Search Documents

By James Norman

SPODUMENE is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodu-mene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components.1 The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manga-nese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li20 on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston, ? the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2,3 The methods described in the second publication' did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted.

Jan 1, 1940

By Richard S. McCaffery, Clarence H. Lorig, Joseph F. Oesterle, Ira N. Goff, Oscar O. Fritsche

This paper is the report of an investigation to determine the relations between the viscosity, temperature and composition of that portion of the silica-alumina-lime-magnesia system(l) within which blast-furnace slags are found. The work reported in this paper was made possible by a grant of funds from Engineering Foundation. It is a part of a project, the determination of properties and structure of iron blast-furnace slags, upon which the laboratories of the University of Wisconsin have been at work for some years. Three papers have been published, which have marked the progress of the study of iron blast-furnace slags at Wisconsin. The first,(2) Desul-furizing Power of Iron Blast-furnace Slags, discussed the solubility of sulfur in slags that contained no magnesia and discussed the viscosity. The second, (3) The Constitution of Iron Blast-furnace Slags, developed the constitutions of slags in the four-component system, silica-alumina-lime-magnesia, and pointed out an explanation of slag structure. Composition of Iron Blast-furnace Slags,(l) which was the third paper, gave a method of calculating the percentages of the various compounds present in slags when the amount of oxide was given and also an interpretation of quaternary equilibrium. Illustrations were given of the mineral composition of blast-furnace slags and some applications of composition results were shown. Because of their relative ease of measurement, the viscosity-temperature relation for slags was selected as a factor which would be useful in correlating the physical properties of molten slags to furnace operation. With this in mind the viscosities of slags whose compositions are in that portion of the quaternary system, silica-alumina-lime-magnesia, in which blast-furnace slags occur, were thoroughly investigated.

Jan 1, 1932

By Adrian C. Dorenfeld

Factorial design is a mathematical method of drawing valid conclusions from a series of tests made in a predetermined pattern. It is applied to flotation ore testing using, in this case, five variables, each varied twice, requiring a total of 32 tests. Representative conclusions are checked by repeat testing.

Jan 12, 1951

By A. B. Parsons

This YEAR BOOK, which is sent to every member, contains the roster of officers and the principal standing committees, brief summaries of the proceedings of the Annual Meeting and of the regional and divisional meetings, abstracts of papers published during-the-year, and a classified list of TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS and CONTRIBUTIONS, as well as an index of all material published by the Institute in 1935 in these separate forms, in TRANSACTIONS and In MINING AND METALLURGY, the monthly magazine. The two volumes published for the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund are also represented by many items in the index. The necrology, which has appeared in the YEAR BOOK for two years past, will be pub¬lished in the. DIRECTORY, in the spring of 1936. Four volumes, 114 through 117, of the TRANSACTIONS are 1935 publications,-the subjects being, in the order named, Petroleum Development and Technology, Mining Geology, Iron and Steel, Founding and Metallography of Nonferrous Metals (Institute of Metals Division). The Mine Plant volume, which was authorized for publication by the Rocky Mountain Fund, and which was offered as an alternative to a TRANSACTIONS volume, was unavoidably delayed. It will, however, be published as a 1935 volume, and will be distributed as early as possible in 1936. The sixth volume in the A.I.M.E. Series, published under the auspices of the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund, is Coal through the Ages, by. Howard N. Eavenson; the seventh, Modern Uses of Nonferrous Metals,. which has twenty-two authors and was edited by Dr. C. H. Mathewson. Also, it was necessary in 1935 to have a second printing of the first Rocky Mountain Fund volumes, published in 1933-The Porphyry Coppers, and .Ore Deposits of the Western States (Lindgren Volume). The papers for the Iron and Steel and Institute of Metals Divisions have been issued as TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS distributed under the binding Of METALS TECHNOLOGY in the months of January, February, April, June, August, September, October, December. This plan of distribution will be continued in 1936 for these two groups.

Jan 1, 1936

By F. W. Maclennan

PAPERS by D. B. Scott, E. G. Deane, and J. H. Hensley, Jr.1 describe the succession of mining methods used in the Miami mine—squarelset system, shrinkage stoping, top-slicing method, and the undercut caving system which was then being used, and which embraced the use of finger raises. The last-named system worked well but when the rich ore was exhausted it became necessary to reduce costs so as to make available a low-grade ore containing an average of less than 0.9 per cent. total copper with less than 0.8 per cent. in sulfide form and with no precious-metal values. There was then developed for this low-grade ore the system of separate large block-caving stopes, in lateral dimensions 150 by 300 ft., or 150 by 150 ft., with intervals between stopes of the same size so that subsequently these pillars may be similarly mined. The results have been most favorable. Under the previous system the production of ore per man-shift for all underground labor was 8 tons. The present production per man-shift underground is 28 tons. In starting this work the problems were: 1. How the ground would cave above the stopes. 2. Whether in the first stopes caving would encroach on the pillars as laid out. 3. Whether in subsequent mining of the pillars waste filling would be drawn from the previously caved adjacent stopes. Fig. 1 is a small key plan for showing the location of cross-sections as well as of ore mined and the limit of the escarpment and limit of cracking on the surface caused by the caving of the capping overlying the ore

Jan 1, 1929

By R. Fedel-Moen, R. W. L. Kimber, B. D. Williams, S. R. Ragusa

The use o f cyanide to extract gold from ores is widespread. In the process of extracting gold, cyanide may form metal cyanide complexes with a variety of other metals present in the ore. This study was carried out to investigate the biodegradation of the Cu(I)-cyanide complex and tetracyanonickelate under varying pH and nutrient additions. Detailed studies using shake flask cultures and bioreactors showed that naturally occurring bacteria residing on gold-leach-pad ore uti¬lized the Cu(I)-cyanide complex (CuCN) and tetracyano-nickelate, Na2(NiCN4), as carbon and/or nitrogen sources. Ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+-N) and/or cyanate (CNO-) accumulated in solution as the metal cyanide complexes were degraded. The accumulation of cyanate as a product is a concern due to its toxicity. Degradation rates were increased if a growth substrate (peptone, 0.1%) was added to the medium or if bioreactors were primed with peptone before addition of the metal-cyanide complex. Tetracyanonickelate was degraded at pH 8 without added peptone, but it was not degraded at pH 10. The addition of peptone was required for degradation of the Cu(I)-cyanide complex at pH 8 and pH 10. At pH 8, the addition of peptone resulted in the accumulation of cyanate, whereas, at pH 10, cyanate was not detected in the cultures. Biodegradation of metal-cyanide complexes was faster (approximately 1.5 to ten times faster) in bioreactors than in shake flask cultures. The addition of peptone was not required for degradation of metal-cyanide complexes in bioreactors. However, priming the bioreaetor with peptone resulted in higher metal-cyanide degradation rates over multiple cycles.

Jan 1, 2000

By Tim Gartner

This paper introduces a new application of a proven technology to provide dynamic, voltage regulation in underground mine electrical distribution systems. This technology acts to ?stiffen? the electrical power feeding continuous miners and generally raise and improve the voltage regulation at the continuous mining machines which may be located over long cable distances from the mine incoming electrical substation. This is extremely valuable for large underground continuous mining operations that use high power electrical mining machines fed over very long cable lengths (measured in 10s of km, from mine shaft to mine operating face). This new technology provides fast acting dynamic voltage regulation (voltage support) while starting continuous borers and extensible conveyor belts. Additionally, if the mine suffers from a lower distribution voltage due to long cable lengths, this new technology will raise the overall voltage at the mining machine, which can increased mining machine production and lead to longer motor life. The technology is based on voltage source converters operating as static VAR compensators specially packaged for the harsh underground mine environment. While static VAR compensator technology has been successfully used in utility and large industrial applications for many years (including open pit mining and arc furnaces), it has not (until now) been applied in underground mining. The paper will present the problem of poor voltage regulation in underground mines on weak electrical utility networks. It will then discuss some of the alternatives that have been used to resolve this voltage problem. It will then introduce the new technology used to solve the problem and review the issues involved in using this technology in the harsh underground environment. Finally, the paper will present preliminary performance results from an actual installation in a large underground continuous mining operation in Canada.

May 1, 2003

NEW YORK SECTION Executive Committee DAVID H. BROWN, Chairman JOHN H. JANEWAY, Vice-Chairman F E. PIERCE, Secretary, 35 Nassau St., New. York, N. Y. P. A. MOSMAN, Treasurer LEWIS W. FRANCIS BENJAMIN B. LAWRENCE At the meeting of the New York Section held at the Machinery Club on Dec. 8. 1915, the subject was "The Engineer in Modern Warfare, with Especial Reference to the Present European Conflict." Dr. Henry S. Drinker, who is Chairman of the Institute committee on the Engineer's Reserve Corps movement, opened the evenings' talk with a short statement of the aims and advantages of the Students' summer military camps, fostered by the Society of the National Reserve Corps, he being a member of the Advisory Committee of University Presidents. The speakers of the evening were Col. William M. Black and Col. John Biddle, both of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. Col. Black is the

Jan 1, 1916

By Cornelius Kelley

VOLUMES have been written about the organizing genius of American industrialists. American methods of production are being studied by the manufacturers of other nations to ascertain the prac-ticability to foreign adaptation. Mass production and the mechanization of industry have become terms of popular understanding and significance. Our people think, act and talk in terms of economic nomenclature. Under these circumstances is it not a matter of supreme importance that Americans themselves should make an analysis of their own situation? National supremacy has been but a transitory event. Wealth has had no fixed abode, and commerce has followed no permanently established route. One hundred and fifty years, viewed from the abstract idea of time, is but a moment in the fact of continuous or successive existence, yet it measures. the cycle that has witnessed the growth of America from a struggling embryonic union of thirteen colonies estab-lished along the Atlantic seaboard to the nation of un-rivalled proportions, vast wealth, huge enterprises and productive energy that now exists beneath the protec-tion of and renders allegiance to the flag that but then had been created. To appreciate fully the significance of what has occurred, it is necessary that there should bee an understanding of the basic factors that have con-tributed so largely to the realization of our present situation. Among the most important were: First, the establishment of a government that was founded upon the principle of affording the widest pos-sible opportunity for individual effort and accom-plishment. Second, there existed a virgin territory of vast extent, endowed by nature with elements of potential wealth far exceeding that possessed by any other like area upon the globe.

Jan 8, 1928

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By Herbert Clark Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover

We give the following brief notes on early works containing some reference to mineralogy, mining, or metallurgy, to indicate the literature available to Agricola and for historical notes bearing upon the subject. References to these works in the footnotes may be most easily consulted through the personal index. GREEK AUTHORS.-Only a very limited Greek literature upon subjects allied to mining or natural science survives. The whole of the material of technical interest could be , reproduced on less than twenty of these pages. Those of most importance are : Aristotle (384-322 B.c.), Theophrastus (371-288 B.c.), Diodorus Siculus (1st Century B.c.), Strabo (64 B.c.-25 A.D.), and Dioscorides (1st Century A.D.). Aristotle, apart from occasional mineralogical or metallurgical references in De Mirabilibus, is mostly of interest as the author of the Peripatetic theory of the elements and the relation of these to the origin of stones and metals. Agricola was, to a considerable measure, a follower of this school, and their views colour much of his writings. We, however, discuss elsewhere1 at what point he departed from them. Especially in De Ortu ct Causis does he quote largely from Aristotle's Meteorologica. Physica, and De Coelo on these subjects. There is a spurious work on stones attributed to Aristotle of some interest to mineralogists. It was probably the work of some Arab early in the Middle Ages.[ ]

Jan 1, 1950

As mining and extraction processes improve and lower grade ores become economic, mining for most ores have extended to depths beneath the zone of weathering oxidation created over geological history. These deeper openings expose sulphidic formations and reduced mineral species as either primary ore or simply as accessory or gangue minerals in the country rock. This is not new, underground mining for primary base metal and gold have long been familiar with these problems, as have coal and uranium miners. The change is simply that the number of mines exposing sulphidic waste rocks, tailings to the atmosphere and/or leaving behind dewatered sulphidic rock surrounding the mine void has increased the number of sites from where acid mine drainage (AMD) may emanate with consequential problems for the hydrological environment including downstream catchments (Miller et al, 1996). The principles of ecologically sustainable development (Brundtland, 1987) have been more or less ratified by all the developed nations of the world and this has led, amongst other things, to an expansion unprecedented in the research and documentation of means for achieving long-term environmentally acceptable stabilisation of solid wastes of all sorts. These have revealed that AMD problems can be minimised and even reversed in many cases by the integration or co-disposal of biodegradable organic wastes with oxidising sulphidic wastes (Elliott et al, 1996). This paper considers how this might be achieved at mine sites in Australia and the results encountered at some relevant sites.

Jan 1, 1997

By W. B. Greer, J. J. K. Daemen

Introduction The performance of seals in boreholes, shafts and tunnels is an important concern in mine safety, in the control of effluents from operating and abandoned mines and in the underground containment of hazardous wastes (Einarson and Abel, 1990; Mining Waste Study, 1988). Despite the clear need for effective seals, few documented test results are available concerning the performance of in situ seals. Some evidence indicates that horizontal or near-horizontal holes are especially difficult to seal properly (Kelsall et al., 1982). This research involved the installation, extensive hydraulic testing, removal and post-test examination of a 10-cm-long x 10-cm-diam cement grout seal in a near-horizontal borehole in limestone. The work was performed in an underground mine on Marble Peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains, AZ. A test hole was diamond cored in the recrystallized limestone of the Escabrosa formation. The hole is 33.24 m long, 10 cm in diam, and dips at 10.4°. The hole extends between two drifts and thus is accessible from both ends. Seal installation Surveys to assist in selecting the interval to seal consisted of core logging, video logging and constant-head injection tests using a straddle-packer unit. The location selected, 3 m from the lower end of the hole, had low hydraulic conductivity (3 x 10-10 to 3 x 10-9 cm/sec) and was free of significant fractures. The grout used, an expansive Class A cement, was provided by Dowell-Schlumberger, Tulsa, OK. A grout mass about 1.5 m in length was installed, with a dump bailer, above a temporary mechanical plug. Groundwater in the hole, if any, was minimal during placement. After 13 days of curing, the grout mass was partially drilled out from both ends, leaving a seal 10 cm long. Water distribution in rock mass The distribution of water and fluid pressure in the rock mass near the seal appears to be complex. The generally dry condition of the borehole and rock mass suggests that the rock mass near the seal was unsaturated prior to the injection tests of this research. The injection tests presumably created an expanding saturated zone around the seal. However, anomalously high fluid pressures, consistently recorded by one of two piezometers installed near the seal, suggest connection to a source of significant natural hydraulic head. Comparable head variations for closely spaced piezometers have been reported by others (Sowers, 1976). [ ] Seal testing The seal was tested for 3.5 years, using steady constant-head, tracer travel-time, dye-injection, head-buildup and transient constant-head tests. These tests are fully described in Greer and Daemen, 1991. In the head-buildup test, transient flow occurs through the seal (and rock mass) to a closed, water-filled interval of the borehole adjacent to the seal. The test consists of monitoring the rise in head in the closed interval until steady conditions are approached. The test may be analyzed in terms of a one dimensional analytical model to obtain the effective hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and specific storage (Sss) of the seal. Analysis in terms of an axisymmetric three-dimensional numerical model may yield properties of both the seal and rock mass.

Jan 1, 1993

By Hamid Maleki

A new failure criteria is proposed for assessment of roof stability in underground sedimentary rocks. Unlike other stability assessment techniques, this method is simple and practical, having improved mine safety and productivity in several mines. It is shown that roof movements accelerate to a critical rate prior to actual roof collapse. Critical rates vary between 0.025 inches per day to 0.2 inches per minute depending on rock mass - pillar mechanical properties. Specific critical rates are determined for three rock mass - pillar categories which are common to mining in sedimentary rocks. Time-to-caving varies from one minute to ten days on rock structural controls and type of primary support utilized.

Jan 1, 1990

By Frederick Schwarz

At the El Realito project, Sonora, Mexico, the Luz del Oro joint venture has recently inferred a geologic resource of 400 to 800 kt of 2.5 glt gold potentially present in gossans, breccias, and veins. El Realito, under investigation for a dump leach, open pit operation, is located in the Sun Antonio Mining District where gold and silver veins and gold placers have been exploited since Spanish colonial times.

Jan 1, 1990

Procurement of uranium is vital to the future of the Nation. Its utilization for atomic energy can destroy mankind or raise an unsurpassable civilization-the problem of the statesmen. Uranium poses a challenge to the mining profession. Evanescent in occurrence, its discovery and mining can mean substantial profits, plus safeguarding the future of the Nation.

Jan 9, 1951

By R. A. Womack, Alex Ruzycki

Over the past six years, 4.5 million tonnes (5.0 million short tons) of gold ore have been heap leached at the Alligator Ridge Mine. Ore is leached in successive lifts, resulting in heap heights of 20 m (66 ft). Recoveries from each lift are determined through an extensive post-leach drilling program. The relationships between heap height, recovery rate, ore preparation, heap construction, and leach solution application are discussed.

Jan 1, 1987

By R G. Skirrow, M Cooper, J Claoué-Long, K Czarnota, H Dulfer, J Thorne, D C. Champion

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. Tholeiitic intrusion-hosted nickel (PGE-Cu) sulfide deposits are under-represented in Australia’s inventory of known resources of this deposit type, relative to regions globally with comparable geology. To support discovery of major new deposits, a continental scale analysis of Australia’s potential for tholeiitic intrusion-hosted nickel (PGE-Cu) sulfide deposits is being undertaken. The analysis applies a mineral systems approach to map the four essential components of the ore-forming systems:1. sources of ore constituents2. crustal and mantle lithospheric architecture3. energy sources or drivers of the ore-forming systems4. gradients in ore depositional physico-chemical parameters.The results reveal several regions of Australia with potential for discovery of large tholeiitic intrusion-hosted nickel (PGE-Cu) sulfide deposits, mostly around the margins of Archean and Proterozoic lithospheric blocks. These include the south-east and northern margins of the Yilgarn Craton, the south-west and south-east margins of the Kimberley Block, the southern margin of the Arunta Province in central Australia, the western flank of the Gawler Craton in South Australia, and possibly some areas within the Palaeozoic Lachlan Orogen of eastern Australia.CITATION:Skirrow, R G, Dulfer, H, Czarnota, K, Champion, D C, Thorne, J, Cooper, M and Claoué-Long, J, 2015. Australia’s potential for nickel sulfide ore systems – a new continental-scale time-space framework for exploration, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 679–684 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By H. S. "Pete" Fowler

SME-AIME's Planning Committee established Working Party No. 22 in September 1974. Its charge was to: "Determine and take necessary actions to have Mining Engineering included among the disciplines on the National Professional Engineering Examinations." The first national examinations in "Mining/Minerals Engineering" will be given during April 1979, in states that request questions from the National Council of Engineering Examiners (NCEE), Seneca, S.C. From a survey by NCEE, mining engineering is recognized as a specialty in professional engineering registration in 25 states. In addition, 19 states give examinations in mining engineering. At press time, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia have indicated they will use the April 1979 exam.

Jan 11, 1978