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By Sunil Jain, Jan M. Mutmansky

As coal mining evolves in this country, underground coal is being mined at greater depth and under more difficult conditions than in the past. At the same time, economic conditions make it necessary to mine more efficiently and economically. As a result, pressures on mining companies arise on two fronts and make the job of mining coal underground very difficult. Recent improvements that have been made in health, safety and productivity have come about primarily due to improvements in existing technology and better management of all the production resources. However, this trend can continue only so far and thus innovation will be needed to continue the improvement. This paper deals with a concept that, on the surface, appears to be more efficient in terms of the costs to provide ventilation. The resulting design is oriented toward increasing the ventilation efficiency through use of a unidirectional ventilation plan but it also promises to increase recovery and decrease the requirements for development entries. To analyze this ventilation concept, two mine layouts with a similar production schedule were planned in a hypothetical 1.83 m (6 ft) coal seam. The first alternative analyzed uses a traditional approach to ventilation with centrally located shafts and a bidirectional ventilation pattern. Using this system, it is necessary to use large-diameter shafts and a large number of main entries. Using the same assumptions on ventilation requirements, the second alternative utilizes unidirectional ventilation whenever possible, a smaller number of main entries and small-diameter blind-bored shafts in the bleeder areas. The comparative analysis is performed using PSU/TDMVS, a computer network analysis program that is capable of determining the ventilation power requirements at any time in the mine life and converting the costs to a present value. The economic analysis is then completed by including the shaft-sinking and entry-driving costs and the costs associated with the recovery of coal that are directly related to the change in the ventilation system. The results are summarized on a present-value basis.

Jan 1, 1987

By E. A. Kilinski

THE mineral production of Dutch Guiana has been of little consequence. This is due to several rea-sons. Inaccessibility is probably the greatest factor, for the Guianas are off the main commercial route. More or less closely related causes are the tropi-cal climate and the temperament of the inhabitants. Small quantities of gold have come from Dutch Guiana for many years, and recently bauxite has entered the list of exports. It is likely that other minerals may be found in commercial quantities. The Colony is on the northeast coast of South Amer-ica. It is known by two names, that of Dutch Guiana, and that of Surinam. - British Guiana (Demerara) adjoins it on the west, French Guiana (Cayenne) on the east, and Brazil on the south. It covers an area of approximately 58,000 sq. miles. The population, in the. neighborhood of a hundred thousand,, is small, but the variety of races and the sub-sequent mixtures of these is almost incredible. This unusual and colorful population readily falls into three groups, (1) those of the bush, (2) those of the planta-tion, and (3) those of the towns. The bush people con-sist of two groups, the Indians and the bush-negro. The Indians, of whom there are but a little over two thousand, keep entirely to themselves, lead a. very primi-tive existence, and rarely come into the towns. The bush-negro gives the touch of human life to the thick jungles. A descendant of escaped slaves of by-gone days, he is at present a proud, stalwart, happy, clean, moral, carefree and ease-loving individual-a distinct personality. Work is not his pal, although he does cheerfully that which is necessary for his existence. He will transport passengers and goods in his dugout and guide the stranger through the jungles, but that is all. The plantations employ some negroes, but more Javanese, imported as contract labor from the East Indies. Paramaribo, the only large town in Dutch Guiana, is the center of all government, commercial, and social activities. It has a motley population of 40,000, in-cluding negroes native to Dutch Guiana and many from all parts of the West Indies. In addition, there are Javanese, Chinese, and some Hindus. The two latter groups control most of the retail trade. The Dutch and a few scattered Germans are the only Europeans. All of the higher government offices are held by the Dutch, the others are filled from the ranks of the natives. Marriages and intermarriages among these various groups have produced types that defy almost any effort to decipher an individual's forbears. Dutch is the official language, but among the people a jargon known as Tahki-Tahki holds sway. English is taught in the schools, consequently many speak it, and many more can make themselves understood in that language.

Jan 2, 1928

By H. Brandhorst, C. G. Dunn

THE main purpose of the present note is to provide further information on the effect of orientation on strain-induced grain boundary migration in sheet material. A secondary purpose is to draw attention to the presence of a possible (hkl) dependent surface energy driving force, when the two grains of a bicrystal specimen have different (hk2) planes at the gas-metal interface, and to suggest means of eliminating this effect from the strain effect. If two grains A and B of a bicrystal have specific surface energies ? A and ? B respectively, there exists a driving force for grain boundary migration equal to 2(? B - ? A)/t, where t is the thickness of the specimen.' When t is quite small and the residual strain energy densities €A and €B of grains A and B, respectively, adjacent to the boundary are nearly equal, it is possible that the surface effect may be larger than the strain effect. he difference € B - € A gives a driving force per unit area of grain boundary due to an applied strain.)2 However, with increasing t the surface effect decreases while the strain effect presumably remains constant. Therefore, at some sufficiently large value of t, it is possible to ignore surface energy driving forces.* On the other hand, the surface effect is eliminated for all value of t when both grains have the same (hkl) orientation or have identical values of surface energy. Although the previous study provided information on the effect of orientation on strain-induced erain boundary migration,' no orientations with the (100) plane in the plane of the sheet were included. The present paper provides information of this kind. A seed crystal reorientation technique4 was used to prepare a large bicrystal of silicon iron (3 1/4 pct Si) consisting of two (100) grains in the (100) [001] and (100) [Oil] orientations. After a cold rolling strain (7 pct reduction to 3/4 mm final thickness), small specimens were prepared as before2 and then annealed in hydrogen. The boundary migration was such that the grain in the (100) [011] orientation always grew. After overnight anneals at 1100° or 1000°C, none of the initial (100) [001] grain remained. An anneal of 30 min at 950°c, however, provided information on the start of boundary migration. Fig. 1 shows both the initial position (lower line) and the final position (upper curved line) of part of the boundary, as revealed by thermal grooves. In a different area, part of the final boundary was not revealed by thermal grooves; the rate of boundary migration presumably was too high for the growth front to be defined by the time dependent thermal grooving process. In another area there was a vacated intermediate position connected to the initial position of the grain boundary. This indicates that only part of the boundary

Jan 1, 1962

By Pierre Auger, Benoit Levesque, Richard Martel, Guy Sanfacon, Louis-Charles Boutin, Marc-Andre Lavigne, Patrick Brousseau, Luc Trepanier, Louise Galarneau

Explosives used for blasting operations in civil engineering works, like construction of piping systems under roads, of pools, of houses and buildings can generate large volumes of carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide can represent between 1 to 3% of the gases produced by usual explosives. The production of 10 to 24 1 of CO by kg of explosives blasted is theoretically anticipated. CO is a gas that has no characteristic colour, smell or taste. It can migrate in the fractured rock of the blasted areas on fair distances, and then infiltrate in closed spaces like sewage systems, manholes, but also in basements of houses. In Quebec, in the last 10 years, 7 people were poisoned by CO in their houses to the point that they had to be treated in hyperbaric chambers. In the USA, many accidents have occurred and one worker died in a manhole. From the review of intoxication cases, the distance of migration of CO may reach 55 m if a conduit is present underground. Underground conduits broken by blast, tilling around underground conduits in road or house trenches, or fractured rock created by blasts between houses or between a house and a road, are the different pathways identified in the Quebec incidents. Field tests were performed at sites close to CO intoxication locations in order to evaluate the behaviour of CO in fractured rock following blasting operations. From these tests, the following conclusions may be drawn. The structural geology of the rock formation (schistosity, family of joints, fractures) plays a role in the direction and extent of gas migration in fractures generated when rock is blasted with explosives. The confinement of the rock can affect the quantity of gas migrating in the fractured rock. Significant concentrations of CO may persist in the fractured rock even 7 days after a blast. Advection is the initial mechanism of CO migration in fractured rock generated by the blasts or naturally occurring before the blast. The distance of migration with this mechanism is short (5 to 8 m). In trenches of muck (equivalent to tills under roads) the distance of CO migration by advection is 12 to 20 m. In the 2 to 3 days following the blasts, further CO migration up to 15 m is made by diffusion in the induced fractures, or up to 30 m in the trenches. To minimise CO production and migration in the fractured rock during blasting, special procedures can be applied by the blasting contractors: (1) do the complete excavation of the overburden before drilling and put mats for each blast; (2) do the complete excavation of the muck after each blast; (3) the last blasting should be the one for the private services entrance of the house and the excavation of the muck should begin at the junction between the road trench and the services entrance trench. Another technique consists in the pumping of interstitial air in the muck with a vacuum truck immediately after each blast.

Jan 1, 2002

By Nicholas J. Grant, H. C. Chang

EMPHASIS on the importance of grain boundary sliding as a mode of deformation at elevated temperatures has been presented elsewhere.' The extent to which boundary sliding occurs under certain creep conditions has been determined for high purity aluminum2,3 and aluminum alloys.' In general, boundary deformation extends quite far into the adjoining grains, resulting in a rather wide band of deformation along the grain boundaries. This has led some investigators to doubt that grain boundary sliding consists of shearing along the boundary surface; it has been contended instead that boundary sliding is a result of concentrated slip in the neighborhood of the deformed grain boundaries."' The purpose of this note is to present evidence that grain boundary sliding takes place by a bulk shear process. gh purity polycrystalline aluminum, wherever and whenever there is grain boundary sliding, boundary migration and concentrated deformation along both sides of the deformed boundary are associated with it. Therefore, it has been rather difficult to obtain unambiguous evidence of boundary sliding. On the other hand, it would be expected in certain alloys of aluminum, when tested under particular conditions. that the severity of the interfering effects of boundary migration and concentrated deformation along the deformed boundary might be reduced. Current research in this laboratory' shows that a 20 pct Zn-A1 solid solution alloy fractures in an intercrystalline manner during creep at 500°F with a small total elongation of not more than about 14 pct, and that it does so with extremely limited grain boundary migration. Accordingly, this alloy was chosen for the present study. The experimental procedure was similar to that used in previous work and has been presented elsewhere.' Two parallel flat surfaces were milled from a round specimen. The gage portion of the specimen was 1 in. x .09 in. x .17 in. The specimens, which were annealed at 1030°F for 24 hr, showed two to four grains across the width of the test bar. The specimens were subjected to creep at 500°F at stresses of 2000 to 5000 psi. The rupture times were from 10 sec to 3 hr. Appreciable boundary sliding occurred in all the tests. A typical example of boundary sliding is shown in Fig. 1. (The tension axis is vertical in the micrographs.) Sliding has taken place along the boundary between grains A and B unaccompanied by important boundary migration. The sharpness of the offset at the triple point can be clearly seen in grain C. As a result of sliding along the boundary between grains A and B, a new boundary surface between grains A and C was created. The offset at the triple point is about 0.07 mm. This boundary sliding is accompanied by the formation of rather sharp kinking bands and, of course, slip on several slip systems in grain C. This type of deformation has been referred to as fold formation' in previous work with high purity aluminum.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. W. Jang, I. Iwasaki

Introduction Grinding ball wear in wet grinding is due to a complex combination of abrasion, corrosion, impact and their interactions. The ball charge is continually falling from a height greater than half of the ball mill's diameter, and contact is made with ore particles or other balls. Abrasive wear occurs through penetration and plowing of media materials from the ball surface by hard ore particles (Gangopadhyay and Moore, 1985). Electrochemical interactions between the abraded and unabraded areas of the ball surfaces, as well as between the grinding media and the minerals, occur in grinding mill pulps (Adam et al., 1986). The wear depends on the media composition, the hardness and the corrosive/abrasive characteristics of the slurry. The marked-ball-wear test method was used to evaluate the performance of grinding media under nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres. Also, the wear mode was studied by observing the grinding media surface under a scanning electron microscope. In general, grinding media of high hardness and high chromium contents were found to have better corrosive wear resistance than those of low hardness and low chromium contents (Jang, Iwasaki and Moore, 1988). The purpose of this investigation was to determine the size distribution and the shape of wear debris in a study of the wear rates and wear behaviors of grinding balls. Experimental Materials The grinding ball alloys used in this investigation were: •martensitic stainless steel (MSS; 0.96% C and 16.2% Cr), •high-carbon, low-alloy steel (HCLA; 0.89% C and 0.53% Cr), and •mild steel (MS; 0.22% C and 0.09% Cr). The mineral used in this study was synthetic corundum, because it was on hand and contained no magnetic impurities. Debris A 203- mm (8-in.) diam porcelain mill was used for grinding the corundum. The mill charge consisted of: •1200 g of 12-grit synthetic corundum, •770 mL of 0.05 mole/L Na2SO4 (61% solids), and •125 steel balls of nominally 25-mm (1-in.) diam. To minimize the debris corrosion, nitrogen was introduced into the mill. Grinding with MSS, HCLA-steel or MS balls was conducted for 2 hr at 51 rpm. The grinding time using the MS ball was varied from 0.5 hr to 2 hr in an attempt to study the debris amount and shape as a function of time. The debris was collected with a hand magnet from the ground slurry and separated from the corundum particles using a Davis magnetic tube. After the separation, the debris particles were immediately washed with acetone and then filtered and dried. Debris size analysis Buckbee-Mears 3-in.-diam, micro-mesh sieves and an electromagnetic shaker were used for determining the debris size distribution. In sieving, isopropyl alcohol was used. The debris fraction collected from each sieve was washed with acetone, dried and then weighed on an analytical balance. [ ]

Jan 1, 1993

By E. P. Valby

A method is presented in which the hydrocarbon weight fractional analyses of the well effluents from a true gas-tip-portion well and a true dark-oil-ring well furnish the basic data for determining the properties of any mixture of production from the two sources. The effect of injected gas on these properties can be computed. Comparison of similar properties of a given well effluent to the properties of mixtures of the basic well effluents will give the relative amounts of production from the two sources and injected gas. Presentation of Problem Oil fields having an area of gas-cap, or light-oil production, over the dark-oil area present a problem of increasing gas-oil ratios during the production of an oil well. The use of pressure maintenance in a field such as above, or a cycling project, wherein residue gas from an absorption plant is injected into the reservoir, adds to the problem, because a part of the increased gas-oil ratio may be due to the production of injected gas. The usefulness of a means to determine the amount of injected gas in a well effluent led to the development of a method in which well-effluent analyses of a true gas-cap-portion well and a true dark-oil-ring well furnish the basic data needed to determine whether injected gas of a known composition is present in a given well effluent. Development op Method The method presented herein is based upon the principle that if two fluids, or well effluents, having different properties are mixed in known proportions by weight, • the properties of their mixtures can be computed. Conversely, if these basic data are known, the properties of a mixed well effauent can be used to compute the relative amounts of each type of well effluent in the mixture. A convenient way of making these computations is to have the fractional analyses of the base well effluents and mixtures expressed in weight fractions The mathematical equations expressing the properties of mixtures will be developed for a two-component system consisting of the well effluents from the dark-oil ring and the gas-cap area. The added effect of injected gas, a third component, will also be developed. The following assumptions have been made in developing the method: 1. The gas-cap and dark-oil fluids exist initially in separate portions of the reservoir. 2. The fluids in each portion exist in a single phase at pressures above the saturation pressure for the dark-oil fluid. 3. The composition of each fluid is substantially constant throughout its respective portion of the reservoir. 4. Changes in reservoir pressure and temperature will not change the composition of the fluid entering the well bore. 5. The injected gas displaces original gas-cap fluid 100 per cent. •• 6. AS the injected gas travels through a

Jan 1, 1945

By J. Philip Neal, Carroll P. Rogers

Feldspars, the most abundant minerals of the igneous rocks, occur in numerous forms and mixtures. The feldspars of commercial significance are found in widely distributed pegmatites as large crystals usually free of iron- bearing impurities and thus suitable for hand-cobbing, and also in larger bodies where the ore contains various types of feldspar inter- mingled with quartz and relatively free of iron- bearing impurities, or at least readily unlocked from impurities present at relatively coarse mesh. The latter type of ore includes some pegmatites, and the ''alaskite" bodies so common in the Spruce Pine district of North Carolina. On the west coast of the U.S. and in Oklahoma there is-r has been--commercial recovery of natural feldspathic sand as a source of alumina in glass and ceramics. "Aplite" in commercial terminology is a light-colored igneous rock with a granitic composition and a fine sugary texture, often banded with readily removable iron impurities. Two areas in Virginia produce aplite for the glass industry: one located in the vicinity of Piney River, Amherst County, and the other near Montpelier in Hanover County. According to Deer et al. (1966) the word feldspar derives from the Swedish feldt or falt (field) and "spath:" chunks of rock appearing in tilled ground overlying granite. Castle and Gillson (1960) indicate a Germanic origin, citing "spat," which is said to refer to any transparent or translucent material which is readily cleavable. The term "spar" has in the past been applied to minerals other than feld- spar, such as barite, calcite, and fluorite. It is correct to call the latter "fluorspar." There is a true barium feldspar, but it is rare and of no present economic importance. What is recognized as feldspar or "spar" by present producers and consumers consists of three silicate minerals which, if pure, would have the formu- las KAISi,O, (microcline or orthoclase), NaAlSi,O, (albite), and CaAl,Si,O, (anorthite). These are almost never found in pure form in nature, but occur together in great abundance in a three-component system. A considerable number of different combined ratios of these three exists, with the exception that isomorphism between potassium spar and calcium spar is very limited. User specifications for feldspar products are largely built around the prevalent naturally occurring ratios. Pas- sages following will refer to "K-spar," "Na- spar," or "Ca-spar." Nomenclature and Descriptive Terms Relating to both the mineralogy and the economics of feldspar are certain terms whose coverage it is useful to specify. Commercially, aplite is a feldspathic rock mined and beneficiated in two locations in Virginia, in which both titanium and feldspar minerals are present-the latter now being the major, if not the only, economic product. Technically, the term aplite when applied to this rock is of questionable accuracy. But, in light of accepted commercial usage, the term will be here used to designate it. Regarding the Virginia rock, Ross (1941) is cited.

Jan 1, 1975

By Paul H. Rydlund

Substantial priming was a considered necessity for proper initiation of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixes as ANFO began to carve its niche in the mining industry in the latter fifties. Heavy priming accompanied the introduction of prills and oil to many blasting operations, large charges of high explosives were commonly used at the bottom, top and frequent intervals throughout the column. As the quality of ammonium nitrate improved and operators became more experienced, primer costs began to diminish. Increased experimentation continued with reduced primer costs a main objective. Cast primers were introduced and became accepted as an excellent companion for ANFO. Although the trend toward larger diameter boreholes became increasingly popular, emphasis on lower and lower priming costs continued. A primer was simply required to produce any type of initiation within the ANFO column to be considered adequate. Suddenly ANFO priming had digressed from excessive to marginal. Early experimental data from test site and laboratory indicated that ANFO had a tendency to react inefficiently in the initiation region of the column unless substantially primed. This was evidenced by the presence of unstable reaction rates detected with newly developed detonation velocity measuring equipment. These low order or "transient" velocities were believed to originate because of inadequate primer strength or a primer diameter to column diameter mismatch. However, the nature of this experimental work was generally confined to small diameter column charges detonated in iron pipe simulated bore-holes. It was questionable whether the smaller scale laboratory data was applicable to large 12 1/4 and 15-in. boreholes.

Jan 3, 1973

Pyrrhotite is pyrophoric when in a finely divided form. The problems of disposing of large quantities of finely divided pyrrhotite separated out by metallurgical processing from ore are formidable. In the case of an underground mine, a solution to the problem of disposal is to place the pyrrhotite in the stoped out areas and seal from any air supply. Further, the pyrrhotite could be diluted with tailings which would reduce the possibility of combust- ion. Several enquiries to various centres and authorities have shown that the products of the slow oxidation of pyrrhotite with moisture present can cement an inert matrix into a stable fill similar in physical prop- erties to fill stabilised with Portland cement. Stabilised fill can be used to advan tage with a suitable mining method to provide high recovery. The investigation demonstrated that air and 15% w/w water must be present for the fill to harden and that the sizing of the particles is a critical factor in drainage of a hydraul- ically placed fill and subsequent even harden- ing of the fill in a stope. With the materials used in the experiments in which the - 51 micron component of the tailings had been dis- carded, an optimum mix was found to contain 4:1 tailings/slag ratio and an overall pyrr hotite concentration of 8% (all proportion by weight). Approximately 34 days after drain- age to 15% moisture in natural air flow condit- ions, an unconfined compressive strength of 1.862 MPa was attained. A subsequent experi- ment was conducted with a sample of optimum mix in a pipe one metre long in forced air flow conditions. At a superficial velocity of 3.Om per hour the mix required 155 hours to harden to 1.862 MPa after drainage to 15% w/w moisture content. The pressure drop bet- ween the top and bottom of the mix in the pipe remained constant at 9 KPa/metre length. This result suggests that forced air flow conditions will increase the rate of hardening. No dangerous effluents were detected in the course of the experiments which could affect mine equipment or personnel.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. C. Miller

THE gas-lift method of flowing oil from wells is the outstanding feature of petroleum technology today. Its forerunner, the air lift, was used successfully first, in the Baku fields of Russia, in 1899, and later in the Gulf Coast fields of Texas and Louisiana and the Kern River field of California. It is still used to a limited extent in certain oil fields. The use of compressed natural gas for lifting oil from wells has supplanted the air-lift method in a measure in those fields where a sufficient quantity of gas accompanies the oil to make the gas lift possible, or where natural gas is plentiful and inexpensive. We find therefore in California, that, natural gas is used at practically every well where a gaseous medium is employed to flow the oil. The use of natural gas has many advantages over that of air. It is possible to recover and save the gasoline from the gas that accompanied the oil to the surface. This gasoline would be wasted if air were used as the lifting medium. Also, certain proportions of air and gas form an explosive mixture that cannot be handled safely by compressors. Another advantage that gas has over air is that gas under pressure is more soluble in oil. Gas in solution in oil reduces the viscosity of the oil that is being produced and causes it to flow more readily through the. tubing and flow lines. The gas lift has made it possible to recover many thousands of barrels of oil from deep wells in California that could not have been produced otherwise. It would not have been economical, had it been mechanically possible to produce such wells as the world's deepest producing oil well (Miley Athen's No. 6, Rosecranz field, California) by any other method of pumping known today. At this well, production is obtained from between 7305 and 7591 ft. and 11 months after completion of the well, production was being maintained on the gas lift it approximately 2000 bbl. a month. The crookedness of the hole, or its diameter and depth will not prevent the successful application of gas-lift pumping when other conditions are favorable.

Jan 1, 1927

By P Mikula, R Geranmayeh, R Carlton, M Ferguson, R Whiting

The concept of using specially designed slot blasts to mine through stress abutments that intersect faults, while controlling fault-slip seismicity, has come of age at Mt Charlotte Mine. Due to the high and adverse stress field and the presence of major faults, the mine is vulnerable to significant fault-slip seismicity. As mining proceeded, advancing stress abutments around various mined areas encroached on several major subvertical faults. If the sequence formed a diminishing pillar between stope and fault, the removal or failure of that pillar daylighted the fault, and often resulted in significant fault-slip seismicity. A new strategy called ‘Tight Slot Blasting’ (TSB) was developed to restrain or dampen this style of fault-slip movement. The TSB has geometric similarities to a conventional cut-off slot used to create stress shadows, but its function is different. Its objective is to trigger and control a sudden shift of the stress state on a fault from an initial stable state, through an unstable transition, to a second stable state. A TSB firing advances a long tall narrow slot through a stressed abutment between a stope void and a nearby fault, using a rapid blast with a low swell ratio, so that the slot substantially and rapidly fills with blasted rock fragments. During the blast process, the stressed rock is rapidly removed and transformed into the fragmented rock fill in the slot. The strategy deliberately allows a fault-slip episode to manifest at a chosen time and place. The tight-packed broken rock in the slot performs an essential shock-absorbing function by controlling the slip amount and rate on the fault, while at the same time the fill becomes compacted by the movement. This controls the dissipation of fault-slip energy, and greatly reduces the seismic response in time and space. A small closure across the slot occurs, with consequent relaxation and destressing of the adjacent rock mass. Stress monitoring data shows that slot creation lowers the abutment stress in the nearby rock mass, while the newly placed fragmented rock fill acts as a shock absorber, providing considerable resistance to substantial fault-slip movement that otherwise could deliver a significant seismic event. First used in 2007, the strategy has been refined to become a routine specialised practice for management of seismically hazardous situations at Mt Charlotte, with 12 successful TSBs conducted to date. Despite mining through multiple high stress abutments, seismic reactions have not exceeded ML 2.1 with any TSB firing, all remaining below the site tolerable maximum of ML 2.3. This paper presents an overview of the strategy, and five case examples of the strategy in critical stressed areas in July 2016, Sept 2017, Dec 2017 and two in Oct 2020. The strategy has successfully managed the seismicity and is expected to remain an essential part of the seismic management plan at Mt Charlotte Mine.

Nov 29, 2022

By L. Adler

When systematically compared to other engineering fields, mining engineering is distinctive in 1) having a total systems concern. 2) dealing with encumbered space and 3) requiring full spectrum practice. The total systems concern results from having to design and then co-ordinate in space and time several major systems: excavating and bulk handling, ground control, life support and normal support. This requirement favors a generalist rather than a specialist approach. In coping with encumbered space especially in underground coal mining, the uncertainties of geologic conditions are compounded by tightness, roughness, remoteness and hazards. Into this difficult setting the total systems * complex is "stuffed," adding congestion and interference. Because of significant ground deterioration a flexible "rapid in-out" approach is usually vital to mining. Full spectrum practice arises from the need to manage, as well as to plan and design, a labor intensive operation. Since market conditions can also fluctuate most aspects of administration are needed in many respects, mining engineering functions relative to civil engineering in a way similar to industrial to mechanical engineering, with encumbered space being crucial. On this basis stress is placed on: 1) personal relations, 2) field work and 3) entrepreneurship, viewing time as money. Specific recommendations for improving engineering, safety and management and leadership are made. Since most new deposits are marginal, by applying these recommendations with high technology they could possibly now be mined on a widespread basis.

Jan 1, 1985

By J. W. Jamieson

"The future of the marine mining industry is tied to the resource potential of the seafloor. Everything from economic feasibility, policy decisions and environmental impact assessments to extraction techniques and mining tool design rely on an understanding of the size, composition, and distribution of the deposits. Development and regulatory decisions must ultimately be tied to not only the grade and tonnage estimates of individual deposits or groups of deposits, but also an understanding of the uncertainty of these estimates. Here, we will discuss how seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposit grades and tonnages are evaluated, and the sources of the uncertainties associated with these values.TONNAGE UNCERTAINTYFirst-order tonnage (size) estimates for SMS deposits are primarily determined from calculating the volumes of material that occurs as positive bathymetric features on the seafloor. The extent of sulfide mineralization on the seafloor can be determined either from visual surveys (camera-tow, remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), or human-occupied submersible surveys) or from volume calculations of bathymetric features identified from digital elevation models of the seafloor, or a combination of both methods. For bathymetric models to be used to identify deposits in the absence of visual groundtruthing, data resolution of 1 m or less is generally required to confidently identify a feature as being hydrothermal in origin (as opposed to a volcanic or tectonic feature), and therefore near-bottom multibeam data acquisition (e.g., using autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs) or remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is required (Fig. 1). Specific characteristics of bathymetric features, such as shape, slope angles and surface roughness can be used to identify features of hydrothermal origin (Fig. 1). However, so far, bathymetric features mapped at a resolution of ~1 m cannot be relied upon to unambiguously distinguish a sulfide mound, and the additional use of multiple AUVmounted sensors, such as magnetometers, which can be used to detect hydrothermal upflow zones, or self-potential sensors, which detect electrical fields related to the oxidation of sulfide minerals, can increase the confidence that a bathymetric feature is indeed a sulfide body, without the need for expensive and time-consuming visual surveys (c.f. Petersen et al., this volume)."

Jan 1, 2017

By Klara Kodrikova, Vera Kasparkova, Michaela Uhlirova, Karel Kolomaznik

"Potentially hazardous wastes from leather industry (blue shavings) are processed into various biostimulators within two steps. The first step takes place at high pH (11-12) and hydrolyzation is implemented with potassium alkali, in the second step the pH is lowered to 9 with phosphoric acid after enzymatic dechromation occurs. The resulting hydrolyzates were analyzed in the sense of molecular weight distribution and tested as biostimulators on rape (Brassica napus). The hydrolyzates can be also directly used as universal NPK fertilizers. It has been proved that the nitrate content in the edible parts of tested vegetables (radish, lettuce, and cucumber) was approximately 200 times lower compared to the vegetables fertilized with an inorganic nitrogen fertilizer. The harvests of vegetables fertilized with the hydrolyzate and the inorganic nitrogen fertilizer were almost the same.IntroductionDuring processing raw hide into leather (tanning processes), only 20% of the collagen material is used for the final product. The remaining 80% ends up as waste, both tanned and non-tanned. Non-tanned waste such as calcimine can be used for production of artificial collagen casings for sausages, gelatine and also in pharmaceutical industry as collagen capsulates. Further processing and recycling of tanned leather waste (especially chrome shavings) is more complicated. Although many technologies producing various quality collagen hydrolyzates have been developed and tested in laboratories, few have been implemented on industrial scale. A promising turn came in the works of ERRC USDA [1,2]. They worked out an enzymatic dechromation technology (hydrolysis) and achieved a considerable decrease of the amount of relatively expensive proteolytic enzyme, which solved the difference between the quality and price of the final product. The American experience of enzymic hydrolysis were applied on industrial scale in the Czech Republic, where a plant was built with daily processing capacity of 3 tons of chrome shavings. The experience of real operation was published in [3] and the cooperation between the Czech Republic and USA partners resulted in a patent [4]. The main asset of the patent was the use of volatile organic bases in the hydrolysis process giving high quality and cheap hydrolyzates with low ash content."

Jan 1, 2008

By T. Kimura, H. Ohba

"Much effort has been made to reduce the energy requirement in zinc electrowinning. In order to keep energy consumption low, either to make cell voltage low or current .efficiency high is necessary. Decrease of cell voltage practically depends on how to reduce ohmic resistance in the electrolyte and the anode crust. To realize these, new concept was proposed and the pilot plant has been operated. The space between a cathode and an anode is halved by utilizing the frame insulator. With these frames the anodes and cathodes compose of a unit of electrodes, and this unit is handled by newly designed electrode handling machine (E.H.M.). The process includes lifting up electrodes, expanding the space between a cathode and an anode, cleaning them, stripping the deposited zinc and returning the unit to the cell. As a result, cell voltage is kept as low as calculated and predictable energy reduction has been achieved. IntroductionIn the recent trend of a rapid appreciation of the Japanese yen, Akita Zinc Refinery of Mitsubishi Metal Corporation has been confronted by problems of relatively high operating costs. In order to compete with other overseas zinc refineries, it is necessary to reduce the cost of zinc production, especially the cost of electric power which now accounts for .up to 35 % of the entire cost of production. Three fourth of the electric power used at Akita Zinc Refinery is for the electrolysis. Therefore it is extremely important to reduce the cost of electrolysis.There are two possible measures for solving the problem; one is to use more nighttime electricity taking the advantage of its inexpensive power price, and the other is to reduce electric power consumption.As a part of a rationalization plan carried out in 1986, Akita Zinc Refinery increased the number of operating cells. As a result, when nighttime electricity is used, the silicone rectifier has been able to operate at full capacity. Moreover, by new schemes of ""increase of area for electrodeposition by ralslng the liquid level of electrolyte"" and ""increase of the number of electrodes in each cell"", current density could be lowered and as a result, the electric power consumption has been improved. In order to raise nighttime ratio even higher, installation of an additional rectifier and cells would be required."

Jan 1, 1988

Jan 1, 1967

By Sirayanone S, Rashad MZ

An important problem occurring in the iron and steel industry of Egypt is the presence of manganese oxide and chlorine with different percentages in the Bahariya Iron Ore Deposit, Western Desert, Egypt. In this work we used a geostatistical method known as the Volume- Variance Relationship to predict grade fluctua- tions of Fe% , Mn% and Cl% in the ore after blasting a certain volume from the ore deposit, on the other hand, if we have a certain limit for each of these chemical components, we can select the bench blasting dimension to give these limits.

Jan 1, 1986

By V. D. Perry

Mineralized breccia pipes, because of their widespread occurrence and close structural relations to some of the world's great ore bodies, are objects of unusual interest for mining engineers and geologists. The literature contains many references to them, but it is questionable whether their genetic significance and economic importance have been sufficiently emphasized. The purpose here is to stress these features, relating them to the field facts, for the particular benefit of younger generations of geologists who, confronted with and sometimes confused by the growing flood of geochemical, geophysical, and other specialized research approaches, may be reassured that mappable field relations remain a foremost guide to a better understanding of ore deposits. A mineralized breccia pipe is a pre-mineral, breccia structure which has controlled the circulation and deposition of subsequently introduced mineralization. It is composed of relatively rotated angular or rounded rock fragments, set in a mineralized matrix. A pipe in plan outline may be circular, oval or approach polygonal form, with a steep to vertical axis proportionately much greater than its horizontal dimensions. The pipe is a steeply plunging, chimneylike mass of brecciated rock cemented with later minerals. Rock breaks in a variety of ways and complete fragmentation often occurs without rotation of individual pieces. A finely broken rock mass may fit into a tight jig-saw pattern, each fragment having mutually concordant boundaries with its neighbors. The result is a stockwork of innumerable reticulating cracks that, once cemented by mineralization, forms a complicated intersecting network of individually insignificant but collectively important seams and veinlets. Stockwork fracturing among its many forms takes the shape of domes of subsidence, fracture pipes, and related peripheral zones around and over breccia columns, or a combination of any of these structures. The significance of the mineralized breccia pipe is that it represents the extreme or climactic expression of a structural type which has a variety of mutations including subsidence domes, fracture pipes, and other stockwork zones all with related ancestry and similar to dissimilar characteristics. These allied and associated structures hold an answer to the fundamental question of the origin of many important ore deposits. CANANEA-TYPE LOCALITY FOR BRECCIA PIPES The Cananea district is characterized by an unusual development of mineralized breccia pipes. It is an important copper producer located in Sonora, Mexico, a short distance southwest of Bisbee, Arizona, and at the southerly limit of the great porphyry copper belt of the southwestern U.S. Cananea's rocks consist of Paleozoic quartzite and limestone capped unconformably by a thick series of volcanics including andesitic flows, tuffs, and agglomerates. These rocks have been intruded by a deep-seated granite with related basic and acid differentiates including dikes and plugs of quartz mon-zonite porphyry. Mineralization coincides with a northwesterly trending belt of these intrusives which break upward into and through the sedimentary-volcanic rock sequence. The district has weakly defined tectonic alignments in a northwesterly direction with subordinate intersecting fracture elements, but lacks important faulting or fissuring to provide throughgoing avenues for the upward circulation of mineralizing fluids. Thus, as will be discussed in subsequent paragraphs, the alternate way in which late magmatic and hydro-thermal derivatives of the parent magma reached the near-surface zone was by excavating their own breccia pipe channelways. There are numerous stages of breccia pipe development, related both in time and space to magmatic activity. A compilation of similarities and differences in various pipes suggests that proximity or remoteness of a demonstrable or inferred magmatic source provides an orderly genetic basis for describing the following representative types. Cananea Duluth Type: There are no intrusive rocks within or close to the Cananea Duluth pipe; therefore, the existence of any deep-seated magma that may have been related to its formation must be inferred. The structure is an oval-shaped ring 1200 x 300 ft in plan dimensions, cutting steeply across low angle, bedded tuffs, and other volcanics; it has been developed by drill holes to a depth of 2000 ft below the surface. The ore follows the periphery of the pipe and is composed of intensely brecciated rock which is cemented by minor galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, quartz, carbonates, and adularia. There is a definite vertical zoning of sulfides with less galena, continuing sphalerite, and increasing chalcopyrite at deeper levels. Within the interior of the ore ring, the brecciation becomes progressively weaker and coarser, the whole indicating relatively gentle slumping with broken, thin tuff beds pre-

Jan 1, 1961

By Christine M. Kammer

In 1852, six barrels of iron ore were loaded aboard the steamer Baltimore at Marquette, MI, after a trip by mule wagon from the nearby Cleveland Iron Mining Co. Shipped to Sault Ste. Marie, they were portaged around rapids and reloaded onto another ship for the final journey to the steel mills of Cleveland. In 1855, the same company-the predecessor of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.-chartered the brigantine Columbia to carry the first iron-ore cargo through the newly opened Soo locks. In 1981, about 2,190 iron-ore shipments in the form of taconite pellets were transported by water from US Great Lakes-ports. The total volume during the 284-day shipping season was 63 Mt (62 million It). Counting Canadian ship¬ments, almost 76 Mt (75 million It) of iron ore were moved on the lakes last year. The five Great Lakes-Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario-contain 20% of the world's fresh water. The area surrounding the lakes has 26% of the nation's populations, 47% of its steel production, and over 80% of the raw materials required to make steel. That figure includes 71% of the country's iron ore and 40% of its limestone. Only the availability of low-cost water transportation of raw materials has kept the heartland steel producers competitive. Iron ore shipped on the lakes originates in the Lake Superior district's Mesabi and Marquette iron ranges. Major mines and their principal partners are Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.'s Empire, Republic, and Tilden; Armco and Republic's Reserve Mining Co.; Oglebay Norton Co.'s Eveleth; Hanna Mining Co.'s National and Butler; Inland Steel Co.'s Minorca; Pickands Mather & Co.'s Erie and Hibbing, the latter operated in conjunction with Bethlehem Steel Corp.; and US Steel Corp.'s Minntac. Pelletized ore products at these facilities is shipped through seven principal ports on the upper lakes: Duluth, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Taconite Harbor, MN; Superior, WI, and Marquette, MI, on Lake Superior; and Escanaba, MI, on Lake Michigan. In 1981, tonnage volumes ranged from 13.3 Mt (13.1 million It) shipped from Duluth, to Marquette's total of 5.4 Mt (5.3 million It). The ore docks, with two exceptions, are operated by railroads, most of which are owned by mining companies. Table 1 illustrates US iron-ore shipments in 1981. In the lower lakes, ore is discharged at dock facilities close to the great steel-producing centers of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Between the mines and mills, lakes and connecting waterways form one of the country's most effective transportation systems. Each year, vessels on the Great Lakes transport about 181 Mt (200 million st) of bulk industrial and agricultural materials-a greater quantity at a lower cost than can be achieved by any other transportation mode. Major commodities in Great Lakes trade are iron ore, coal, grain, limestone, cement, sand, and petroleum products. About 125 US flag vessels serve this trade, among them 13 "1,000-

Jan 10, 1982