, sometimes classed all together as "quick processes," have had as their main object the shortening of the time required. Most of them accomplish this and some have yielded a superior product as well, but only two or three are now in use commercially. For centuries the manufacture and mixing of paints has been treated as an art, and the practice has been much influenced by tradition and precedent. There is a reluctance to abandon old materials for this purpose, and as few new uses for white lead have been developed, the adoption of the quick processes has been slow. The electrolytic production of white lead is not-new, a large number of processes and forms of apparatus have been proposed and patented within the past 25 years, all directed toward the, production of white lead, wholly or in part, by electrolysis. One or two of these processes were tried commercially but proved unsuccessful.

Jan 9, 1925

By R. Gong, R. Bhaskar

[Full-scale laboratory experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of ventilation and water spray pressure on the potential dust capture efficiency of a ventilation system comprised of blowing ventilation and an underboon scrubber. The tests were performed for a 1.52-m (5-ft) roof height and 2.36 m-3/s (5000 cfm) blowing ventilation volume, and a 2.44-m (8-ft) roof height and 4.72 m3/s (10.000 cfm) blowing ventilation volume at three face positions of the miner. The scrubber suction rate was varied for the tests to study the effect of scrubber flow rate on capture efficiency. The airflow patterns and scrubber efficiency were determined by performing tracer gas tests. Tracer gas was released through a manifold placed in front of the rotating miner drum. The gas was sampled in a grid fashion using a real-time multi-point gas sampling system. The capture efficiency of the scrubber was evaluated based an the peak gas concentration of the gas laden air drawn through the scrubber and the amount of gas passing, through the scrubber as a fraction of the gas released at the face. The data were analyzed to yield scrubber peak concentrations, potential exposures at various operator locations and the gas removal percentage (GRP). The underboom scrubber appears to work best in the end sump position, relative to the start sump and start slab positions. The capture efficiency scrubber was higher for 2.44-m (8-ft) roof heights compared to 1.52-m (5-ft) roof heights. The data also showed that the scrubber air discharged behind the mining machine may be drawn into the face area by the action of the blowing ventilation system, resulting in recirculation.]

Jan 1, 1994

By Howard S. Avery

The wear resistance of an alloy in heavy mill liner sections may be quite different from that of the same alloy in small balls and other light sections. This fact was established by means of a well standardized laboratory test that was validated for ball mill service. The salient properties of mill liner alloys, including austenitic manganese steels, medium alloy hardenable steels, and abrasion resistance cast irons are described, critically compared, and quantitatively ranked in terms of mill liner service. Where they are tough enough the high-chromium and other martensitic cast irons (e.g. Ni-Hard) promise maximum economy, but their section sensitivity is a limitation. To overcome this an extensive research program studied over a hundred experimental alloys, ranking them for heavy section abrasion resistance by means of the laboratory test. Computer analysis of the results provided a parabolic formula in terms of composition, the apexes of the parabolas providing optimum wear resistance. From the extensive family of parabolas one apex was selected for intensive study in experimental liners, pilot plant production, development of quality controls, and finally full scale production. This is a 19% chromium iron critically alloyed with nickel and molybdenum and hardened by heat treatment. It has excellent resistance to various types of abrasion, but its chief advantage is in heavy mill liner sections, where it has about 25% better abrasion resistance than the best of the quality controlled chilled Ni-Hards. It is also tougher. After production problems were solved, a number of ball and rod mill tests were arranged on a guaranteed performance basis. Two of these, representing about 138,000 pounds of mill liner castings, have recently confirmed in service the superiority that was predicted by the laboratory tests.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. U. Burger

The Elizabeth Bay aeolian deposit in Namibia comprises a sedimentary package of diamondiferous grits that have been deposited, reworked and concentrated to various degrees by dominant southerly winds. Diamond concentration in these deposits is highly variable and often unpredictable. The deposit is marginal from an economic perspective and therefore requires selective mining which in turn requires correct sampling and accurate estimation. Three methods of sampling have been used at Elizabeth Bay for mineral resource estimation: (i) pit samples utilizing an excavator to produce a sample 1 to 3 metres deep with a 10 to 20 m2 footprint, (ii)GB50 grab sampling with a 3.34 m2 footprint and (iii) a BG36 bucket auger drill with a 5 m2 footprint. Pit sampling, being easy to execute, has been the most widely used despite a limited penetration ability and, at times, questionable integrity. The GB50 grab sampling tool was tested at Elizabeth Bay and although it had better penetration ability and sample integrity, it struggled with cemented horizons. No sample optimization was conducted prior to the GB50 grab sampling. The latest phase of sampling was conducted using a BG36 bucket auger drill which is capable of penetrating thick overburden, penetrate cemented horizons and provides an acceptable sample support size. Geostatistical simulation methods were applied to establish the optimum sampling parameters required to estimate a mineral resource at an indicated level of confidence. The results show that a 5 m2 sample support size is adequate and that a 50 m 100 m sample configuration is optimal. Sample data obtained from the three methods confirms that the BG36 bucket auger tool combined with the parameters identified in this exercise produce the best results for diamond resource estimation.

Jan 1, 2009