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By L. V. Gregor, C. F. Aliotta, P. Balk

The structure of silicon surfaces, thermally oxi&zed in dry oxygen and in steam, was studied using the electron microscope. It was found that the structure on the original (etched) surface is retained at the outer surface of the oxide, whereas the oxide-silicon interface is smoothed out considerably. This supports the idea that, both in oxygen and in steam, the oxidation reaction occurs at the oxide-silicon interface. Mechanical damage of the original silicon surface affects the rate of oxidation. It also changes the chemical properties of the oxide, as shown by the enhanced rate of etching in buffered HF at the locations of damage. However, the oxide at the originally damaged surfaces still exhibits a high electrical breakdown strength. Exposure of thermal oxides to P205 or BzOs vapor, which will yieldphospho- or borosilicate layers, results in complete annihilation of all fine structure on the surface. Reaction of silicon with C02 gives a surface film which probably does not consist of pure SiO,. THERMAL oxidation of silicon yields uniform and strongly adhering oxide films which are normally amorphous and continuous. Contamination and surface imperfections have been reported to cause local crystallization and the formation of pinholes."' The parabolic-rate law of film growth observed by several workers for the oxidation both in steam and in dry oxygen at higher temperatures suggests that diffusion of one or more reactants through the oxide is the rate-deter mining step. One of the dif-fusants is an oxygen species and oxide is continuously formed at the oxide-silicon interface. This was concluded for high-pressure steam oxidation by Ligenza and spitzer5 from an infrared-absorption study of the isotopic exchange of oxygen. Jorgensen arrived at the same conclusion for the oxidation in dry oxygen by measuring during oxidation the resistance change between silicon and a porous platinum marker electrode in the oxide. Recently, Pliskin and Gnall' reported similar conclusions concerning the growth mechanism from controlled etch studies using a phosphosilicate marker. The work communicated in the present paper was aimed at studying oxide growth on locally damaged silicon substrates and relating it to the chemical behavior and electrical breakdown properties of the films. Since etched and oxidized silicon surfaces normally appear to be very smooth when examined by optical microscopy except for some occasional pits, it was decided to use the electron microscope as a tool. In this way, the detection of surface roughness and damage on a scale comparable to or smaller than the thickness of the film is possible. Also, the microstructure of the original substrate surface constitutes a built-in marker which represents a minimum of perturbation to the growing oxide layer, and no foreign material is introduced. Thus information on surface reactions and additional evidence on the location of oxide formation in steam and in oxygen could be obtained. EXPERIMENTAL Electron micrographs7 were obtained using a Philips EM100 electron microscope. Collodion surface replication was used since this is a nondestructive technique and thus permits replicating the same surface at different stages of processing. In order to establish the effect of different treatments it was found essential to make successive observations of the same area by using a reference point. Reference points were conveniently provided by scribing a small v mark on the original surface with a silicon carbide tip. This procedure yields damaged and damage-free areas near the reference point. Upon replication, the samples were thoroughly cleaned before subjecting them to the next process step. Mechanically lapped silicon wafers (Dow-Corning, 100 ohm-cm p-type, cut perpendicular to the (111) direction) were chemically polished in a rotating beaker with a mixture of 1 part HF (48 pct), 2 parts glacial acetic acid, and 3 parts HNO3 (70 pct) by volume. This procedure yields a smooth surface with a faint "orange peel'' structure due to a "ripple" less than 20002i deep. Oxidation in steam or oxygen was carried out in an Electroglas tube furnace. Steam oxidations were always preceded and followed by a brief exposure to oxygen at the same temperattre. The thicknesses of the oxide films under 3000A were determined with a Rudolph Model 436-2003 ellipsometer,' whereas those over 3000A were measured using the VAMFO technique. In the present study, a solution of 300 g of N&F in 25 ml HF (48 pct) and 450 ml water was used to detect areas of increased chemical reactivity in the

Jan 1, 1965

By H. Y. Jennings

An extensive field and laboratory experimental program was carried out to compare the waterflood behavior of carefully preserved soft and unconsolidated cores with measurements on the same cores after extraction. Results obtained from using idealized consolidated and unconsolidated porous media in which wettability could be carefully controlled were contrasted with the preserved core data. The controlled tests on idealized porous media investigated the effect of wettability, flood rate, core length, core permeability and consolidation on the displacement of high viscosity oils. It was concluded from these studies that waterfloods are more favorable when carried out with crude oil in preserved soft and unconsolidated cores than with the same cores after they have been extracted and re-saturated. Waterfloods are usually more favorable when carried out with crude oil in extracted .soft and unconsolidated cores than with refined oil of the .same viscosity in the same cores. The less favorable behavior of extracted soft and unconsolidated cores compared to preserved cores is due to alteration of the core by extraction. Preserved cores saturated with native water and oil should be used for laboratory displacement experiments because they more accurately reflect true reservoir behavior INTRODUCTION The demand for low gravity crude oil created by refinery modernization has focused attention on increasing the production of this viscous crude oil. Billions of barrels are in place in fields that are depleted, or nearly depleted, by primary production mechanisms. Since low gravity reservoirs are relatively recent, geologically, the solid matrix material is usually soft and unconsolidated sand. Such formations are also characterized by a high clay content. Evaluation of sophisticated oil recovery processes with the associated high capital investments has increased the demand for special core analysis tests on material from these soft and unconsolidated sand reservoirs. Data in this paper have resulted from an extensive field and laboratory experimental program. The initial objective vras to provide soft and unconsolidated sand cores for laboratory measurements with as little alteration as possible from their reservoir condition. A secondary objective was to compare the waterflood behavior of these carefully preserved cores with measurements on the same cores after they had been extracted and resaturated. When the comparison showed markedly different behavior the final objective was to attempt to explain the difference by making measurements on idealized porous media free of clay in which initial wettability could be carefully controlled. EXPERIMENTS MATERIALS Core Material The preserved cores used in this study were obtained with as little alteration as possible from their reservoir conditions. Special techniques were developed to satisfy this objective. The cores were cut with native crude whenever the crude had the necessary properties to satisfy the minimum drilling fluid requirements. A pure hydrocarbon chromatographic tracer was added to the crude to provide a simple, safe and inexpensive method to distinguish between oil filtrate and formation oil. Details of the tracer technique used in this study and the procedures used to handle and process the soft, unconsolidated cores have been published.' The core samples were then preserved and packaged at the well site with a dip-applied strippable plastic, or by using a rubber sleeve from a rubber-sleeve core barrel. The final step was to insure that the carefully taken and preserved samples were not altered by processing in the laboratory. Some soft and poorly consolidated sands were carefully shaped in the lab and encased in a protective mounting without disturbing their three-dimensional integrity. Many samples were so poorly consolidated that they literally flowed from the package when the seal was broken. A technique was developed to obtain cylindrical plugs from these samples by using liquid nitrogen as the drilling fluid in a conventional core-drill, drill-press assembly. The idealized porous media consisted of sintered rods of Alundum RA 139, outcrop sandstone identified as Al-hambra sandstone and packs of No. 130 Nevada sand. This sand is 95 per cent 140-200 mesh. (Physical properties of these porous media with those representative of preserved cores are in Table 1.) The natural cores and most of the idealized porous media were 1 1/2-in. in diameter and 3-in. long. The samples used to study the effect of core length were 1 1/2-in. in diameter and 12-in. long. Liquids Water and oil produced from the formations being studied were protected from the atmosphere and collected in carefully cleaned glass or plastic-lined containers. The production was free of chemical additives such as emulsion breakers and corrosion inhibitors. The crude oil was

Jan 1, 1967

By J. M. Karpinski, F. P. White, R. L. Stone

By means of laboratory balling tests and a procedure for determining bentonite concentration in a green ball, the present study revealed that the bentonite savings by mulling concentrate and bentonite prior to balling was sufficient to warrant installation of a full-size unit in a pellet plant. On the basis of this work, a muller was put on stream at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Cornwall pellet plant in June 1969, and has operated continuously since then. Plant tests showed that the use of the muller resulted in bentonite savings of about 50% without any loss of green, dry, and fired ball quality. Virtually no maintenance problems have been encountered. This information is important to future pelletizing operations both from the standpoint of product quality and economics.

Jan 1, 1972

By T. P. Dolley

Domestic production of industrial sand and gravel in 2004 was about 29 Mt (32 million st), a 6-percent increase from 2003. This increase was buoyed by a robust construction sector of the U.S. economy. U.S. apparent consumption was 30.3 Mt (33.3 million st) in 2004, an in-crease from 2003. Imports were about 490 kt (540,000 st) in 2004, an 11-percent increase from 2003. Imports of silica are generally of two types. They include small-quantity shipments of very-high-purity silica or a few large shipments of lower grade silica that were shipped only under special circumstances (such as very low freight rates).

Jan 1, 2005

By E. De Souza

Two comprehensive surveys, which focus upon backfill practices and the economics of backfilling in underground mines in Canada, have been conducted. The two surveys were designed to assess operational practices and costs associated with the wide scope of filling operations that must be met by individual mines, ranging from raw material feed to the preparation plant, through underground backfill transportation, to in-stope product placement. This paper presents the current state of backfill usage in Canada, identifies trends in minefill practices and provides mine operators with an updated database of information upon which they might compare their own practices and costs with present trends throughout the industry.

May 1, 2003

By M. S. Delibalta, S. Kahraman, R. Comakli

The block cutting machine is one of the most important noise sources in the stone processing factories. In this study, the assessability of the noise from the block cutting machines in the stone processing factories using the P-wave velocity was investigated. The noise levels of some block cutting machines were firstly measured during the cutting of the three different rocks. Then, core samples of the same rocks were cut by an automatic cutting machine in the laboratory and noise levels were measured. A conversion factor was obtained by dividing the site noise levels by the laboratory noise levels. Then, thirty seven different rocks were cut by an automatic cutting machine in the laboratory and noise levels were measured. The P-wave velocity of rock samples were also measured in the laboratory. A strong relation between the laboratory noise levels and the P-wave velocity was found. The noise level from the block cutting machines can be assessed using the derived relation and the conversion factor.

Jan 1, 2011

By Félix Lewandowsky

El presente trabajo señala el proceso de cierre desarrollado durante el año 2000 en la mina Julcani. Las etapas de cierre comprenden el procedimiento de diseño, ejecución y control-seguimiento y como tal, contienen un sistema de seguridad (SHEB) en las operaciones de la mina. El principal objetivo del proceso de cierre es la estabilización a largo plazo del entorno físico, químico y socioeconómico en las áreas afectadas por la actividad minera para asi proteger la salud, el ecosistema y reducir los efectos negativos en el ecosistema. Finalmente, es más factible ejecutar el plan de cierre durante la operación de la mina que cuando no es económicamente viable.

Sep 13, 2001

By A. Kosiór

Many remnants of gold exploitation in the Middle Ages were found in the Lower Silesia region. The oldest evidence of such activity was found in the neighborhood of Zloty Stok and comes from the 7th century. Mining of precious and non-precious metal ores has a great relevance in the late Middle Ages when advanced metallurgic technologies were mastered, that allowed to obtain gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc and arsenic from complex ores occurring in the oldest middle part of Sudetes. Historically it concerned the area of the Swidnica Principality and Klodzko County. Experience obtained in Freiberg, which is located close to the Lower Silesia, was used in the development of mining. A high level of mining and metallurgic technology was obtained in the 15th century that caused significant increase of production of the metals mentioned above. Unfortunately, the good time of Lower Silesian mining lasted only up to the 18th century; the notion of preservation of cultural heritage was unknown at that time. The Lower Silesian medieval mines were not in such a fortunate situation as the ?Wieliczka? and ?Bochnia? mines, which are operating to present-day, and which made preservation of the most interesting headings and objects possible. All these objects are now available for visitors. However, in the case of the middle Sudetes it seems that it is often sufficient to localize old shafts and headings on the basis of careful observations and old maps and carry out some earthwork to uncover medieval headings and objects of underground mining activity. They are often preserved in amazingly good state; this also pertains to mining devices. Another issue is of course the permanent preservation of that heritage and its possible availability for re-searchers and tourists. Some success has been achieved in that field (Zloty Stok Gold Mine is a good example), but also problems were encountered in many cases. The Lower Silesian Coal Basin, which has not been exploited for 10 years is an evidence that there is not a holistic conception of mining heritage renovation. Many attractive mining objects disappeared irrecoverably from the mountainous landscape of the Middle Sudetes despite common consciousness of their significance for cultural development of Silesia and other regions.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. A. Wiebols, N. G. W. Cook, N. C. Joughin

Discussion R. E. Rarnes (Member): The original concepts and the pioneering work now brought to the practical test stage by the Mining Research Laboratory team deserve our highest praise. The authors of this comprehensive paper rightly stress the urgency of establishing the extent to which the apparent potential can profitably be realised in practice. It is to be hoped that adequate funds will be made available by individual mining companies, the Chamber of Mines and manufacturers to attract the necessary staff and maintain the high rate of achievement of the last two years. From the Seventy-Eighth Annual Report of the Chamber of Mines and its members we see that, in 1967, with a Working Revenue of R759.8 million from gold and R54.6 million pit mouth coal sales and with profits from gold and uranium and pyrite of R307.9 million, only R1.9 million was spent by the Chamber on all forms of Research. It is considered unlikely that the associated mining companies and manufacturers exceeded this investment expenditure. Assuming a total of R4 million spent by the industry on Research and Development, this is less than half of 1 per cent of sales of gold and coal. This percentage, so low in comparison to North America and Europe, is no worse than that of Exploration expenditure which, in 1967, with South Africa's total mineral production of R1,287 million, was estimated to have been R6 million (Pretorius 1968). In a primary industry with ever present depletion of ore deposits and with cost escalation, expenditure on Exploration and on Research and Development is not a risky luxury but a tactical obligation. The potential rate of return on research expenditure into rock breaking is high. Stores consumed by gold and coal mines, members of the Chamber of Mines, totalled R316.2 million in 1967. Except for purchased power costing R42.2 million the highest cost group was explosives, drills and drill steel totalling R33.8 million or 10.7 per cent of the total stores consumed. In the paper under discussion it is claimed that the low 'effective stoping width' should greatly reduce the likelihood of rock falls or rock bursts to the extent that permanent support can be dispensed with. Insofar as this narrow cut is only 12 in. in advance of the working area which, with a 10 in. channel, is unlikely to be much reduced in width from that achieved by current methods, this claim is not readily understandable. Were it to have been based upon the regional support gained from packed waste it would have been more acceptable. Pre-developed stope drives may give serious trouble at depth and for this reason it is questioned whether a stoping area can avoid periodic sub-development blasting-the spoil and fumes from which will interfere with the rock flow and continuous mining of the rock-cutter. If, in the mining method proposed by the authors, stope drives are cut as small as possible (6 ft by 6 ft) then 25 per cent of the total tons handled (excluding resued waste) and 5 per cent of the gold will be blasted conventionally in the stope. At this stage one cannot envisage tunnelling machines economically or practically capable of such work. The various methods described by the authors and subsequent contributors for breaking waste are most interesting. It was noted that the 'bull wedge' and 'explosives' in Fig. 1 of the paper were no further from the ideal point 'A' than was 'cutting'. The writer considers that the bold and imaginative steps taken by the Mining Research Laboratory Team, the mining companies and the manufacturers concerned will eventually lead to a successful rock cutting machine with universal application largely independent of rock type. This may take many years. In the meantime other methods of improving productivity of saleable metal by rock breaking teams should be investigated even if such methods have local applications only. In 1955 the writer conducted tests with a wire saw similar to those used in quarries in the Northern Transvaal and elsewhere. Jeppestown shale, the immediate footwall of much of the East Rand gold field, was cut at the rate of 6 in. per hour using sand, water and a special endless rope driven by a low h.p. motor. A hypothesis on its application was submitted to the Office of the Government Mining Engineer in 1955 and to other mining institutions in 1966 after the writer returned to South Africa. By inference, rope sawing was classed as less promising than other methods tested in the Orange Free State Goldfields (Parker 1969). With highly resilicified hanging and footwall quartzites this was not surprising and confirmed the writers findings when testing hanging wall quartzite from the East Rand in 1955. The relatively uniform conditions, the low strength, hardness, and silica content of the Merensky Reef platinum deposits (Gray and von Bardeleben 1969) and in particular, the existence of overlying Merensky pyroxenite (Cousins 1964) make this and the East Rand attractive areas for larger scale testing of wire saws. It is envisaged that in suitable rock types the 5/8 in. slot would be advanced down dip or down a minor dip. In undisturbed areas 'faces' of up to 200 ft in length could be cut several feet in advance of breaking which could then consist of light blasting to the second free face or some of the methods now being tested for breaking waste in rock-cutting operations. A wire saw is an inexpensive and simple machine which, in some areas, could make significant and early gains in rock breaking efficiency as well as in ground and stoping width control.

Jan 5, 1968

By C. D. Starr

IT is well known that the martensite reaction can be induced to occur isothermally above the M, temperature by plastic deformation of an alloy in its austenitic state, and also that as the test temperature is increased above the M. temperature, plastic deformation under a given set of conditions merely causes additional slip with a corresponding tendency toward the formation of less martensite per unit of strain. Thus it appears that a maximum temperature exists above which martensite cannot be formed isothermally by plastic deformation. This temperature is commonly designated as the equilibrium temperature Te. Attempts to determine experimentally the equilibrium temperature have indicated that a critical temperature is observed, under a given set of conditions, above which martensite cannot be formed isothermally by plastic deformation. But the observation of a "so called" critical temperature, Te, should not be confused with the equilibrium temperature, Te. In order to clarify this anomaly, true stress-strain curves were obtained for a series of type 304 stainless steel specimens (manufacturer's analysis, 0.08 pct C, 18 to 20 pct Cr, 8 to 10 pct Ni, balance Fe) over the temperature range 67" to 300°K.' Since martensite is magnetic, a quantitative measure of the amount of martensite that was produced by plastic deformation was obtained by determining the magnetic permeability as a function of strain. The results of these tests are given in Fig. 1. They appear to indicate that a plastic critical point does exist at about 240°K for the stainless steel under investigation here. But that 240 °K is not the equilibrium temperature nor even a true plastic critical temperature can be seen from Fig. 2 wherein the permeability of the same material is shown to increase with cold rolling at 293 OK. Consequently the observation of a "so called" plastic critical temperature is dependent on the mode of deformation and has no theoretical significance. Acknowledgment This work was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Permission to publish this note is gratefully acknowledged.

Jan 1, 1954

By Charles E. Carlsen

Underground construction involves all the legal problems common to the construction industry and adds a nice little group of its own. Elements which will ultimately affect contractor-owner relationship commence to form almost as soon as the owner conceives of the project. A few of these with emphasis on their application to underground construction will be mentioned. (1) During the design stage, determination must be made as to whether the specifications will be general or restrictive. To what extent will the operations of the contractor be controlled? Can he proceed to use any method of tunnel excavation that he desires and only be responsible for the end result or will specific excavation procedures be required? Can explosives be used? Under what restrictions? Are tunnel supports required? How long can the crown behind the heading remain unsupported? What kind of supports are required? What restrictions on the placement of tunnel-lining concrete will be required? Each of you could extend this list for many pages but these illustrations are indicative of decisions that must be made in advance of bidding, and the ultimate decision on each question can have a significant effect on the legal relationships that exist between the contractor and the owner. The owner wants a good job at a fair price. On the other hand, nothing is worse than having a tunnel collapse during the construction period, with its extra costs, loss of life, and delay to the entire project. If the specifications are too restrictive, increased costs of performance are bound to occur. Owners save tremendous amounts of money by obtaining a contractor who has been ingenious in devising the most economical construction procedure. Care must be taken in drafting the specifications so that the benefits of such ingenuity will not be lost. (2) HOW is the contract to be awarded? Will there be open bidding, a restricted list of bidders, or will there be negotiations with a comparatively few contractors? If it is a government project, whether Federal, state, or

Jan 1, 1970

By V. Pouyafar

Semi-Solid metal alloys, as used in SSM processing, have a special microstructure of globular solid particles suspended in a liquid matrix, which makes them behave differently in forming processes. The sensitivity of semi-solid slurries to temperature variations and their history and rate dependant behavior, make process design and control difficult. Precise selection of the process parameters is necessary in part production. Therefore, a numerical analysis and simulation of the process can be a valuable tool in process design. In this work we proposed a structural dependent model to account for the thixotropic behavior of semi-solid metals. The parameters of the model were then determined using rheometery tests. The results show a good agreement between the model and the experiments.

Oct 1, 2011

It is well known that in most areas of Central Europe it is not difficult to find water - usually at shallow depths - and to recover and use this water. What is much more difficult, however, is to find water sources that offer both sufficient in quantity and qual- ity. Far too often, there are sources that offer abundant quantities but of poor quality or vice versa, i.e. high quality water but insufficient volumes. In the former case where water quality is not adequate - which is more often than not due to anthropogenic factors and only very rarely a result of geogenic effects - the application of treatment techniques can help to turn such water into potable water that is suitable for human con sumption.

Jan 1, 1988

By S. Eugene Mills

Twenty-five years ago, when I began my sales life marketing minerals, there was little or no contact between sales people and production people. In those days, it was not uncommon for me, as a salesman, to learn of production problems existing in my company from my customers. Today, in my opinion, any successful mining company must keep production people fully aware of circumstances that effect service to the users of the product. Basically, feldspar is presently consumed by the glass and pottery industries the same as 100 years ago. The consuming public little realizes the origin of so many things they use daily and take for granted. Feldspar is utilized in the glass that contains our Coca-Cola, Pepsi, wines, liqueurs, beer and the assorted gob¬lets from which we drink these lovely brews, the industrial glass upon which all industry depends, the bathroom plumbing fixtures that make life so different from the days of the out-house, the beautiful and durable china we enjoy at mealtime. The electricity we use requires insulators that demand feldspar. In our home ap¬pliances, automobiles, toys and airplanes, we find feldspar. I could go on and on, hopefully soliciting your help in making our taxpaying and non-taxpaying fellow man aware of the burdens he may acquire when unthinking, over-enthusiastic environmentalists foist unnecessary hardships upon the mining industry. Feldspar is marketed primarily sized from 20 mesh to 325 mesh. The glass industry requires feldspar ground 20 mesh to 40 mesh size; the pottery industry requires material from 150 mesh to 325 mesh size. One large glass plant may require up to 100 tons per day and more, whereas a small plant may use less than 5 tons per year. A large pottery plant may require as much as 50 tons per day, a small potter only 500 lbs. per year. The feldspar

Jan 1, 1977

By Yunqing Zhang

Roof failure occurs much more frequently at intersections than entries and crosscuts. Using a commercial finite element package, four-way and three-way intersections reinforced with the tensioned bolts are modeled. The 3-D model considers bolt pre-tension, bolt installation procedure, bedding planes and in-situ horizontal stresses. The modeling results from both four-way and three-way intersections are analyzed with regard to the intersection stability. The mechanisms of tensioned bolting at the intersections are investigated and some tensioned bolting guidelines for intersections are given. Based on this study, a better way to enhance intersection stability is to use longer bolts than entries or crosscuts and increase the bolt density near the intersection corners.

Jan 1, 2003

By M E. Pierce

Recent advances in comminution and heap leach technology have resulted in the development of many large-scale, low-grade open pit mines that coincide with areas of historical underground workings. Twoand three-dimensional numerical modelling has been conducted to assess the interaction between open pit slope stability and remnant underground voids. Most design analyses for open pit slopes assume a two-dimensional problem geometry. This is not the condition encountered in practice ù particularly when remnant underground voids interact with a large-scale open pit slope. Three-dimensional numerical models have been shown to provide a more realistic representation of the interaction between overall open pit slope stability and remnant underground voids.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. J. Ballard

The Track Rock corundum mine was among the numerous corundum deposits investigated during the war by the Bureau of Mines in an effort to develop domestic reserves of that critical mineral. In the investigation of this property 562 feet of trenches were excavated and a l25-foot adit was reopened for the purpose of locating veins to of corundum which had been previously reported to occur in that locality. Only very minor amounts of corundum were disclosed in both the surface workings and the adit. The project was begun in May 1943 and completed in November 1943.

Jan 1, 1948

By Stuart Brashear, Lee Schettler

The effect of water on several ANFO/emulsion blend ratios are documented by both physical observations and analytical testing to demonstrate the effect even small quantities of water can have on water resistant blends.

Jan 1, 1996

By K. S. E. Forssberg, K. Hanumantha Roa

Batch flotation tests are carried out with phosphatic material from LKAB, Sweden containing carbonatic and siliceous gangue while using sodium oleate as collector and sodium silicate as modifier. The pulp liquid is analysed for oleate, silicate, carbon dioxide, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous after each flotation test under different reagent conditions and flotation pH. Theoretical calculations of thermodynamic chemical equilibria in apatite-calcite-sodium oleate-sodium silicate system have been carried out with the help of SOLGASWATER computer program. During the calculations, the chemical variables are maintained similar to the operating chemical variables in flotation. A comparision between the experimental and theoretical chemical equilibria has been made and the flotation behaviour of apatite is discussed with reference to the theoretically calculated pulp model.

Jan 1, 1993

By D. A. Stanley, B. J. Scheiner

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has thoroughly investigated the flocculation of phosphatic clay waste with polyethylene oxide (PEO). The studies included both theoretical and applied aspects of the flocculation sequence. The screen dewatering technique developed by the Bureau was field tested at four different Florida phosphate mines. The results of these field studies are presented. Also, to determine the mechanisms of the interaction of PEO with montmorillonite clays common to the phosphatic clay waste, a number of theoretical studies were conducted. An empirical equation was developed to describe the amount of PEO needed for flocculation. Infrared, ion exchange, and rheology techniques were used to study the interaction of PEO with Florida clays. The results of these studies are also presented.

Jan 1, 1993