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Underground testing was carried out by Ingersoll-Rand, Inc., under contract to the Bureau of Mines to determine the effectiveness of a machine-mounted scrubber system for ventilating the face during an extended advance. A continuous miner equipped with an integral flooded-bed dust scrubber system was instrumented with methanometers and Real-time Aerosol Monitor (RAM) dust monitors. Methane and respirable dust data were collected at brattice setbacks of 7.5 m (current operating distance), 10.5 m, and 15 m (blowing ventilation) during production shifts. Results showed that a suitable machine-mounted scrubber system can adequately ventilate the face at brattice setbacks up to 15 m. No deterioration in ventilation performance was observed as brattice setbacks were increased from 7.5 m to 15 m. The scrubber system effectively controlled face methane levels at large setbacks, though respirable dust levels increased as much as 33 pct at the operator's cab at setbacks greater than 7.5 m.

Jan 1, 1986

By A Hoyle, P Walker, D Bennett

The Phu Kham copper-gold operation located in Laos People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is owned and operated by Phu Bia Mining Limited. PanAust Limited, based in Brisbane Australia, holds a 90 per cent interest in Phu Bia Mining Limited, with the remaining 10 per cent held by the Government of Laos PDR.The 12Mt/y copper-gold concentrator at Phu Kham commenced production in April 2008. Flotation copper and gold recovery from commissioning was consistently poor, due to the high levels of pyrite and problematic secondary and oxide copper species and non-sulfide gangue.The low recoveries of copper and gold from Phu Kham were recognised during the feasibility study design phase. A bulk sulfide flotation regime in roughing produced high recoveries, however a large capacity cleaning circuit was required and there was risk of not meeting saleable concentrate grade specifications. The installed design offered a capital efficient compromise to ensure that a concentrate grade of 24% copper could be achieved at acceptable recoveries.Incremental improvements in copper recovery were achieved by 2011 through conversion of conditioning cells to flotation cells in both roughing and first cleaning and increased cleaner capacity through the installation of a Jameson cell. In 2012 the Phu Kham Upgrade Project was commissioned to increase mill throughput, along with additional rougher and cleaner capacity to increase residence times at the nominal 16 Mt/y throughput. The marginal reduction in primary grind size due to the additional ball milling power also provided a small recovery improvement.This paper presents the development, design, implementation, and performance of the Increased Recovery Project commissioned in April 2013 which targeted the major causes of copper loss from the circuit. Based on fundamental and detailed test work and mineralogical analysis of concentrator streams, an optimised design was developed which has increased copper and gold recoveries by over 5% and 10% respectively. The Increased Recovery Project has positioned the concentrator to process high pyrite ores that were previously considered untreatable, and opened further opportunities for maximising flotation recovery by de-bottlenecking plant regrind and cleaning capacity.CITATION:Hoyle, A, Bennett, D and Walker, P, 2015. The increased recovery project at the Phu Kham copper-gold operation, Laos PDR, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 246–265 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By S. B. Casey

[ ] IN 1880, an electric arc was struck over metal for the first time to experiment with controllable melting. The glare of this arc has reflected on the stacks of the steel industry and continued to light the path of steelmakers in their never ending quest -for faster, more economical, and better ways of producing steel. William Siemens is credited with first employing the electric arc to melt metal in a closed hearth and produce basic metallurgical reactions. By the turn of the century, an Italian, named Stassano, was experimenting with ore reduction by the electric arc. In 1899, Dr. Paul Heroult, in France, used the direct arc principle for producing ferro-chromium. His experiments quickly led him to develop a dosed-top arc furnace for the production of steel, and his first commercial shipment was recorded in December, 1900. American steelmakers, quick to sense the possibilities of this method of melting, invited Heroult to our shores, where, in 1905, he was responsible for installing the first arc furnace on the North American continent. This furnace, at Sault Ste. Marie, was built for ore reduction. But Charles Holcomb, founder of Holcomb Steel. Co. of Syracuse, N. Y. contacted Heroult in 1905 and contracted for the first American direct-arc electric furnace for steelmaking. On April 5, 1906, the first heat was tapped from this 3-ton unit. The furnace was basic lined and powered by a single-phase, 500 kw generator, -producing high amperage at low voltage. It is interesting to note that, although the first few heats were made with cold charges, subsequent heats were duplexed. R. H. Bully, first superintendent of Holcomb Steel, persuaded the directors to purchase the unit to effect a more economical and efficient means of making tool steel by duplexing prime melting in a combustion fired furnace, and transfer of hot metal to the arc furnace for temperature adjusting, refining, and adding carbon and alloying elements. Today, duplexing is foreseen by some as the steelmaking process of the future. The promise shown by America's first arc furnace for ingot production quickly led to the purchase of a similar unit by The Firth Sterling Steel Co., in 1909, and to the purchase of the first arc furnace for production of steel castings, by the Treadwell Engineering Co., in 1911. From its humble start in 1906, production of arc furnace steel has never ceased to increase its yearly percentage of total steel production in the U. S., although certain other methods have declined or almost disappeared. By its ability to be used intermittently, the arc furnace gained favor and enhanced its reputation during depression days. When the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged us headlong into the long days of World War II, the arc furnace stood ready, flexible enough to be overburdened hearth wise 30 pct and power wise 25 pct, pouring its endless flood of alloy for the guns, tanks, ships, and planes which ultimately brought victory. During the post war boom, the now, proven virtues of low initial cost, faster installation, better yield, improved availability, and lower operating cost, enabled industry-particularly the small, new, independent producers-to locate strategically and profitably to meet the demand of an America that had been starved for new homes, appliances, cars, and highways. In the Korean police action, the arc furnace again proved itself by providing the latest alloys metallurgists could develop to meet the demands that the jet age and the innovations of guided missiles required. In today's peacetime prosperity, the arc furnace is continuing to provide the economic flexibility required to meet an ever increasing demand for better steel in the face of mounting costs, scrap shortages, and pressure toward decentralized location of industry.

Jan 1, 1961

By J Barnes

During September 2000, Nabalco management identified the need for a corporate system to deliver its key performance indicators (KPIs). In June 2001, a need was also identified to replace the existing metallurgical accounting system. After a review of the technologies available, the decision was made to develop the systems in-house, in preference to purchasing commercial software packages. This would allow much greater control over the structure, and provide for an iterative, concurrent development process between software and key business developers. This has proven invaluable in the development process. The purpose of the KPI system is to provide a unified reporting tool for all performance indicators. These indicators include production, safety, health and environment, personnel, costs, continuous improvement initiatives and opportunity losses. All of these disparate measurements are brought together into the KPI system and used to determine the performance for each department or area. The general principles of the balanced scorecard business approach (Kaplan and Norton, 1996) are applied to achieve a performance measurement for each area within Nabalco. The new metallurgical accounting system (MA) is a SQLServer database with web page and Excel interfaces. The database is structured around daily inputs of all measurements and calculations. The data is stored and adjustments and reconciliations can be made to this data as required. The focus is on accounting rigour, with all adjustments recorded in the database to allow for full auditing. The structure of the data focuses on the five input/output streams (bauxite in, caustic soda in, fuel oil in, residue out, and alumina out). In-circuit inventory provides a secondary measurement on which to check and calibrate the MA system. The KPI and MA systems were developed using Web technologies and are available to any internet-enabled device with Internet Explorer installed. This removes the need for software rollouts and user training. This will promote the wide use of the systems throughout Nabalco and Alcan.

Jan 1, 2002

By R. V. Ramani, R. Stefanko, G. W. Luxbacher

Comprehensive ventilation surveys are made to review the adequacy of the mine system with regard to both statutory requirements and/or company policy, to evaluate improvements to the current ventilation system and to plan for £stun expansion. If computer simulation is to be used for these purposes, accurate quantity and pressure measurements become an absolute necessity since the validity of the computer generated output is heavily dependent on the accuracy of the input data. Consequently ventilation surveys that are run to generate input data for computer simu¬lation must use the best data collection procedures to guarantee as accurate results as are possible. These requirements have led to modifications in procedures that are used for routine ventilation surveying. McElroy and Kingery (1957) have recommended that pressures be measured independent of quantities since minor changes in mine conditions have a greater effect on absolute pressure measurements than on quantity measure¬ments. They estimate that, for large mines, a pressure survey may take only 1 to 3 days while the corresponding quantity survey would require 1 to 3 weeks. Although this procedure would undoubtedly lead to more ac¬curate pressure measurements, its use for the development of computer input data is not recommended for the following reasons. Atkinson's equation, H = RQ2, is used in computer oriented analysis to develop the airway resistance, R, based on quantity and pressure loss measure¬ments. It can easily be seen that since R a 1/Q2 and R a H, the effect of errors in quantity measurement is, in fact, more significant than those in pressure measurement. If the quantity and pressure measure¬ments are made at different times another problem results. Minor changes in quantity that may occur in the time between the pressure and quantity

Jan 1, 1977

By E. Watkins, S. J. Schatzel, V. Gangrade, R. Kimutis, J. Addis, C. Hollerich

The recent shale gas revolution in the United States has led to the drilling of hundreds of unconventional shale gas wells in active and future coal reserves in traditional coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. This paper summarizes the impact of a shale gas well breach on the mine ventilation system of an operating longwall panel. This study utilizes a 1:30 scaled Longwall Instrumented Aerodynamic Model (LIAM) to simulate a single-panel longwall operation. The LIAM will be utilized to identify flow pathways and distribution patterns of gas from breached gas well scenarios in an operating longwall in the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas is utilized to simulate a breached gas well. Preliminary findings suggest that the breached gas is diluted to regulatory levels and does not accumulate in the mine entries or in the longwall gob when the longwall panel is adequately ventilated. Overall, this study characterizes the potential interaction between shale gas wells and the mine environment in the event of a gas well breach, which provides critical information to the industry and regulatory agencies for improving safety, health, and welfare of miners.

Mar 2, 2022

By F. Henríquez, V. Iriarte, L. Vinnett, J. Yianatos, F. Díaz

Metallurgical characterizations of the collective (Cu/Mo) and selective flotation plants were carried out in Minera Los Pelambres, Chile. The selective plant allows the valuable minerals of Cu and Mo to be separated. The evaluation involved two surveys consisting of metallurgical sampling as well as residence time distribution (RTD) measurements to determine load distribution. The RTD data were obtained in real-time by means of the radioactive tracer technique. In addition, metallurgical data was reconciled and supported by effective residence times. In the collective plant, a performance comparison of parallel rougher circuits was carried out, which included a bank of six mechanical cells of 250 m3 and banks of nine mechanical cells of 130 m3. In the selective plant, the Cu and Mo evolution along the plant was evaluated. The results in the selective plant allowed for performance evaluation of mechanical and pneumatic cells in primary flotation. In both plants, mineral losses were evaluated and their relationship with circuit configuration (cell types and circuit layout) was determined. The metallurgical characterization was a powerful tool to evaluate circuit performance and to detect improvement opportunities at industrial scale.

Jan 1, 2015

By Wm. Ross Wayment, Innes P. Grantmyre

INTRODUCTION It has been recognized for some time that major changes in mining methods will be required in the near future. Two types of factors contribute to this need for change. Intrinsic factors include ground control problems associated with mining at increasing depths, noise, dust, toxic fumes, and logistics problems which arise from operation in a cyclical fashion. Extrinsic factors include competition for labor from industries offering safer and less difficult work, pressure for less impact on the environment, and changing economic and political conditions. The search for new mining methods has resulted in extensive research being carried out on such novel approaches as thermal fragmentation, high-pressure water jets, sonic drilling, microwave fragmentation, and laser cutting, among others. Joy Manufacturing Co. has elected to concentrate on impact breaking in stopes as a first generation continuous hard rock miner. IMPACT BREAKING Fragmentation techniques show a drop in specific energy as efficiency improves. Specific energy is the energy consumed per unit volume of rock removed and is affected by such variables as rock material properties, fragmentation method used, operator skill, tool design, etc. Mechanical fragmentation methods generally have specific energies much lower than that of the more novel methods. Table 1 shows impact breaking to have an efficiency exceeded only by that of drill and blast methods and it is this high efficiency which led Joy to impactors as the subject for research on potential mechanisms for continuous mining in hard rock.

Jan 1, 1976

By Gong-yi Guo, Yu-li Chen

"A partially-stabilized zirconia powder was prepared by metalorganic precipitation process from technical-grade zirconium oxychloride and the effluent of an acrylic acid plant. The effluent contained low molecular weight carboxylic acids, i. e., acrylic acid and acetic acid. The· developed process is based on the selective precipitation of acrylic acid at suitable pH values by the addition of zirconium oxychloride to the effluent. The resulting precipitate is a precursor that can yield a pure, ultrafine, and partially-stabilized zirconia powder. The evolution of formation of the partially-stabilized zirconia in the present process was investigated using thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction technique. Environmental, technological and cost advantages will make the present process feasible for manufacturing advanced zirconia ceramics.IntroductionIn recent years the superior mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical properties of stabilized zirconia have become the focus of growing scientific and technological interest, and hence resulted in various structural and functional applications. The great potential of the material has given rise to numerous preparation approaches to obtain the material with the excellent properties; nevertheless, an extensive number of programmes are underway worldwide aimed at understanding and improving both the preparation and behavior of stabilized zirconia ultrafine powders. (1 – 8)."

Jan 1, 2000

By J M. Gibbs

Craigmont Mines Limited mine 50,000 tons of ore and waste per day from the open pit at Merritt, British Columbia. An electric-powered "down-the-hole" drill, a diesel-powered rotary drill and two electric-powered rotary drills have been used. All primary drilling, as a result of cost and operating experience, is now performed with two electric-powered rotary drills. Trials with various loading techniques have increased the amount of AN-FO and decreased the amount of commercially prepared slurries used for primary blasting. Approximately 95 per cent of the primary blasting is accomplished with AN -FO, mixed at the hole. Introduction THE Craigmont mine is located near the village of Merritt, B.C., 240 miles northeast of Vancouver. The concentrator has been in production since September of 1961. Craigmont is a combined open-pit and underground operation. To date, slightly more than 95 per cent of the mill feed has been mined from the open pit. As underground development proceeds, the ore requirements from the open pit will decrease. The average milling rate from September, 1961, to April, 1964, was approximately 4,900 tons per day.

Jan 1, 1965

By M. Araos

Non-ideal explosives can be characterised by different methods like velocity of detonation measurement, double pipe tests, underwater tests, aquarium tests, etc., to name a few. Both aquarium and velocity of detonation tests were selected to characterise a non-ideal explosive that is based on hydrogen peroxide, fuel, and void sensitisation. The detonation process in an aquarium of this sensitised explosive was captured at 80,000 frames per second using a high-speed camera. The explosive product was detonated using 51mm (2inches) diameter acrylic pipe charges. The product was detonated at different densities in an aquarium (cube box containing water). An aquarium provides a homogenous confinement for the detonation of explosives and more importantly, allows observing the shock wave as it changes the refraction index of water. The analysis of the video footage allowed the calculation of the velocity of detonation, pressure, gas rate release, and how the shock wave's shape in water changes with densities. It is suggested that the calculation of the rate of gas release could be related to the bubble data obtained from underwater tests.

Jan 1, 2024

By FJ Fourie

Lack of success in attempts to develop viable large-scale continuous mining techniques (previously reported by MP o?Hare in 2004) led the team at Kopanang to explore alternative solutions to their ongoing need for improved profitability. By calling into question the basic assumptions around the stoping of narrow tabular deposits of gold, fragmentation and more particularly, the range of sizes of blasted rocks eventually became the focus of serious study. This background is briefly covered before the sequence of the investigations is described. So far, some of the ?rules of thumb? derived over the years have been confirmed, albeit for totally different reasons than those from which they arose; some persistent theories on gold loss have been debunked, and some new ones have been developed. Blast optimisation (the means by which desired fragmentation is achieved) has been based on tailoring energy to rock characteristics in an innovative packaging design for explosive charges. Other beneficial consequences arising from the work include increased production volume and gold output, a decrease in milling consumables, and the Mine Call Factor is being maintained at a level previously thought to be unachievable. This is very much a ?work in progress?, and it is empirical in its approach. The authors are the first to recognise that they have yet to determine in absolute measures why some of the innovations have had the effect that has been observed. Also that there other factors which may contribute to the result, but which have not yet been examined. Nevertheless, publication of the work completed so far is felt to be justified; firstly on the basis of the achievements themselves, and secondly for the benefit of others in the industry for whom similar problems exist. Statistical reports of the effects on the business are included at the end of the report. Detailed laboratory test results have been separated into an appendix, leaving salient graph and tabulated data in the main text. For ease of reading, units of measurement for particle sizes below 1mm are described in microns, but millimetres have been retained for those at that size or greater.

Jan 1, 2007

By A Galli

Traditionally pit optimisation and scheduling is carried out assuming that the resources, the commodity prices and production costs are all known. Once the pit contour and the mining schedule have been determined, geostatistical simulations can be used to assess the impact of the uncertainty in the resources on the pit design and the schedule, and likewise stochastic simulations can be used to test its robustness to fluctuations in costs and prices. But it would be more interesting to have a dynamic procedure for optimising the pit as the resources become better known and as economic factors such as commodity prices and costs evolve over time. This paper presents a novel approach for doing this. Rather than working with millions of small selective mining units, it was decided to work with large blocks, called macro-blocks. Mining sequences are defined as the quantities to be extracted from each macro-block in each time period. Feasible mining sequences are mining sequences that respect the accessibility constraints, and also the geometric constraints on the amounts that can be extracted from any one block over time, or from all the active blocks at a given time. Having defined feasible mining sequences, their mathematical properties were studied. It was found that natural breakpoints occur in the sequences when one set of blocks have been completely mined out, thereby opening up access to others. It was discovered that families of sequences exist, and that they are convex and closed under certain types of row permutation operations. Convexity is an advantage when optimising. The closure property opens up the possibility of mixing and matching subsequences of rows in the sequences. Another interesting property is that the sequences form branching families, rather like the binomial and trinomial trees used to model prices in finance and in real options.It is easy to generate large numbers of feasible mining sequences randomly. A two-step procedure is used to find the best one (or the best few) using three economic criteria: expected NPV,the probability of a negative NPV, and the percentage of years when the cash flow is negative. The procedure was tested on a synthetic gold mine based on the characteristics of the Essakane mine in Burkina Faso. The results were encouraging.

Sep 26, 2011

By Earl M. Frizzell, Ronald W. Utley

Introduction For the past several years the Bureau of Mines has undertaken research to develop alternative mine material haulage systems that will improve mine productivity, reduce haulage costs, increase mineral availability, and conserve energy. One basic concept being pursued is a means for crushing primary blasted rock to a size that can be reliably and economically moved on conveyors. During 1980, mine requirements for this equipment and the capability of existing technology to satisfy these requirements were assessed. The study continued into 1981 on the basis that satisfactory equipment for this purpose needed to be developed. The objective of the 1981 program was to perform an engineering design of such a system. A mine survey and equipment development study was conducted in cooperation with the open-pit mining industry by GATX through its subsidiaries, Fuller Co. (a crusher manufacturer) and GARD Inc. (GATX's research and development center), under contract to the USBM. Results of a mine survey in the copper, iron, and molybdenum industries indicated that a universal crusher system could be developed even though details might vary from mine to mine. The crushing characteristics, including tonnages desired, were similar in all surveyed mines. Most mines had similar views about the desirability and frequency of crusher movement. The perceived need for in-nit crushing varied between copper and iron mining. The copper mines felt a greater sense of urgency for introduction of such a system, probably because typically greater vertical haulage is found in copper mines than in the iron mines. All mine personnel surveyed were interested in portable crushers and almost universally preferred gyratory-type primary crushers. They preferred large crushers, citing inherent reliability and durability, and the machine's relative freedom from clogging. Large size minimizes the number of crushers and conveyors needed. Analysis of desired crusher system characteristics (Table 1) fixed the crusher size at 1.5 x 2.3 m (60 x 89 in.). The 1.5-m (60-in.) feed-opening dimension could accept the largest material normally fed to the crusher, and the 2.3-m (894n.) head diameter could fulfill the 3.63 kt/h (4,000 stph) capacity requirement. Selected System Description The comments and analyses discussed in the contract report led to the design and refinement of a movable crusher system. This system represents the consensus of more than 100 mine workers and almost 50 construction and engineering company personnel. It is supported by more than 50 years of experience in crusher manufacturing. Although many alternatives are available for any given system, and selections are likely to be dictated by varying site conditions, the selected system is believed to be appropriate for most projected requirements. Final design would be dictated by mine operators during evaluation for approved projects. Detail design of the feed and discharge systems were not included in the study because they are mine specific. The basic system (Fig. 1) consists of a 1.5 x 2.3-m (60 x 89-in.) gyratory crusher on a structural steel frame. The frame is used as an operating platform for the crusher and as a carriage to move the crusher. The control tower includes a crusher lubrication room, a hydraulic equipment room, a switch gear room, a room for the motor control center, and a control room for operating the crusher and maintaining the equipment. The auxiliary system consists of a hydraulic rock hammer and pedestal crane with 74-t (80-st) and 14-t (15-st) hooks. Figure 1 also shows stairs, railings, and a work platform. Feed and discharge arrangements are shown on Fig. 2. The system shown is for mildclimate applications. Additional enclosure and heating would be needed for extremely cold weather conditions. Crusher A 1.5 x 2.3-m (60 x 89-in.) gyra¬tory crusher was selected for this application. This size can handle the typical throughput of 3-3.63 kt/h (3,500-4,000 stph) desired by the mines and the 1.3-m (50-in.) material to be crushed without difficulty. The crusher is the heaviest

Jan 4, 1983

By I Haine, J Penm, T Waring

During 1999 there was a considerable turnaround in world prices for most minerals and energy commodities, except for the bulk commodities (coal and iron ore). The main reasons for this turnaround were: improved prospects in demand for most minerals and energy commodities in the Asian region following a return to both economic and industrial production growth in key economies in that region; continued moderate growth in demand in Europe and North America; substantial production cutbacks in a range of minerals and energy industries; effective reductions in the supply of oil by OPEC nations; and an announcement by European central banks that they would cap the amount of gold they sell and loan in the next five years. Most of these influences are expected to be sustained into the first years of the new millennium. In 2000, with exception of coal, average world prices of minerals and metals are forecast to rise significantly. Gross domestic product and industrial production is expected to grow in some European countries and most Asian countries in 2000 and, with moderate growth expected to be sustained in the United States, demand for minerals and energy is expected to increase. AustraliaÆs main bulk commodities, iron ore and coal, saw prices set for 1999 - 2000 at substantially lower levels in negotiations in early-1999. Double digit price cuts were locked in. However, similar falls appear to have been avoided for coal in Japanese Fiscal Year 2001, while increases of between four and six per cent were achieved for iron ore. Forecast modest recovery in economic growth in Japan and increasing demand elsewhere in Asia are expected to lead to tighter market conditions in 2000. Beyond 2000, world minerals and energy markets will be influenced by the expected robust global supply responses of minerals and energy companies, against a background of sustained economic growth and industrial production growth in major consuming countries. Over the medium-term, a return to declining real prices which have been evident for most commodities in the recent past, is expected as exploration, mining and processing technological change and associated productivity growth continues to reduce industry costs. While lower rates of exploration and mining investment in Australia between 1998 and 2000 will modestly constrain the rate of future industry expansion, Australia remains an important contributor to expected growth in global minerals supply over the medium-term. Australian mine production is forecast to grow between 1999 - 2000 and 2004 - 05, boosted by production from recently commissioned mines and minerals processing facilities and comissioning of other projects at advanced stages of planning.

Jan 1, 2000

By Karl L. Konnerth

THE rapidly increasing use of machinery for the mining of coal and operations incidental thereto has materially changed conditions from a safety standpoint. A few of the coal-producing states have recognized the need for specialized electrical equipment for use in mines and have introduced certain requirements in their State safety regulations, notably Pennsylvania. This paper discusses the principal problems involved in maintenance of such equipment. PERMISSIBLE: EQUIPMENT "Permissible" electrical equipment is equipment that has met certain prescribed standards for use in mines where hazardous conditions may occur and has been recommended by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Such machinery is available on the market for most coal-mining operations--for instance, coal cutting, transportation, drilling, loading, working-place illumination, shot-firing and pumping. A notable exception is the trolley-reel gathering locomotive which, although its parts may be explosion-tested by the Bureau, has not been approved as permissible for the following reasons: I. The trailing cable is subjected to more severe service than on other equipment. 2. State regulations do not require that a working place be examined for methane before a locomotive enters it. 3. Even with two-conductor cable, imperfect or inadequate bonding may cause the emission of sparks at the wheels of the locomotive and at rail joints. 4. As the locomotive is equipped with a trolley pole, and as the trolley wire may be installed and used in unsafe territory in spite of rigid State regulations, a trolley-reel gathering locomotive is always a potential hazard. MAINTENANCE The proper procedure for maintenance of permissible equipment may be divided into three parts: (I) inspection, (2) actual maintenance and (3) changes or improvements to existing machines. To secure the fullest benefits through the use of permissible equipment it is necessary that all men involved understand the principles underlying the safety features of this equipment and realize the significance of defects, so that neglect and indifference in the maintenance thereof may be eliminated. Inspection From the standpoint of safety it is desirable no doubt to make a suitable inspection of permissible electrical equipment once a week, but the opening of every enclosed compartment at each inspection may do more harm than good. The openings to such compartments are closed with various types of covers very accurately machined, often made of the softer alloys to reduce weight, and fastened with a multitude of bolts, screws, washers, and other small parts. Frequent handling of these covers may cause sufficient damage to defeat their original purpose and intent.

Jan 1, 1941

By Harold L. Lovell

Problems associated with fines (minus 6 mm, 1/4-inch) production, preparation, and utilization have long plagued the coal industry and are now more acute than ever. Continuous deep mining systems create more fines which have moisture; content greater than natural levels from dust control spraying and often add substantial levels of mineral matter due to mining selectivity constraints. Frequently, during preparation, more -fines are developed to achieve improved component liberation. Coal consumers often specify small sizes whether for carbonization, combustion, or conversion. Wet beneficiation systems process fines by several' types of unit operations, but usually must also incorporate costly and complex dewatering systems to reduce the moisture content of the products. Existing pneumatic preparation systems are constrained between product equality and yield by the sharpness of separation. These limitations become more severe with decreasing particle size and increasing feed moisture content. Control of particulate emissions, both process and fugitive, during pneumatic preparation, can be forbidding. A pneumatic preparation-process which would overcome these constraints, could be most enticing. The DryFlo system is being evaluated to quantify performance characteristics as regards these constraints.

Jan 1, 1976

"Each and every flotation plant must produce daily/weekly/monthly production reports in which metal balances for payable and penalising elements are presented. Several factors including ore heterogeneity and harsh production environment affect the reproducibility of the reported data. Best practices of metal accounting thus prescribe that production reports be accompanied by measurement quality reports quantifying the reproducibility (a data quality metric often expressed as a relative standard deviation) of each data reported. Ignoring the irreproducibility of measurements may lead to the perception that random errors have been totally eliminated through statistical data reconciliation, which is wrong. This paper aims at explaining the full lifecycle management of reproducibility estimation from the outset at the measurement process to its reporting after having been through the statistical data reconciliation process. Indeed, the reproducibility of reported data can be obtained by performing a sensitivity analysis. Necessary conditions for obtaining a truly representative assessment of measurement reproducibility are stated. Typical levels of measurement reproducibility found in operating flotation plants are also reported. These numbers can be used as benchmarks for reproducibility levels that can be realistically expected.IntroductionEach and every flotation plant must produce daily/weekly/monthly production reports in which metal balances for payable and penalising elements are presented. Such production reports are the most expected output from a metal accounting system (MAS). The duly recurrence of this task combined with an insufficient level of automation has somehow contributed to the misleading perception that it is mainly a clerical work. However, as shown in Figure 1, a MAS encompasses way more than just a reporting system. Acknowledging that the content of production reports indubitably origin from raw measurements has important implications for how both the reports and MAS should be monitored."

Jan 1, 2016

By R. I. Jaffee, J. G. Dunleavy, W. Hodge, H. R. Ogden

IN a search for an improved conductor for use in field wire for the L. S. Army Signal Corps, an alloy of copper and silver was developed from which it was possible to obtain 29 B & S ga. strands with tensile strengths in excess of 160,000 psi combined with an electrical conductivity of over 70 pct IACS. Such a favorable combination of strength and electrical conductivity has not been reported previously in the rather extensive literature covering this subject. The properties obtained from various binary alloys of copper and silver, together with the method of fabrication of these alloys which has been developed to obtain the properties desired in fine wire strands, are discussed in this paper. LITERATURE The effect on the electrical conductivity of copper of the various elements in solid solution is shown in Fig I, taken from published data by J. O. Linde and others.' It will be noted that silver in solid solution depresses the electrical conductivity to a lesser extent than any other element for which data are given, and is followed rather closely by cadmium, and then by chromium. Zinc, which lies between cadmium and chromium, has so high a solid solubility in copper that the data for zinc are scarcely comparable to the data for the other two in the range covered. Not many data are available on the strain hardening of copper-rich Cu-Ag alloys. Corson2 reports a 3 pct Ag alloy properly cold worked and annealed to have 100,000 psi tensile strength and 90 pct IACS conductivity. On straight cold working, Hessenbruch3 reports 101.000 psi for a 5 pct Ag, 0.3 pct Be alloy, and 129,000 psi for a 30 pct Ag, 0.5 pct Be alloy. Here it would he expected that much of the strain hardening came from the silver content of the alloys. The copper-rich side of the Cu-Ag diagram, according to Stockdale,4 is shown in the upper part of Fig 2. The electrical conductivities for copper-silver alloys annealed at 750 and 350°C, taken from the work of Johansson and Linde,5 are shown in the lower part of Fig 2. The sloping line corresponds to the conductivity of solid solutions of silver in copper, and the horizontal offshoots correspond to the conductivity of the two-phase alloys in equilibrium at the two temperatures shown. The electrical conductivities are very high, even for the 750°C anneal. The potentiality for age hardening from supersaturated alpha copper solutions appears to be excellent from the solubility line, but Smith and Lindlief6 have shown that the response to age hardening of solution-annealed alpha alloys is not good. They found that the tensile strength of a 5 pct Ag alloy aged at various temperatures was not as great as in the quenched condition, even though, anomalously, the hardness increased from RB68 to RB78 by annealing for 4 hr at 400°C after a 750°C quench. Weist7 also found that the alloys increased in hardness

Jan 1, 1948

By Ken McClure, Alex Day

Located North of Williams Lake British Columbia, Gibraltar Mine is the fourth largest open pit Copper mine in North America. Gibraltar commenced Copper concentrate production in 1972 with a mill throughput rate of 30,000 tons per day. A series of expansion projects, including installation of a second SAG mill with variable speed drives in 2013, has increased mill throughput to 85,000 tons per day. Over the past 24 months, Gibraltar Mine in partnership with Spartan Controls has executed several advanced process control programming projects culminating in the implementation of a Continuous Speed Controller (CSC) for the most recently installed SAG mill. This paper covers development and results for the SAG mill speed controller. INTRODUCTION In January 2016, the price of Copper fell below $2.00 USD per pound, the lowest price in 7 years. Gibraltar Mine faced a significant challenge; how to maximize profit in an environment where capital spending was not an option. An opportunity was quickly identified to improve performance through increased automation and advanced control of the grinding processes. Beginning in March 2016, Gibraltar Mine partnered with Spartan Controls to introduce Advanced Process Control (APC) to the grinding circuits. The collaboration between metallurgical and process control engineering disciplines proved to be effective for achieving gains in throughput, reliability and productivity for the mill process. The Gibraltar milling facilities include 2 grinding-flotation plants for concentration of chalcopyrite ore with throughput rates of 58,000 tons per day (Concentrator 1) and 38,000 tons per day (Concentrator 2). Each of the two concentrators has a 34’ diameter SAG mill powered by 2 GE 4800 kW synchronous electric motors. For SAG 1 (in concentrator 1), power is transmitted through 2 Eaton Airflex clutches. For SAG 2 (in concentrator 2), the motors are driven by 2 TMEIC Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). All programming is done using DeltaV, which Gibraltar uses as its Distributed Control System (DCS) and Human Machine Interface (HMI).

Jan 1, 2019