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By R. Adams

Zirconium is the 20th most abundant element in the Earth?s crust and it most often occurs in the form of silicate (as zircon), less often in the oxide form (as baddeleyite or caldesite). Historically, the world?s production of zircon was entirely derived from mining and processing beach sands or heavy mineral sands that were being exploited primarily for their titanium content, i.e., to generate TiO2 feedstocks that would be used for making titanium pigments and, to a lesser extent, titanium metal. Zircon was then regarded as a byproduct, with the sharply fluctuating prices typical of a commodity where the supply is essentially involuntary and not truly responsive to market demand. However, in recent years, zircon has shown considerable mining investment appeal in its own right. Projects have been planned ? and some have already come to fruition ? based mainly on the zircon potential of the deposit. Booming Chinese demand for zircon to meet the requirements of the ceramic and zirconium chemical sectors has been a major factor causing zircon prices (f.o.b. Australia) to surge from US$674/t ($611/st) at [ ] the end of 2005 to beyond US$2,400/t ($2,177/st) by the end of 2011.

Jan 1, 2012

By A. P. Craig

"I HAVE BEEN looking forward to addressing this particular audience about Trans-Canada Pipe Lines because you men, more than most, understand the problems of the pioneer. Trans-Canada Pipe Lines qualifies as a pioneer on two counts: it is certainly pioneering a completely new industry in Canada -the long-distance transmission of natural gas -and it has at least a few of the problems that are expected and normal to any pioneering venture.This morning, I’m going to try to give you a sketchy picture of our project and a brief report on its current status and our progress to date; and then a broad picture of Canadian markets for natural gas.The physical characteristics of the Trans-Canada Pipe Lines project have been discussed so often that I am not going to take the time today to quote a lot of statistics on pipe sizes, miles, tons of steel, etc. Suffice it to say that this project, estimated to cost approximately $350,000,000, will be the longest large-diameter gas pipe-line ever built anywhere.Let me try to paint a broad picture of this great national project, using only a few basic 'round' figures.First, it involves exploration for and development of the natural gas fields in Alberta and other provinces -the cost of which will run into hundreds of millions of dollars.Then comes the gathering, stripping, and cleaning of the gas before it can be delivered to Trans-Canada. This will cost close to $100 million.Next we have the Trans-Canada Pipe Lines project for transmission of the gas to Eastern markets -estimated to cost $350,000,000 during the first three to four years and making natural gas economically available to one-half the population of Canada."

Jan 1, 1955

By Eugene O. Binyon

"Belt and shaker conveyors, used singly or as combined units, have for many years been an integral part of many coal-mine haulage systems. The belt conveyor has also been used extensively as a main haulage unit in open-pit iron-ore mines of the Lake Superior district, particularly on the Mesabi Range. Few underground metal mines, however, either in the ferrous or non-ferrous branches of the mining industry, use the conveyors exclusively or even extensively for underground haulage. At present, only five iron-ore mines in the entire Lake Superior district have belt- or shaker-conveyor installations of any significant size. Of these mines, three are in the Crystal Falls-Iron River district of Michigan on the Menominee Range, one is on the Marquette Range near Ishpeming, Mich., and one is on the Mesabi Range near Keewatin, Minn.Results of the studies of tackless haulage in the Lake Superior district will not permit the establishment of any formula to prove or disprove the advantages of belt or shaker systems at all underground mines. The studies do show that trackless haulage can be used to advantage where the proper conditions exist. Advantages are particularly apparent when development can be planned sufficiently in advance of exploitation to permit installation of belts or shakers as part of the development program and where the systems are extended to include haulage in stopes as well as main entries.During the winter of 1947-48, the Bureau undertook a study of all of the underground ore conveying systems known to be in operation in the Lake Superior district for the purpose of making available to the entire mining industry the technologic data developed in the area. Because conditions that led to the installation of the belt and shaker conveying systems were often a function of the character of the deposit or the method of mining, a brief description of those conditions is included in this report.After a preliminary investigation into the extent to which trackless conveyors were employed in the district, it was found that a detailed study at five bites would result in fair appraisal of that method of haulage in the underground iron-ore mines.Each of the five significant installations is described separately in this report. In one instance, however, company policy does not permit identification of the mine wherein the conveying is done. In that instance the operation is designated as mine ""A"".Unless otherwise specified, all tonnage figures quoted herein are gross.The cooperation of officials of all of the companies operating underground mines in the Lake Superior district permitted successful completion of preliminary studies of mining practices and conveying systems.Special acknowledgment is made to R. D. Satterley, general superintendent, and to operating staffs of the Sherwood and Morris mines of the Inland Steel Co. The assistance given by W. D. Whitman, assistant superintendent, and Douglas Tippett, mine captain at the Morris mine, and P. D. Pearson, superintendent, R. O. Marsten, engineer, and W. Johnson, mine captain, at the Sherwood mine, is acknowledged."

Oct 1, 1949

By Roland Alford

The ballistic pendulum is a well-established piece of test equipment originally developed for estimating the velocity of bullets and projectiles. When trying to understand the effects of different tamping methods on explosive performance, the ballistic pendulum is an excellent tool allowing calculation of explosive charge impulse. Most ballistic pendula for this application are limited to narrow impulse ranges as the pendulum mass determines the angle of swing; and a mass capable of being moved by a small charge would be far too small for a larger charge. This paper describes a modular design (the Alford Modular Ballistic Pendulum) which overcomes this problem.

Feb 6, 2023

By S. Malinov, J. J. McKeown, W. Sha, S. McShane

"A model is developed for prediction of fatigue stress life S-N diagrams for Ti-6Al-4V alloy at different conditions, using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Different factors which have influence on the S-N diagram are involved as input parameters of the NN, namely microstructure, environment, texture, test/work temperature, surface treatment and stress amplitude. As the output the S-N fatigue diagram is simulated and plotted.The model is based on standard multilayer feedforward neural network. The NN is trained with a comprehensive data set collected from the literature, using Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm in combination with Bayesian regularisation. A very good performance of the trained Neural Network is achieved. Good correspondence between ANN"" prediction and experimental S-N diagrams is observed. Using the model S-N diagrams for different conditions are predicted and analysed. Graphical User Interface is developed for use of the model. We believe that the model will be important for practical applications in solving various problems on fatigue behaviour of the titanium alloy.IntroductionTitanium and its alloys have an increasing range of applications due to their very good combination of mechanical properties, corrosion and erosion resistance. They are currently finding widespread applications in many industries due to their desirable and versatile properties. Most important among the alloys is Ti-6AI-4Y. Jet aircraft manufacturers are the principal 'consumers of Ti-6Al-4V and it is often specified for critical parts, the failure of which could result in the loss of an entire system. A generic class of Ti-6AI-4V has been developed over the past years and it has become the best understood of all the titanium alloys. The advantages of titanium alloys include: (i) low densities, giving very attractive strength to weight ratios allowing lighter and stronger structures; (ii) superior corrosion and erosion resistance in many environments; (iii) high temperature capability. Although the titanium materials are still considered as expensive materials, for many applications the cost of titanium alloys can be justified on the basis of their desirable properties."

Jan 1, 2001

By T. Muldoon

Literature review and extensive field survey of line and check curtain materials and practices showed: ? Miners, in general, know how to set tight curtains, and do so when needed. ? The tradeoff is economic; tight ventilation is labor-intensive. Line and check curtain techniques found are catalogued and evaluated. A fieldworthy 10 ft extensible brattice to maintain a 10 ft setback was found in use in two mines on continuous miner faces. This technique was evaluated in the laboratory for leakage and methane control at the face. Significant results include: 1) Air leakage through a gap in the extensible curtain depends upon the ratio of the cross-sectional areas between entry and return as well as gap area; 2) Gap shape has no significant effect on methane concentrations at the face -increasing gap area diminishes ventilation effectivness; and 3) Substantial reductions of CH4 concentrations at the face were accomplished by brattice extensions with gaps of up to 5 ft2 in area. An "inby hook," inserted in the roof automatically to make possible the deployment of a longer (20 ft) brattice extension in the context of a remotely controlled miner, was tested in various roof types. Insertion of this design succeeded only in coal.

Jan 1, 1982

A combination of the needs of business, employee desires and safety and health considerations is stimulating increasing attention to the time spent by people at work and the timing of that work. Particularly we are seeing: - innovative work schedules for 24-hour mining businesses; and - response from industry to accommodate the needs, even the desires, of employees in return for systems which are more productive and more capital efficient. There appears to be an evolutionary trend for business management to become more sophisticated and responsive to the need for achieving close to best cost work schedules to sustain continuous improvement. The underlying motivating forces driving this trend for improved techniques in organising attendance at, and time spent at work, is the seemingly inseparable combination of technological advance and ever-increasing accumulation of capital. The mining industry has not remained untouched by this thrust for ever-increasing need for best use of labour, to adopt advances in technology and to provide attractive opportunities for putting accumulated capital to work. An essential component of this on-going thrust is a substantial effort by the mining industry to improve the performance of labour by providing most-productive work schedules.

Jan 1, 1996

By G. W. Barton

Process Systems Engineering (PSE) can be defined as the integrated usage of computer-based design and analysis tools. As such, PSE is becoming increasingly important in the chemical and petrochemical industries. This paper shows how a range of PSE techniques have been applied to the zinc electrowinning process. Topics discussed include model development, parameter estimation, steady-state and dynamic model applications, steady-state optimisation and neural network modelling.

Jan 1, 1994

By John A. Hansuld

Geochemical dispersion of metals under various environmental conditions is discussed within the frame-work of Eh (oxidation potential) and pH (acidity). In general, two aspects are considered -(1) the oxidation of certain primary sulphides in the outcrop or sub-outcrop environment, and (2) the movement of metals in different dispersion media. Practical applications of each are illustrated by means of exploration case histories representing environmental conditions in the Canadian Shield, the southwestern United States and the Caribbean.

Jan 1, 1966

By Alan G. Mayton

A prototype end-cab shuttle car (SC) design has been developed to improve protection and address ergonomic concerns of the SC operator in low coal mines. The new design features an end cab transversely mounted to the SC and equipped with a closed-circuit video system. The end cab was retrofitted to a low-coal SC and evaluated in surface trials at the U.S. Bureau of Mines. During surface trials, test operators evaluated the end-cab SC relative to visibility; cab features-space, seating, controls, and operator position; tramming-inby, outby, and turning corners; and dumping. Trials were conducted using 12 test subjects; 6 were experienced SC operators. Results of the trials were promising. Of the experienced operators, the only operator with low-coal experience gave the new design the highest rating. Four experienced operators rated the end-cab design "better" to "much better" than a standard center-driven, side-cab SC for visibility when tramming, protection from roof and rib hazards, and no change in seat position with direction of travel. This report discusses research to modify a used 21SC JOY SC, retrofit the SC with the Bureau-developed end-cab, and evaluate the retrofitted end-cab SC in surface trials.

Jan 1, 2010

By Tom Learmont

The importance of coal in solving our energy problems has been widely discussed; the world demand for food requires increased fertilizer production and the minerals to produce fertilizer must be mined. We have seen an explosive increase in the demand for large stripping equipment. It is appropriate that we review this equipment and determine what can be done to improve productivity. While we have used coal mining as an example in the study, much of the discussion will apply equally to other forms of stripping.

Jan 1, 1975

By R. D. Hossack

"The selection of a site for plant facilities is a function of several factors and has as its objective the maximization of profits, given fixed markets and sources of raw material locations. In practice there are several sites, any one of which or a combination of two or more would be suitable to meet the basic requirements of source of supply of raw material and labour and still fulfill market demands. The model used to select the optimum profit combination utilizes both computer programs and traditional financial analysis techniques. Of the three computer programs used in the mode), one is a linear program and another is a transportation simulator. Basic cost and price data are required. In examining costs, three levels are used: (a) distribution costs of raw material to the plant and finished goods to the market; (b) direct production costs at the plant, such as labour and locally supplied material; and (c) capital and overhead costs at the plant, such as construction costs, taxes, insurance, and federal and provincial cost allowances. The direct costs generally depend on the scale of operations, so that a large plant in one location may have a lower unit cost than two smaller plants. This, of course, must be balanced against distribution costs. In examining profit, it is necessary to think in terms of the price and volume of sales at each of the market locations. Given basic data and relationships, the model can be used to optimally locate production facilities or, alter-natively, optimally structure a transportation network given existing locations of plants and markets. It is dynamic to the extent that it can react to changes in volume, price and cost to optimally locate an additional plant, the expansion of existing plants, the shutting down or cutting back of plants, or the restructuring of distribution networks."

Jan 1, 1970

By William J. Wasko

Maintenance of mining equipment has become so complex and important from a cost and product ion standpoint that the organization must be set up in an engineering fashion to be successful. Production costs are greatly affected by proper maintenance. Tonnages can only be met when operating time is at its maximum and breakdown time is at its minimum. Last, but equally important, large capital expenditures must be protected and improved The effectiveness of the maintenance program will, in many respects, be a direct, result of the effort put torch in developing the overall program. Once the need of maintenance is realized, the next step is to determine what the organization should be and what it should accomplish. Follow through is then most vital. Preventing machine breakdowns and reducing maintenance costs are the primary goals of all maintenance organizations. Good preventive maintenance, a system for inspecting equipment and a complete record of inspections will help attain these goals.

Jan 1, 1966

By E. E. Cudby

"FOLLOWING the Leduc discovery •by Imperial Oil in 1947, The California Standard Company began to acquire land in the area immediately west of Edmonton and in line with the Leduc reef trend (Figure 1).The California Standard Winter-burn Province No. 1 in Lsd. 10, Section 4, Township 53, Range 25, West 4th, which was spudded, on the basis of a seismic anomaly, in December, 1949, failed to find reef. This well was located on the eastern .edge of a large land block which California Standard and Imperial Oil had pooled as a joint venture, with California Standard a:s the operator (Figure 2).The culmination •of an extensive exploration and land aquisition programme was the drilling of the California Standard-Acheson Province No. 1 well .in Lsd. 13, Section 2, Township 53, Range 26, West 4th. On August 24th, 1950, a drill stem test was run in the D-3 zone which had been encountered at 4,969 feet, and a flow rate of 702 barrels per day •of 36° gravity oil was obtained. Just previously, Imperial Oil had completed a similar programme in the Stony Plain Reserve with the swabbing-in of Imperial Stony Plain No. 1. These two discoveries set off a drilling programme to determine the extent and value of the oil accumulation.Subsequent drilling of wells some successful .and others not by several other companies as well as California Standard bias, .to date, still left much to be determined as to the approximate delineation of the productive limits of the Ache-son-Stony Plain area. However, to August 31st, 1951, there were twenty-one D-3 producers north of the reserve and three in the Stony Plain Reserve."

Jan 1, 1952

By Launa G. Mallett, Charles Vaught, Dana C. Reinke, Lisa J. Steiner, Lynn L. Rethi, Kathleen M. Kowalski-Trakofler, Jr. Brnich, William J. Wiehagen

Safety and health professionals recognize that training is a critical element of any effective safety and health program. An extensive literature survey has led the authors to conclude that we are at the beginning of a revolution in training due to changes in the demographics of the workforce, the rapid growth of technology, and the universal ascendance of the information age. Of present major concern in the mining industry is how to provide appropriate training for an aging workforce and concurrently develop training for the expected influx of new and less experienced miners as older workers retire. This report explores the key issues in the changing safety and health training area as identified by the multidisciplinary team of NIOSH researchers who conducted the literature survey. Issues include generational differences between newer mine workers and the present workforce with respect to their physical, psychological, social, and cultural characteristics; their learning styles and work expectations; and the impact of technology. Some preliminary conclusions are offered for future training needs.

Jul 1, 2004

By Lorraine Kent

Excessive floor and side deformation are major problems in deep coal mine entries in Europe, and in particular in the UK where rockbolt support is used at depths of working of around 3000 ft. This has major economic and safety implications for the industry resulting in the potential for sidewall instability, disruption to mine infrastructure, (belt conveyors, floor mounted transport systems and powered supports), and the requirement to safely manage excavation of large quantities of floor material. European research aimed at improving deformation control is described. The outcomes include innovations in support systems, materials and installation practices, as well as better methods for predicting and monitoring deformation levels. As coal mines get deeper, some entry deformation is inevitable, and methods for mechanised removal of floor lift and repair of sidewalls have been developed to allow production to continue as mining clearances are re-established.

Jan 1, 2014

By Charles B. Kenahan

A summary of Bureau of Mines research on utilization and disposal of solid wastes is presented, accompanied by an extensive bibliography of related publications. The Bureau's Solid Waste and Materials Recycling Program is directed toward four main areas of research, development, and demonstration: (1) extraction of mineral, metal, and energy values from urban refuse; (2) upgrading and recycling of automotive and related ferrous and nonferrous scrap; (3) utilization and stabilization of mine, mill, and smelter wastes; and (4) recovery and reuse of values from industrial waste products. A contract and grant program that supplements the in-house research and aids in the training of manpower in management of mineral-, metal-, and energy -based solid wastes is also discussed. This publication is an updating of Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8460 issued March 1970.

Jan 1, 1971

By Matthew Goff, Russell Lutch

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) operates the largest regional water authority in the State of Michigan. Two of the tunnels supplying raw water to the system from the Detroit River are the Springwells and Northeast Tunnels. The existing 70- to 90-year old concrete lined tunnels have experienced distress and cracking over their life requiring non-structural repairs to sections of the tunnels. For the repair, an interior stainless-steel segmental liner plate system has been designed to restore the watertight capacity of the tunnel liner and resist the exterior hydrostatic groundwater pressure in a dewatered condition. The team is utilizing a “wet repair” approach to perform the necessary repairs while the tunnel remains fully flooded and operational. To test and validate the tunnel repair approach, a full-scale mock-up of the proposed repair has been performed using underwater equipment and divers.

Dec 1, 2022

By A. Mei, F. Amadini, F. Cernera, D. Baliani, A. Flor, M. La Morgia, F. Sassi

The risk of TBM jamming because of squeezing rock mass or excessive caving (instability of the cavity) conditions is always a focal point while boring long and deep tunnels with shielded TBMs. Mechanized excavation provides a large amount of real-time data, for each machine’s parameters. Several analyses have been executed to assess the correlations between different sets of TBM parameters for the exploratory tunnel. Instead of analyzing the full dataset, a different approach is proposed, with data processed sequentially to simulate the real excavation situation. The probability distributions are recalculated together with their statistical parameters while advancing. This approach is extended also to the training of a Machine Learning model able to foresee the behavior at future rings based on past rings (using a Recurrent Neural Network). The predictions show a promising first step toward creating practical tools that can assist contractors and designers to correlate and predict TBM excavation data. These tools will assist to predict and quantify high risk situations that could arise during excavation.

Jun 13, 2023

By R. L. Bishops

This paper discusses some of the materials, processes and systems used in motor insulation. Among the materials mentioned are epoxies, polyesters, mica paper composites and wire enamels. Two processes developed to take advantage of the special characteristics of two of these materials are described, and how these materials are used in several new insulation systems now on the market is discussed. Finally, future trends in motor insulation are outlined.

Jan 1, 1969