Search Documents

By Clinton H. Crane

IN October, 1925, J. R. Finlay delivered an address entitled, "The Future Price of Lead." Lead was then selling at 8.85c. and Mr. Finlay and most of the rest of us were concerned about the shortage. Now, a little more than six years after, lead is selling for 3.55c., and nobody is worrying about the difficulty of getting plenty of it. For 1931 the U. S. G. S. reports United States produc¬tion as 390,000 tons of recoverable lead in ore. Our estimate is slightly higher than this; nearer 400,000 tons. This is the smallest production since 1911 and 1912, but in spite of this, stocks for the year-have increased nearly 50,000 tons. Our estimate for the production outside the United States is 1,120,000 tons, or more than double the production of either 1920 or 1921, and 30 per cent more than in 1913. Stocks abroad probably have not increased more than stocks in the United States. In other words, foreign consumption is double what it was in 1.920-21, whereas domestic consumption is substantially less. It looks as if Mr. Krueger, president of the Swedish match trust, was right when he said that "This country had better stop worrying about Europe and think a little bit more about its own affairs."

Jan 1, 1932

By M. Gonçalves Peixoto da Silva, E. Rodrigo Carvalho Souza Siqueira

Mining in narrow veins is commonly applied for precious metals, generally carried out to extract gold in underground mines, due to the ore occurrence on narrow veins, mainly up to 2-meter large. The current work presents the implementation of the methodology in a zinc mine located in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The Vazante Mine through the years has always carried out mining on stopes with a thickness larger than 3,5 meters, but nowadays due to the need to reduce the waste planned in its blocks, as well as increase the useful life of mine, mining has been implemented in blocks that are less than two meters. Given this, the challenge is to be able to carry out blasts that does not exceed the operational dilution required and does not generate an impact on recovery, as working with extremely heterogeneous stopes. This study seeks to correlate the main characteristics of stopes and its relationship with the results obtained in the execution of those blasts. Also, it proposes an analysis between the empirical data, and existing theoretical references, creating ideal mining parameters, such as minimum thickness, maximum height, and optimum timing in the blast plan. One of the main challenges for carrying out this mining method is the control of operational dilution, generally pointed out as the biggest difficulty for companies that adopt this methodology, due to the thickness of those stopes, any displacement can make it unfeasible, thus the technical level on carrying out the drilling and loading of these blocks must be impeccable, an understanding of the structural geology of the site is also essential for dilution control. The outcome will be a set of ideal parameters and mining methodology to guarantee the success in execution of these blocks, thus bringing a financial benefit to the company.

Jan 21, 2025

By Hadi Fanisalek

"Most industries attempted to conduct their energy consumptions in an optimized way for a few decades. This is because policymakers and top managements in industries have felt the critical situation of a possible energy shortage that could happen for them in the near future, even in countries with significant fossil fuel resources. Decisions related to energy consumption in any industry will have a long-term effect on different parts of the industry structure. In this way, energy decisions should be categorized as part of any industry's main strategic and long-term decisions, which should be made by top strategists. On the other hand, strategic management has many powerful tools to help the policymakers in industries to establish a long-term strategy for energy consumption and reducing or preferably eliminating the energy loss. This will be more important for industries in the Middle East, where they have just started to make an applicable strategy for their energy consumption and to design a long-term procedure for their energy management. Based on strategic management and by comparison we designed and offered a new model for establishing the main structure of energy management strategy in primary aluminum industry, which is a high consuming energy industry. This strategy, which we will call ESM (Energy Strategic Model) and has been applied for a typical primary aluminum industry in this paper, is similar to the practical models in the field of strategic management, which were developed for designing the overall company strategy.IntroductionThe elementary goal for introducing strategic management in any organization was to establish a successful plan helping the company to survive and to gain competitive advantage over its competitors in a rough business environment. Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and controls the business and industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, and a new economic environment[!]."

Jan 1, 2013

By C. Bise, A. Seal

Excessive noise has long been a hazard in the coal-mining industry. Studies conducted during both the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s consistently show that hearing hearing loss within the mining industry persists, in spite of regulatory requirements and sampling technology advances. When MSHA’s new health standards to protect miners from hearing loss took effect in September 2000, the potential developed to re-evaluate sampling approaches with regard to noise-source hazards, such as task-based methods. This paper describes results from a Penn State research project currently being conducted at an underground coal mine. Each occupation was reviewed, and a list of tasks or processes performed by each was generated. Traditional personal noise dosimetry, static sound pressure levels, and equipment sound mappings have been performed. Job tasks indicating the greatest levels of daily noise exposure and contributions to noise dose have been identified and will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2001

By Frank E. Chase

During the past quarter century, coal mine geologists have evolved from providing a qualitative description of drill core and coal reserves into quantitative geotechnical specialists who bridge the gap between geology and engineering. In the late 1970?s and early 1980?s, hazard prediction mapping was in its infancy. At best, hazard maps identified rudimentary structures and conditions such as stream valley locations, sandstone/shale transition zones, and lineaments. A ?technical disconnect? had existed between geologists and mining engineers as each profession operated largely independent of each other. Engineers did not readily integrate geology and geologic conditions, with the exception of coal thickness, into mine planning. Geologists were relied upon for reserve estimates and did not participate in mine planning or design. The employment and market slump of the 1980?s and 1990?s combined with mining more challenging reserves mandated that this gap be bridged and forced geologists to learn to speak more ?numerically? to engineers so they could be understood. The purpose of this paper is to describe the procedures and thought processes used by coal mine geologists when determining various mineability and reserve extraction feasibility issues. The paper will also address underground geologic hazard mapping and prediction techniques. To achieve these objectives, the opinions and experiences of leading coal mine geologists, geotechnical and strata control specialists across the United States were solicited.

Jan 1, 2006

Commodities statistics and other information are available through the following three systems: Internet Access: To access the USBM Gopher server on Internet, connect to: gopher.usbm.gov port 70, using gopher client software. Or contact the Systems Administrator for technical questions: Matt Klevemann, 412-892-6499 (klevemmc@miner.usbm.gov) These USBM materials are available on Internet, with more to come in the future: Publications and other research findings, including this bimonthly publications list, newsletters, tech transfer updates, environmental technology research, health and safety information. USBM software products Media materials and speeches. Mines Data: Computer bulletin board. Log on via modem through 202/501-0373, or call 202/501-0406 for technical assistance. Mines FaxBack Return fax service. 1. Use the touch-tone handset attached to your fax machine's telephone jack. (ISDN [digital] telephones cannot be used with fax machines.) 2. Dial 202/219-3644. 3. Listen to the menu options and punch in the number of your selection, using the touch-tone telephone. 4. After completing your selection, press the start button on your fax machine.

Jan 1, 1995

By Arthur B. Yates

"The nickel deposits of Sudbury, discovered in .1885, have probably commanded as much attention as any single group of orebodies in the world. They have been the major source of the world's nickel supply since 1903, when their production first surpassed that from the Pacific Island of New Caledonia. From 1903 to 1914 the production from New Caledonia remained essentially constant, whereas that from Sudbury increased from 13,000,000 to 50,000,000 pounds a year. After 1914 the production from New Caledonia gradually dropped to about 4,000,000 pounds in 1919, where it remained until 1923. During these years the Canadian production increased steadily and since 1923 has gone up at an amazing rate to a peak of over 280,000,000 pounds in 1941. Meanwhile the New Caledonia production increased to about 10,000,000 pounds until the pressure of war raised it to roughly 14,000,000 pounds a year.The Sudbury deposits, because they have been the source of 80 per cent of the world supply of nickel, because of their economic importance to the world of metals, and because they are geologically unique in their occurrence, structure, and genesis, have attracted foremost consideration and the literature relative to their geology is voluminous. This is particularly true in regard to genesis.There is a significant and interesting parallel in time between the advancement of the science of economic geology and the great expansion of the nickel industry. The controversies regarding the fundamental classification of orebodies into generalized types were in full swing during the height of the development and expansion of the great nickel mines, and the Sudbury deposits, being the most important and the only ones of the sulphide type extensively developed, have been the chief source of information in regard to this type. The observations and the conclusions drawn thereon from numerous studies of the various mines of the district have not only influenced, but are the essence of, this chapter of the science."

Jan 1, 1954

By W. K. Gummer

"THE LOCATION of Canada's present aluminum industry is determined by availability of hydroelectric power, and ready access to ocean transport facilities. The chief raw material for the production of the metal is imported by ship over several thousand miles of water. In times of freedom of shipping and uncontested movement this provides the industry with its cheapest method of operation. However, during the early part of the last decade the general conditions of ocean and rail transportation were such that interest in the treatment of materials other than bauxite was greatly stimulated. This was the case not only in Canada, of course, but in most other countries.Canada has no deposits of bauxite and much research was carried out on other aluminous materials, chiefly silicates, in an effort to develop more or less economic and feasible methods of treatment. In the United States, this research was considerably more extensive. Some projects were early shown to be of little or no value, whereas others, including the widely publicized lime-sinter and soda-lime-sinter methods, became important. In North America, however, apart from the application of the sinter method to the hitherto waste-product (red mud) of the normal Bayer plant operation, none of these processes contributed appreciably to the production of aluminum during the war. In certain European countries, on the other hand, largely because of their situation with regard to bauxite deposits, they had a more general application, and Germany, for example, produced alumina from clay, ashes, and slag by at least four methods."

Jan 1, 1952

By O. C. Blade

"INTRODUCTION This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States is a continuation of a series of reports made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Coordinating Fuel Research (CFR) Com¬mittee of the Coordinating Research Council (CFC) 3/ and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. The first of these reports presented data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36. 4/ Further re¬ports were issued describing motor gasolines sold during the succeeding summers and winters to and including the summer of 1941.4/ No reports were made on motor gasolines sold during the winter of l941-42 and during the summer of 1942. However, starting with the winter of 1942-43, the semiannual reports were resumed. The present report presents analytical data for 3,011 samples, representing the products of 113 companies. Most of the samples represented in this report were obtained during July and August 1946. As in previous surveys the companies covered by the survey include both large and small suppliers. Conforming to former reports, the data cover three groups of samples - regular-price, premium-price, and third-grade gasolines.As the number of analyses submitted for samples of third-grade gasoline are not considered adequate to represent this type of motor fuel, data for the analyses have not been averaged, but the individual items are tabulated. The number of samples, items, and brands comprising each group is as follows: Regular-price, 1,585 samples, 311 items, and 99 -brands; premium-price, 1,422 samples, 280 items, and 94 brands; third-grade, 4 samples, 4 items, and 4 brands. The meaning of these terms as used in the survey is as follows:"

Dec 1, 1946

By Roy C. Bartholomae

An accurate characterization of the vibration environment and a vibration qualification test derived from it will be a very useful tool for manufacturers of instrumentation for use on underground coal mining equipment. Recognizing this, the Bureau of Mines sponsored a study wherein vibration levels were measured on mining equipment to form a basis for developing the required vibration test. The data base was composed of 160 samples taken at different positions on a variety of underground machinery. The data were analyzed and presented in a format typical of military vibration qualification tests. The form was shown to be virtually identical to the swept sine test envelope specified in MIL-STD-810B for tracked vehicles.

Jan 1, 1982

By George S. Rice, F. B. LANEY, A. J. Lanza, Edwin Higgins

Under its organic act the Federal Bureau of Mines is directed to conduct investigations relating to the improvement of health conditions in the mineral industries. This report describes the lead and zino deposits and the mining methods employed in the sheet-ground area of the Joplin district, Missouri, and discusses the causes and the methods of abating rock dust in the mines, the chemical and physical characteristics of the dust, and the quantities present in mine air. Although the preliminary investigation included a number of the "soft-ground" mines, the writer spent the larger part of his time in the sheet-ground mines, for in them alone was siliceous dust found in appreciable quantities. Some results of the preliminary investigation have been published by the Bureau of Mines in Technical Paper 105.a The territory covered in t~lCpreliminary investigation, during the period between November 7 and December 6, 1914, embraced parts of Jasper, Lawrence, Newton, and Greene Counties, Mo., and outlying districts in Kansas and Oklahoma. The remainder of the field work, to which 84 days during the period from February 9 to July 19, 1915, were devoted, was confined to the sheet-ground mines, the most important of which are situated in the vicinity of Joplin, Webb City, Carterville, and other smaller near-by towns in Jasper County, Mo.

Jan 1, 1917

By H. Tomlinson

"PURPOSE OF REPORTThe purpose of this report, which is the third of a. series on the coal mines of the Western States, is to give the findings of a study of the causes and methods of prevention of accidents from falls of root and coal in the mines of Lincoln County, Wyo. The three mines covered in this report, referred to as A. B. and C, account- for 9 per cent of the coal production in the county and nearly 9 per cent of the State's total production. For comparative purposes some statistical data are presented bearing upon the relation of injuries to their causes, to tonnage produced, to men employed, to days worked, and to days lost as the result of injuries.FATALITIES IN WYOMINGTo show the necessity for this study, Table 1 given the fatalities that occurred during 1928 in the bituminous—coal mines of the United States, of the State of Wyoming of Lincoln County, and in Mines A, B, and C, followed by a brief description of the Kemmerer coal dis-trict, its coal beds and immediate roof, thickness of cover, dip of coal beds, methods of mining timbering for roof support, roof testing, and supervision. All of these factors must be considered in any plan outlined to prevent accidents resulting from falls of roof and coal.ACKNOWLEDGMENTAcknowledgment is made to the officials of the operating companies for their cooperation and assistance during the study and collection of data to complete this report.GENERAL INFORMATIONLocation and Ownership The mines included in this report are within 18 miles north and south of Kemmerer, Lincoln County, Wyo. (fig. 1), and are owned and operated by various coal companies to supply the domestic, smelter and railroad markets. They are severed by branch lines of the Oregon Shorty Line Railroad Coal production and men employed underground in the three mines are indicated in essential detail in Table 2."

Sep 1, 1932

By O. C. Blade

"INTRODUCTION This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States is a continuation of a series of reports made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Coordinating Fuel Research (CFR) Committee of the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) 3/ and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. The first of these reports presented data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36.4/ Further reports were issued describing motor gasolines sold during the succeeding sum¬mers and winters to and including the summer of 1941.4/ No reports were made on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1941-42 and during the summer of 1942. However, starting with the winter of 1942-43, the semiannual reports were resumed.!The present report presents analytical data for 4,544 samples, represent¬ing the products of 124 companies. The samples represented in this report were obtained during December 19146, January and February 19-(. As in previous surveys, the companies covered Ly the survey include both large and small suppliers. Conforming to former reports, the data cover three groups of samples - regular-price, premium-price, and third-grade gasolines.As the number of analyses submitted for samples of third-grade gasoline are not considered adequate to represent this type of motor fuel, data for the analyses have not been averaged, but the individual items are tabulated. The number of samples, items, and brands comprising each group is as follows: Regular-price, 2,368 samples, 319 items, and 113 brands; premium-price, 2,172 samples, 289 items, and 106 brands; third-grade, 4 samples, 4 items, and 4 brands. The meanings of these terms as used in the surveys are as follows:"

Aug 1, 1947

We wish to congratulate the authors on a fine presentation of a difficult and interesting problem. We fully support the findings that liquid or even mushy center reduction has no place in the production of quality steels. We also agree with the findings, or implications, that internal bar quality is not made in the rolling stands, but in the caster. This is the main reason why Inland caster exclusively uses the submerged casting technique after a few months of familiarization with open casting. The metallurgical advantages of combining in-line reduction with a caster are actually indirect. The use of submerged casting and refining powder permits casting of fine grained aluminum killed steels without resorting to expensive grain refiners and cuts down or eliminates reoxidation during casting. Immersion of a snorkel into a small mold may lead to several operating difficulties. Hence, the presence of in-line reduction enables the section to be cast into a large mold, at high output rates, while obtaining some product size flexibility. The capital and operating costs of a caster-- in-line mill are lower than those of the traditional installation with a separate reheating furnace and billet mill. Admittedly, in-line reduction represents an additional challenge to the steelmaker, maintenance man, and metallurgist.

Jan 1, 1972

By N. Melnyk

IN the past, the Cadomin Coal Company has opened four mines, all in the same coal seam or its folds. Three of these were opened from river level by horizontal entries or rock tunnels, and the fourth, the present working mine, by vertical shafts. This paper deals largely with some operating phases of this fourth mine, with which the writer has been associated. The seam worked here is a thick, steep, bituminous seam, and the writer feels there is a paucity of published data on the mining of such seams. Possible reasons for this are that such seams do not !end themselves to intensive development or mining, there is little chance to mechanize because of the extreme pitch, and operations are fraught with many problems. In addition, the present operations in this particular seam are being carried on at a level below the former workings, introducing new problems, not en-countered on the upper level. Coal will, without question, long continue to be an important factor in the national economy, and some of the best coal is to be found in thick, steep seams. But with the exhaustion of the easily-mined coal near the outcrops, future coal will have to come more and more from lower levels. At Cadomin there is still considerable coal on the second level, below the old river-workings, and there is a possibility that, in the future, still lower levels will be worked. It is the purpose of this paper to indicate some phases of such lower-level operations and to invite discussion.

Jan 1, 1942

By G. L. Oldright

As a rule, the usual zinc retort smelter fired with natural gas made its own burners, of which there might be 300 per block, out of standard pipe fit-tings. The gas was discharged through a feeder pipe at various distances into a cylindrical horizontal "blow hole" through a pillar block and thence into the furnace; the best location of this gas-feeder pipe was at the horizontal central axis of the blow hole; the side entry into the blow hole usually was used. The air entered the same blow hole behind the gas, through a short nipple, in the inner end of which was a constructing orifice in a clay plug; in this ,work cone-shaped funnels of various lengths also were used. Even with the air and gas correctly proportioned to each burner, small differences in their dimensions were found to influence greatly the temperatures reached, their uniformity, and consequently the percentage of zinc extracted. This fourth paper of a series on cooperative work in the zinc retort plants of the Eagle-Picher Mining & Smelting Company discloses the methods and principles followed in approximating closely the optimum dimensions for various burners, with examples from experimental and commercial furnaces showing the interrelation of such dimensions with combustion and temperatures in the furnace.

Jan 1, 1948

By T Dawson, B Haskins

Fatigue is it the newest buzz word or is fatigue a real phenomenon that is creating safety and organisational risk for you? There is no debate that fatigue is natural, and it affects us all, just like gravity; however, there has been much debate on the severity of its impact in the workplace. For many years the impact was not measurable, hidden out of sight and, quite frankly, written off as the infamous ‘operator error’. Over the last several years, advancements in technology have provided safety and health professionals, sleep scientists, fatigue experts and organisations with the ability to monitor and detect fatigue events in real time, as well as predict and monitor increased risk for fatigue events. Caterpillar Safety Services has assembled an extensive and exceptional set of technologies that will provide the best methods and data to measure the impact of fatigue. This paper will discuss fatigue in the workplace and review the technologies and data sets available, which will allow the reader to determine whether this risk is real or rubbish.CITATION:Haskins, B and Dawson, T, 2017. Fatigue risk in your operations – real or rubbish? It actually depends , in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 137–142 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 16, 2017

By Edward W. Parker

IF one is to place any credence at all in the reports published in the daily press, the subject of conservation has been a very lively topic of conversation during the past 60 days, and it does not appear that the temperature of the summer months has been in any way moderated by the discussion. It is a subject in which we are all vitally interested and to which, so far as our mineral resources are concerned, both the Institute and the Geological Survey have liberally contributed. The report of the National Conservation Commission, appointed by President Roosevelt, contains a series of papers on the conservation of mineral resources, all of which were prepared by members of the Geological Survey and were compiled largely from information previously collected by that Federal bureau in the performance of its regular duties. It is not the purpose of this paper to reiterate in extenso any of the material already published. The contributions of the Survey officials to the Commission's report have been published in a separate document as Bulletin No. 394. This docunient is for free distribution and may be obtained upon application to the Director of the Survey. In the preparation of this paper I desire merely to make a few suggestions regarding the possible necessity of some restraint upon or control of one branch of the mining industry with which I have been somewhat closely associated for the past 20 years-that of coal. Most of the members of the Institute are cognizant of the suits brought by the government against the anthracite-operators in Pennsylvania, or the combination of interests commonly known as the ? hard-coal trust." No defense of any illegal combination in restraint of trade is intended, but there are some facts which should not be lost sight of, and unfortu-\

Nov 1, 1909

By Krishna Parameswaran

This paper discusses sustainability considerations in primary copper smelting using selected examples of practices at ASARCO LLC, an integrated U.S. primary copper producer. Using the classic Brundtland Commission definition of sustainable development, i.e., “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” the paper discusses how copper mining and smelting practices can be made sustainable. The examples used to illustrate sustainability considerations include: (1) adoption of flash smelting; (2) emission reduction and process improvement associated with anode refining of blister copper and the converter retrofit project, and (3) preliminary research findings on alkali treatment of copper smelting slags and copper mine tailings.

By Mike Ghassemi

It is clear that precise overground and under-ground mapping is an important factor for all designers. Due to rapid changes in underground construction, tunnel designers are increasingly in need of updating project information. This article explains the latest techniques for detecting under-ground utilities as well as underground mapping. Global Positioning System (GPS) is a very ac-curate and popular navigation and mapping system that has been used extensively above ground, but is not used for underground mapping as signals are not strong enough to pass through ground or water. Most underground techniques were developed for military applications during the first and second world wars. Later, the techniques became public. For example, ground penetrating radar was developed for the military in 1970 to be used for locating tunnels under the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Later, the same technique was used for detecting unexploded ordinance such as plastic land mines.

Jan 1, 2011