Search Documents

By E. J. Gleim

Many people consider the mining of coal to be an extremely hazardous occupation; but it should be remembered that most large industries have to meet special conditions which, if not dealt with properly, might become hazards to life and property. Mining men may not always be fully aware that some practices and certain equipment that is incorrectly designed or maintained can lead to dangerous conditions. In endeavoring to help the coal-mining industry to prevent accidents and disasters, the Bureau of Mines has engaged in a program of education on conditions and practices that must be avoided. An effective way to teach safety is by visual demonstration. For example, it is generally known that certain kinds of electrical flashes have ignited explosive atmospheres in mines, but actually to see and hear explosions caused by electrical sparks of different size and character under laboratory control is likely to teach a much more emphatic and lasting lesson than would be learned by merely reading about them. The interest manifested by those who witness the demonstrations seems to prove that this is true. The purpose of the demonstrations is not to discourage the use of electricity in mines, but rather to indicate what types of equipment (including some generally regarded as harmless) can ignite gas and what safeguards have been developed to prevent such ignitions. It is hoped that this information will improve the ability of mining men to cope with underground hazards.

Jan 1, 1937

By Gerald R. Coonan

Early in the open session of the 1979 SEE Fifth Conference panel discussion, someone asked a question of the panel concerning the future intent of the Office of Surface Mining and the regulatory limits established for ground vibration and air blast. The "gist" of the question was: "What assurances do we have that OSM will not promulgate a limit of 0.5 inch per second ground vibration, or some other number within the next two years or so."

Jan 1, 1979

R. W. Raymond, New York City: From a study of Mr. Johnson's paper, I conclude that his apparatus is simple in construction and operation, and imitates in a revolving machine the movements of hand-shoveling. It does what a man would do in removing sand from the waste-water with a perforated shovel. I am sorry to say that I fear the present condition of the brown-ore mining industry in the East, as long as

Jan 1, 1899

What is the real value of your data?Given that the cost of collecting and analysing an individual sample is always rising, it is important to understand the true value of a sample and that you are confident that you receive good value for your exploration dollar. Unfortunately too many samples are still collected today that will end up as worthless data; a liability to those who own it and a hindrance to finding that ore body.

Jan 1, 1986

By Robert L. Bates

The field of industrial minerals and rocks includes such a wide diversity of materials and occurrences that communication is essential to foster a sense of "belonging? among geologists and other professionals. Besides, exchange of ideas and information is essential in meeting the needs of an ever-expanding world economy. A survey of the field shows to what an extent such communication--especially in the form of conferences and their proceedings--has increased during the past 25 years.

Jan 1, 1995

E. G. SPILSBURY, New York, N. Y.-I would like to ask Mr. Wemple what is the total loss in redistillation; not merely the weight of the lead removed, but also the loss clue to rehandling of a large amount of blue powder, and that clue to the final remelting in the tank furnace? LELAND E. WEMPLE.-The loss of zinc by redistillation, on the first operation, is approximately 5 per cent. This loss does not cover the lead

Jan 4, 1918

R. W. Raymond, New York City: From a study of Mr. Johnson's paper, I conclude that his apparatus is simple in construction and operation, and imitates in a revolving machine the movements of hand-shoveling. It does what a man would do in removing sand from the waste-water with a perforated shovel. I am sorry to say that I fear the present condition of the brown-ore mining industry in the East, as long as

Jan 1, 1899

By W. J. Pennstrom, J. R. Arnold

Gold Fields installed what was the mining industry's first commercial gold electrowinning/replate circuit at Ortiz in 1981. Its highly successful operation since that time provided the design basis for a similar circuit at Mesquite, which was started in early 1986. These circuits produce plated gold foil suitable for direct shipment to a refinery or melting directly into bars. Detailed descriptions of the electro- winning and replate circuits are given and advantages and disadvantages are discussed.

Jan 1, 1988

By Frederic A. Delano

The subject of the wear of rails seems to have attracted an unusual amount of interest in the last six months, and in the bope of doing my share to direct opinions in what seems to me the right direction, I will attempt to discuss briefly the several ways in which the shape of the rail-section may affect the life of rails. In a paper presented at the Boston meeting of the Institute (Trans., xvi., 594),

Jan 1, 1889

By John N. Murphy, Edward F. Fries

The availability of fast, low-cost computer hardware and advanced software is opening new opportunities for minerals extraction and processing. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) are currently used extensively in the minerals industries; this paper looks beyond PLC's and that vintage of “computer control”--it looks toward what the authors see as new in the next five years. Topics covered include expert systems, neural networks, intelligent signal processing, and hierarchical controllers as applied to mining and mineral processing operations.

Jan 1, 1993

By John A. Church

The operations of the Tombstone Mill and Mining Company, in Arizona, have been extensive and interesting; and I will eudeavor to describe what is novel in their work, without attempting to go over the well-known facts of silver milling, concentration and smelting which are the general branches of their business. Their mines are at Tombstone, and their mills at Charleston, ten miles distant. The ore has been mined only above water-level, and at first was

Jan 1, 1887

By F. F. Aplan

Rather than reiterate what is well known about the flotation of the non-sulfide minerals, emphasis has been placed on those separations which are not so effective. These difficult separations are largely connected with problems of selectivity in the flotation of the base metal oxides, the other slightly soluble minerals, the insoluble oxides and the naturally floatable minerals. The paper discusses possible methods of improving selectivity between similar species and of improving selectivity against the gangue minerals.

Jan 1, 1994

The paper contains the publication of timber shapes recovered from the Burra Mines during open cut operations in the 1970s. The timber was in the process of being disposed of for fire wood. All timber shapes still in existence in September 1990 were drawn.The collection revealed a number of different types of caps and legs. There were also end plates and wall plates from what appeared to be a hanging sets of shaft timber.

Jan 1, 1993

By George Meadows

Consultation and Accommodation Introductions Consultation -Best Practices The Role of Negotiations The HVC Experience Summary / Conclusions The Challenge Meeting legal and policy obligations to consult while adhering to project priorities, timelines and budgets Defining who needs to be consulted, by whom, and ?how much?? Accommodation ?who is responsible and what is the appropriate scope? Social License -establishing positive working relationships with First Nations involved in project review / approvals / implementation in a manner that advances the interests of all parties

May 1, 2010

By Sean Dessureault

Technological Revolution ?Information age ? brought about by: ?Low-cost processing, storage, information sharing ?Shared & integrated data ? Increasingly more sensors & data sources From data collection to data use ??Data mining??analyzing the huge volumes of data ?Key example used in MBAs: ?Wal-mart, Google Explosion of data, trickle of information ?Paralysis of action Outline Trying to provoke- What drives innovation now? ?Challenges in mining Data Action Approach ?Examples from research & consulting upon request Conclusions ?Unaddressed challenges (Research Opportunities)

May 1, 2006

By R. G. Jones

At its peak in the 1970s, South Africa was responsible for around 80% of global gold production and, according to the US Geological Survey, it still has the largest share of gold reserves - as well as 90% of the world's platinum. But, in January 2015, gold production reached a new monthly low, generating 87% less than it did in January 1980, and South Africa is now the world's sixth ranked gold producer. What next for African gold?

Jun 1, 2015

By D. W. Alberter

I consider it a great pleasure and distinction to be invited to appear before your organization to discuss our experiences with a comparatively new system of what is known as a "Full Dimension" extensible conveyor system. One of these systems has been operating in our Diamond Smokeless Mine, Boltz, Pennsylvania, since 1959 servicing a continuous mining machines For those of you who are not familiar with this method of transportation, I would like to offer an explanation.

Jan 1, 1962

By Bruce A. Kennedy

Lufthansa flight 497 roared down the runway and climbed rapidly through the early morning mist hanging over Pudahuel airport and the city of Santiago, Chile, into the brilliant sunlight above the clouds. As the plane banked onto course for Lima, Peru, we got what was possibly our last look at the beautiful snowclad mountains that ring Santiago. To the northeast was the massive hump of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, wreathed in clouds and virtually looming over Rio Blanco, the new mine put into production by Cerro de Pasco just one short year before. Almost a thousand miles to the north lay the massive open pits of Chuquicamata and Exotica, and a little closer to Santiago the El Salvador mine. Behind to the southeast, clinging to the steep slopes of the Andes, was the large and awe-inspiring El Teniente mine at Braden. These mines, once the bastions of such companies as Anaconda and Kennecott, had a new owner-the Government of Chile. On the plane were a number of people who had spent a large part of their lives in Chile operating these mines and plants, and who now were suddenly faced with the necessity of starting new lives somewhere else. To them, this was their last look at the country which not too long ago was their home, a bittersweet moment of reminiscence and a time for questioning what the future held.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. Graham

Mechanisation has been a predominant theme of the past 50 years in the mining industry, particularly underground mining. As the level of technology employed has increased, the anticipated productivity gains have not been realised and the differences are not explained by the demand for higher standards of safety and security. Now, mining costs are so high and productivity so low that the resultant return on investment for many Canadian operations has fallen to levels considered unacceptable in a competitive capital market. Simply continuing technological development cannot reverse this trend and its financial implications. The focus on technological development has distracted us from some basic truths. Systems that are more complex are more likely to fail and cost-effective processes depend on the continuity of productive activity and the flow of material. When putting these facts together, it becomes clear that in a system that has fixed external conditions, the single most crucial issue is the effective management of the operational cycle. By its nature, technology focuses our attention on what gets done and how it gets done, while the crucial issue is the increasingly longer periods in the operational cycle when nothing productive is being done. What is required is to match the level of technological complexity to the fixed system conditions, which are virtually unchangeable. This paper looks at the overall system and objectives and attempts to present an appropriate level of technology for the Canadian mining industry, now and in the foreseeable future.

May 1, 2004

By H. J. Beattie

R. L. Stegman and M. R. Achter (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)—In a study of the surface structures developed in the fatigue of nickel at low strains as a function of temperature, we have obtained similar results.3 As our apparatus permits fatigue tests to be conducted in vacuo, there was no masking of the surface at high temperatures by oxidation so that the structures there could be observed directly. The relatively few broad slip bands observed at room temperature gave way at 300°C to a large number of uniformly distributed and narrower slip bands. At 550°C deformation began to concentrate around the grain boundaries and progressively increased up to 800°C. In addition fatigue strength was observed initially to increase with increasing temperature up to about 600°C due to the effectively increased ductility caused by the dispersal of fatigue damage. The fatigue strength then decreased at higher temperatures as grain boundary cracking dominates. Maria Ronay, W. H. Reimann, and W. A. Wood (authors' reply)— The authors are pleased to note that R. L. Stegman and M. R. Achter reach similar conclusions from their study of surface slip on nickel. However, they would emphasize that their own conclusions are based on what is shown by study of specimens that have been sectioned and that this study also shows that surface slip is not necessarily representative of what happens below the surface.

Jan 1, 1965